Tampa Bay needs more museums to stay open on weekend nights

Thomas Hallock chimes in on what Tampa Bay needs to be a better place in four years.

by Thomas Hallock March 1, 2024January 24, 2025

‘Happy Neighborhood’ Essays and poems by Thomas Hallock My family has a new bedtime ritual where we take three deep breaths and each share, in detail, our favorite part of the day. The practice is lifted from Creative Loafing Tampa Bay contributor Dr. Hallock (a literary doc, not an M.D.) who theorizes that the archiving of a good memory might erase a painful one. His bare-all collection of essays and poems about Tampa Bay and fatherhood is full of tender stories and reminders to fly close to the things that make you happy. (Mercer University Press) Photo c/o Katherine Betzer Credit: Photo c/o Katherine Betzer

Art after dark. Museums need to stay open on weekend nights. Tampa Museum of Art closes at 5 p.m.; ditto, St. Pete. Why? There’s no finer hook up than a fine art connection. There’s nothing more I’d rather do on Friday evening than meet my honey at the museum, grab a glass of wine, gab over a painting.

To commemorate the leap year, Creative Loafing Tampa Bay asked readers and local leaders to chime in on what Tampa Bay needs to be a better place in four years. These are some of the results of the “What Tampa Bay Needs” survey.

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This article appears in Feb 22-28, 2024.

Thomas Hallock

Thomas Hallock is Professor of English at the University of South Florida St Petersburg. He is currently writing a book of travel essays about why he loves teaching the American literature survey, called... More by Thomas Hallock