Contain It! a big hit at Dunedin Fine Art Center

Dunedin's big "It" Weekend was a hit. The Dunedin Fine Art Center is just giddy with satisfaction over the success of its Contain It! PODS installation show Feb. 21-22. The DFAC, which recently received best St. Pete/Clearwater museum honors from the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, hosted its annual event with artists converting storage containers into interactive environments was extended to two days with a strong focus on education and collaboration in the community — especially amongst artists, art educators and students. There were 25 students from St. Petersburg College, a student from Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School, and a developmentally disabled adult student from Pyramid Inc. collaborated with art instructors. And of course, many of the artists, like event photographer Nicole Abbett, collaborated with other artists.

Standouts in the show included “Memories of a Shifting Future” by the Spolek Collaborative, a a group of young parents (Nathan Beard, Cate Clark, Corey O’Connor, Marketa O’Connor, Aaron Schallenberger and Hallie Schallenberger) who created a detailed contemplation on domesticity vs. personal needs, among other things.

"My wife Cate Clark came up with the genius idea of having our wives install something on the exterior of the POD," said Beard, "to tie into their roles as working moms. The project then became about the reverence we as parents have for our children and an examination of the changes our children have affected in us. Another theme we wanted to explore was the idea of gender role reversal and the conversation our culture is having about this."

Other pieces included a stunning Abraham Lincoln shadow piece by Kumpa Tawornprom, Abbett's urban Tampa "B is for Box, P is for PODS" installation with graffiti and a peep hole revealing a mannequin and Ybor-style brick road (with real bricks, even). Wes Roos installed a skateboard half-pipe in his multimedia POD, and Theo Georgiou's lovely living room sported a unique use of black light. Check out the slideshow here for more details about the uniquely compelling works in the show.