What comes to mind when you think of Ybor City? No doubt it’s a combination of history (picture cigar factories, Cuban sandwiches and coffee, brick-lined streets) and party destination (how many neighborhoods can boast goth, hip-hop, indie rock and gay clubs all within a few blocks?) That diversity has inspired many things (among them, a sordid saga of drunken mishaps, usually ending at Mema’s). Most recently, the area’s spawned The Bricks and Kick Start My Art’s Ode to Ybor, a collection of artwork by 17 local artists who pay tribute to “a city that helped raise our generation.”
Speaking of diverse, Ybor’s burgeoning eco-friendly venue, The Roosevelt, hosts State of the Art V.3, Tek-nique Entertainment’s multimedia showcase of nearly 30 artists, who redefine art in an array of unexpected media — from origami to graffiti, computer graphics, fashion, and performance art. (Pictured: Steven Thomas Williams' "Ode to Ybor") Ode to Ybor, 10 p.m. Fri., July 30, The Bricks, 1327 E. Seventh Ave., Ybor City, facebook.com/thebricksybor; State of the Art V.3, 8 p.m. Sat., July 31, The Roosevelt, 1812 N. 15th St., Ybor City, $8 in advance, $10 at the door, facebook.com/theRoosevelt. —Franki Weddington
Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller probably won't show up to demonstrate how a regulation dodgeball game is really played, but when Clear Channel Radio and the Tampa Bay Storm team up to host a day of Charity Dodgeball (aka pegging your friends and foes in the face with a big rubber ball) we bet you'll have fun nonetheless. Even better, proceeds benefit the families of fallen Tampa Police officers Kocab and Curtis. The registration fee for each six-person team is $120; contact [email protected] for info and registration. Admission to watch the tourney is free. Sat., July 31, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa.
Enjoy the art of spoken word and some fierce performance poetry at Saturday's Sacred Sounds Team Poetry Slam. Four teams from around the state compete with their best rhymes and lyrical prose for a prize of $300. This team slam is hosted by the Got Jokes? comedy and spoken word troupe, and has the added dimension of up to five people performing in a single piece of poetic work. tampaslam.eventbrite.com. Sat., July 31, 7:45-11 p.m., Got Jokes? Comedy House, Tampa, $10 in advance, $20 at the door.
