Creative Pinellas, the county’s designated arts organization since 2011, drives the county’s arts and culture scene—just as Visit St. Pete-Clearwater drives tourism. The county commission gave Creative Pinellas this role on Oct. 25, 2011.
More than a decade later, County Commissioner Brian Scott is trying to change the game.
In a Board of County Commissioners work session last Thursday, Aug. 28—days ahead of the Labor Day weekend—Scott recommended defunding Creative Pinellas, saying, “I don’t think they’re really bringing a lot to the table other than having grant programs that they’re giving artists money to buy easels and cameras and things like that, and it’s not going to tourism at all.”
But art doesn’t happen by accident. No one’s taking postcard photos that promote Pinellas County tourism without a camera. Also, Creative Pinellas wasn’t established to solely promote tourism.
That 2011 transitional funding agreement clearly states that the purpose of Creative Pinellas is to “establish and maintain a collaborative relationship to carry out the duties and responsibilities related to promoting, administering and supporting arts and cultural programs in Pinellas County.”
Creative Pinellas held up its end of the bargain, too.
Leadership transformed Largo’s former Gulf Coast Museum of Art into the Gallery at Creative Pinellas and began hosting art exhibitions featuring local talent. It hired local artists to paint murals throughout the county, and nurtured Pinellas County’s artistic talent through grants and other opportunities.
The gallery now hosts about 1,500-3,000 visitors a month. Creative Pinellas has facilitated at least a dozen murals through their Pinellas Trail, Lealman Neighborhood and PIE Gate 12 mural projects. The organization also wrapped 28 signal boxes in art and has awarded grants to more than 500 local artists and arts organizations.
After helping establish Pinellas County as a destination for arts and culture, Creative Pinellas earned additional county funding to promote it as such. Starting around 2016, the agency teamed up with the county and Visit St. Pete-Clearwater (VSPC) to brand the area as the Arts Coast. It launched a website highlighting local arts events, brought art into hotels, created a glossy arts guide distributed to visitor centers and airports, started an annual arts festival and partnered with FloridaRAMA to fund Florida-inspired art. Its Arts Coast Magazine was last year’s Best of the Bay winner for Best Literary Journal.
This spring, Creative Pinellas opened an art gallery at St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport using the airport’s budget, placing locally-made art in front of more than 2.5 million visitors annually.
The evidence that Creative Pinellas is putting art in front of visitors to the county is obvious to anyone—but Commissioner Scott might not know that based on his comments at last week’s workshop.
Scott’s argument overlooks the role Creative Pinellas plays in enhancing the lives of Pinellas County artists and residents—the people who actually live here and can vote for him. FYI: Scott is running for re-election in 2026.
Commissioner Dave Eggers reminded his fellow commissioners that a recent survey showed that one of the things people like about Pinellas County is its arts and culture.
Creative Pinellas’ CEO Margaret Murray cites a Q1 2025 VSPC Visitor Profile & Economic Impact Study showing that museums are popular with Pinellas County visitors—almost half visit an area museum, with The Dali Museum and the Chihuly Collection being the most popular. The Florida Botanical Gardens—which shares a campus with Creative Pinellas—is the eighth most visited attraction in Pinellas County.
Last night on social media, Scott tried to clarify that he has not lost faith in Pinellas County’s arts & culture community but has lost faith in Creative Pinellas—the organization which has nurtured that very culture and community for over a decade.
Scott’s proposal comes about a month after Creative Pinellas announced Making Waves, a new cultural tourism program set to launch in Spring 2026 that would bring art to Pinellas County visitors where they are—specifically, at Pinellas County tourist destinations such as beaches and nature preserves.
The local arts agency has also recently revamped Arts Coast Magazine to serve as a more comprehensive guide to Pinellas County’s art scene, with a focus on attracting visitors planning a trip to the area. The new online magazine, Current Culture, is scheduled to launch on Oct. 4.
After characterizing Creative Pinellas as a solely grant-giving agency last week, Scott proposed redirecting these dollars to VSPC to administer arts tourism grants using their existing staff.
Scott’s social media post wonders out loud if Creative Pinellas’ cut of the tourism bed tax is “need to have” or a “want to have,” especially as residents keep reeling from back-to-back hurricanes. He also claims that his plan “will provide the same level of funding to the arts at an overall lower cost that will save tax dollars, foster competition, spur innovation, and deliver better results bringing greater visibility to our Arts Coast. We are cutting overhead, our commitment to arts remains strong.”
