On Friday, the second annual Artist Invasion, a multidisciplinary art-music-fashion event, takes over Williams Park. The evening kicks off at 7 p.m. with the Jim Morey Band, followed by a performance by Revolution Dance Company, a collective of dancers with physical disabilities, who will be introduced by Miss Wheelchair Florida 2008, Tampa's own Shari Deanna Wilson, at 7:45 p.m. Music by Extinction of Man and a break-dancing competition lead up to the main event at 9 p.m., a fashion show featuring designs by Aleka Phoenix, Anomalous, GC Teeth, Ivan Quinones and 13-year-old Jessi Ruben (Nalani Designs). D'Visitors and Tribal Style round out the evening with music sets until midnight.
During the event, 20 local visual artists will paint on 4-foot-by-6-foot plywood boards provided by Home Depot, and some of the resulting paintings will be sold by silent auction to raise money for next year's Artist Invasion. Ivanka Ska, owner of downtown boutique House of Ska, co-founded the group that organizes the show, St. Pete Art Beat, to bring arts-based events to Williams Park. For the past few years, the city and local business owners have labored to redefine the park as something other than a refuge for the city's homeless residents.
This weekend also ushers in another installment of Art Basel Miami Beach, that annual art fair extravaganza that lures galleries and collectors from around the world to South Beach and Wynwood (Miami's contemporary art gallery and design showroom district). This year's economy threatens to rain on Miami Basel's perpetually sun-kissed parade of high-end art and Prada-wearing art lovers, and I'll be taking notes. Tune into the Daily Loaf or Artsqueeze to find out more.
