At this weekend’s Gasparilla Festival of the Arts, Rene Paul Barilleaux, head of curatorial affairs for the McNay Art Museum, Texas’ first museum of modern art, will serve as juror, deciding which artists will bring home more than $75,000 in prize money. The artist who wins the Best of Show will take home $15,000; other awards will range from $1300 to $7500 each. He’s going to have trouble, we suspect, choosing the best; this year, the show boasts plenty of thoughtful art from talented artist —some serious, some fun, but all engaging.
The weekend boasts, of course, art of all types, making it a visual orgy not to be missed. But on top of browsing wood, fiber, acrylic, watercolor and every other type of art you could imagine, there's the annual Art Car exhibit in Kiley Garden, which is also where you'll find works by emerging artists (check out our faves here), kids' activities, a scholastic showcase of the best art from Hillsborough county students from K-12, a chalk walk featuring eight handpicked artists who will create live art during GFA and, for something fancy, galaRE on Mar. 3 at 8 p.m. at the Tampa Museum of Art. galaRE unites patrons, art lovers and artists but has limited availability. Get tickets here.