“Defunding the county's designated local arts agency and providing half of the money they receive to a tourism marketing company doesn't support the arts and doesn't prove the best and highest use of county funding,” Murray told CL in response.
She noted that Creative Pinellas’ team of experienced arts professionals are embedded in the arts community and have sound arts administration backgrounds and reiterated the complementary but not interchangeable roles her organization and VSPC play.
“We can't do what they do and they can't do what we do without each other,” Murray added.
And relative to other county expenditures, this arts expertise comes heavily discounted.
Creative Pinellas uses about $1.05 million to support and promote the arts in Pinellas County, and most of that money—$861,000 to be exact—comes from the county’s tourism bed tax collected when visitors book hotel rooms.
As far as local taxpayers, Creative Pinellas only receives $156,000 from general funds and $36,000 from the transportation fund—combined that accounts for less than 0.004% of the county’s $4.4 billion operating budget.
It’s possible that Scott—who was elected to the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners in 2022—is unfamiliar with the multifaceted role that Creative Pinellas plays in Pinellas County’s art community. That’s unlikely.
In June, Murray presented the Pinellas County Tourist Development Council—on which Scott serves—with a summary of what Creative Pinellas does for the county.
The presentation mentions the new Sightline Gallery at PIE; beautification of the county through public art; $200,000 in funds distributed to individual artists, arts organizations and summer camps; marketing of countywide arts events; and partnerships with Pinellas County schools and Florida Botanical Gardens. It also reported a 30% increase in gallery visitation and introduced the Making Waves cultural tourism program.
Or maybe Scott thought no one would notice or stand up for Creative Pinellas. There was no mention of Creative Pinellas in the Aug. 28 meeting agenda, and when Eggers mentioned that he was uncomfortable making such a significant change without those directly affected in the room, Scott claimed he’d done a deep dive on it.
A skeptical Eggers replied, “If you’ve done a deep dive and having communications out there, I haven’t heard a peep from anybody in that community and I’m sure I would have heard something. Not because I’m the art representative, but because they would reach out to their elected officials on this change. I haven’t heard a peep from anybody.”
“You will by next week,” an off-camera commissioner says.
“Or that just shows you it’s not really all that…,” Scott trails off.
“If they have heard and they’re not responding, then I would agree with that, but I’m not sure that’s the case,” says Eggers.
Arts advocates hadn’t heard, but they soon found out.
Last Saturday morning, Murray took to social media with a plea:
“Heartbroken is the best word to describe what I'm feeling. On top of all that is happening around us, the County has proposed defunding Creative Pinellas at the end of this fiscal year (four weeks away). We're all doing so much, but I invite everyone who has received a grant from us, enjoyed our exhibitions, or has shown their work in our space, or are simply a fan of the arts in our amazing area, to please attend the upcoming County budget meeting and speak up. WE CAN TURN THIS AROUND!”
The image Murray attached to her post, fittingly, is a photograph of Leo Gomez’s “Better Together” mural in Lealman Park.
Ahead of this Thursday’s county commission meeting to discuss Scott’s proposed cuts, a growing list of artists and local arts organizations has urged supporters to show up and speak out for Creative Pinellas.
For now, those are the next best steps.
Last Saturday, Murray told CL that Creative Pinellas has shifted its focus to better align with the county’s tourism initiatives and said she was shocked to hear Scott's proposal. “I thought we were all on the same page," she said.
In his comments at last week’s workshop, Commissioner Scott said he spoke with Visit St. Pete-Clearwater President/CEO Brian Lowack about the funds that go to Creative Pinellas. Scott claims that he asked Lowack if his team could facilitate a “competitive grant program specifically for arts tourism,” and that Lowack said his team could “get it done.”
But Murray told CL she had also spoken to Lowack about a separate issue a few weeks ago, and that he assured her that their teams would soon meet to develop a plan for tracking visitation and understanding where people go when they experience the arts in Pinellas County.
Lowack did not respond to a request for comment.
Still, Murray says she’s hopeful, adding “We’ve requested a public workshop, and we’re waiting to hear back from the county commission to see if that’s possible.”
On Wednesday morning, the Clearwater Arts Alliance sent an urgent email calling on county leaders and community members to attend the Sept. 4 budget meeting.
“To defund Creative Pinellas would destabilize the cultural infrastructure that sustains artists, arts and culture organizations, and residents across Pinellas County, and weaken the very foundation of the cultural tourism economy that benefits us all,” the missive states.
The Board of County Commissioners meets at 333 Chestnut St. in Clearwater on Thursday, Sept. 4. A public hearing will begin at 6 p.m.
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More than a decade later, County Commissioner Brian Scott is trying to change the game.
In a Board of County Commissioners work session last Thursday, Aug. 28—days ahead of the Labor Day weekend—Scott recommended defunding Creative Pinellas, saying, “I don’t think they’re really bringing a lot to the table other than having grant programs that they’re giving artists money to buy easels and cameras and things like that, and it’s not going to tourism at all.”
But art doesn’t happen by accident. No one’s taking postcard photos that promote Pinellas County tourism without a camera. Also, Creative Pinellas wasn’t established to solely promote tourism.
That 2011 transitional funding agreement clearly states that the purpose of Creative Pinellas is to “establish and maintain a collaborative relationship to carry out the duties and responsibilities related to promoting, administering and supporting arts and cultural programs in Pinellas County.”
Creative Pinellas held up its end of the bargain, too.
Leadership transformed Largo’s former Gulf Coast Museum of Art into the Gallery at Creative Pinellas and began hosting art exhibitions featuring local talent. It hired local artists to paint murals throughout the county, and nurtured Pinellas County’s artistic talent through grants and other opportunities.
The gallery now hosts about 1,500-3,000 visitors a month. Creative Pinellas has facilitated at least a dozen murals through their Pinellas Trail, Lealman Neighborhood and PIE Gate 12 mural projects. The organization also wrapped 28 signal boxes in art and has awarded grants to more than 500 local artists and arts organizations.
After helping establish Pinellas County as a destination for arts and culture, Creative Pinellas earned additional county funding to promote it as such. Starting around 2016, the agency teamed up with the county and Visit St. Pete-Clearwater (VSPC) to brand the area as the Arts Coast. It launched a website highlighting local arts events, brought art into hotels, created a glossy arts guide distributed to visitor centers and airports, started an annual arts festival and partnered with FloridaRAMA to fund Florida-inspired art. Its Arts Coast Magazine was last year’s Best of the Bay winner for Best Literary Journal.
This spring, Creative Pinellas opened an art gallery at St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport using the airport’s budget, placing locally-made art in front of more than 2.5 million visitors annually.
The evidence that Creative Pinellas is putting art in front of visitors to the county is obvious to anyone—but Commissioner Scott might not know that based on his comments at last week’s workshop.
Scott’s argument overlooks the role Creative Pinellas plays in enhancing the lives of Pinellas County artists and residents—the people who actually live here and can vote for him. FYI: Scott is running for re-election in 2026.
Commissioner Dave Eggers reminded his fellow commissioners that a recent survey showed that one of the things people like about Pinellas County is its arts and culture.
Creative Pinellas’ CEO Margaret Murray cites a Q1 2025 VSPC Visitor Profile & Economic Impact Study showing that museums are popular with Pinellas County visitors—almost half visit an area museum, with The Dali Museum and the Chihuly Collection being the most popular. The Florida Botanical Gardens—which shares a campus with Creative Pinellas—is the eighth most visited attraction in Pinellas County.
Last night on social media, Scott tried to clarify that he has not lost faith in Pinellas County’s arts & culture community but has lost faith in Creative Pinellas—the organization which has nurtured that very culture and community for over a decade.
Scott’s proposal comes about a month after Creative Pinellas announced Making Waves, a new cultural tourism program set to launch in Spring 2026 that would bring art to Pinellas County visitors where they are—specifically, at Pinellas County tourist destinations such as beaches and nature preserves.
The local arts agency has also recently revamped Arts Coast Magazine to serve as a more comprehensive guide to Pinellas County’s art scene, with a focus on attracting visitors planning a trip to the area. The new online magazine, Current Culture, is scheduled to launch on Oct. 4.
After characterizing Creative Pinellas as a solely grant-giving agency last week, Scott proposed redirecting these dollars to VSPC to administer arts tourism grants using their existing staff.
Scott’s social media post wonders out loud if Creative Pinellas’ cut of the tourism bed tax is “need to have” or a “want to have,” especially as residents keep reeling from back-to-back hurricanes. He also claims that his plan “will provide the same level of funding to the arts at an overall lower cost that will save tax dollars, foster competition, spur innovation, and deliver better results bringing greater visibility to our Arts Coast. We are cutting overhead, our commitment to arts remains strong.”
“Defunding the county's designated local arts agency and providing half of the money they receive to a tourism marketing company doesn't support the arts and doesn't prove the best and highest use of county funding,” Murray told CL in response.
She noted that Creative Pinellas’ team of experienced arts professionals are embedded in the arts community and have sound arts administration backgrounds and reiterated the complementary but not interchangeable roles her organization and VSPC play.
“We can't do what they do and they can't do what we do without each other,” Murray added.
And relative to other county expenditures, this arts expertise comes heavily discounted.
Creative Pinellas uses about $1.05 million to support and promote the arts in Pinellas County, and most of that money—$861,000 to be exact—comes from the county’s tourism bed tax collected when visitors book hotel rooms.
As far as local taxpayers, Creative Pinellas only receives $156,000 from general funds and $36,000 from the transportation fund—combined that accounts for less than 0.004% of the county’s $4.4 billion operating budget.
It’s possible that Scott—who was elected to the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners in 2022—is unfamiliar with the multifaceted role that Creative Pinellas plays in Pinellas County’s art community. That’s unlikely.
In June, Murray presented the Pinellas County Tourist Development Council—on which Scott serves—with a summary of what Creative Pinellas does for the county.
A June 2025 presentation to the Pinellas County Tourist Development Council
c/o Creative Pinellas
Or maybe Scott thought no one would notice or stand up for Creative Pinellas. There was no mention of Creative Pinellas in the Aug. 28 meeting agenda, and when Eggers mentioned that he was uncomfortable making such a significant change without those directly affected in the room, Scott claimed he’d done a deep dive on it.
A skeptical Eggers replied, “If you’ve done a deep dive and having communications out there, I haven’t heard a peep from anybody in that community and I’m sure I would have heard something. Not because I’m the art representative, but because they would reach out to their elected officials on this change. I haven’t heard a peep from anybody.”
“You will by next week,” an off-camera commissioner says.
“Or that just shows you it’s not really all that…,” Scott trails off.
“If they have heard and they’re not responding, then I would agree with that, but I’m not sure that’s the case,” says Eggers.
Arts advocates hadn’t heard, but they soon found out.
Last Saturday morning, Murray took to social media with a plea:
“Heartbroken is the best word to describe what I'm feeling. On top of all that is happening around us, the County has proposed defunding Creative Pinellas at the end of this fiscal year (four weeks away). We're all doing so much, but I invite everyone who has received a grant from us, enjoyed our exhibitions, or has shown their work in our space, or are simply a fan of the arts in our amazing area, to please attend the upcoming County budget meeting and speak up. WE CAN TURN THIS AROUND!”
The image Murray attached to her post, fittingly, is a photograph of Leo Gomez’s “Better Together” mural in Lealman Park.
Photo by Jennifer Ring
Leo Gomez’s 'Better Together' mural at Lealman Park in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Ahead of this Thursday’s county commission meeting to discuss Scott’s proposed cuts, a growing list of artists and local arts organizations has urged supporters to show up and speak out for Creative Pinellas.
For now, those are the next best steps.
Last Saturday, Murray told CL that Creative Pinellas has shifted its focus to better align with the county’s tourism initiatives and said she was shocked to hear Scott's proposal. “I thought we were all on the same page," she said.
In his comments at last week’s workshop, Commissioner Scott said he spoke with Visit St. Pete-Clearwater President/CEO Brian Lowack about the funds that go to Creative Pinellas. Scott claims that he asked Lowack if his team could facilitate a “competitive grant program specifically for arts tourism,” and that Lowack said his team could “get it done.”
But Murray told CL she had also spoken to Lowack about a separate issue a few weeks ago, and that he assured her that their teams would soon meet to develop a plan for tracking visitation and understanding where people go when they experience the arts in Pinellas County.
Lowack did not respond to a request for comment.
Still, Murray says she’s hopeful, adding “We’ve requested a public workshop, and we’re waiting to hear back from the county commission to see if that’s possible.”
On Wednesday morning, the Clearwater Arts Alliance sent an urgent email calling on county leaders and community members to attend the Sept. 4 budget meeting.
“To defund Creative Pinellas would destabilize the cultural infrastructure that sustains artists, arts and culture organizations, and residents across Pinellas County, and weaken the very foundation of the cultural tourism economy that benefits us all,” the missive states.
The Board of County Commissioners meets at 333 Chestnut St. in Clearwater on Thursday, Sept. 4. A public hearing will begin at 6 p.m.
Readers and community members are always welcome to send letters to the editors Please let us know if we may consider your submission for publication.
Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.
Follow us: Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | BlueSky
