Arts In

Erin Blankenship is the Curator of Exhibitions & Collections at the Florida Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg. The Museum is more special than most people realize - it’s a historical museum that maintains a vital collection of contemporary art. Erin’s seen first-hand how visual art offers another path to understanding the challenging reality of genocide. The Museum’s permanent collection includes work in a range of mediums, created by artists in concentration camps and Holocaust survivors - along with work by “empathizers,” artists who may or may not be Jewish, but are moved to respond to acts of genocide. She explains the powerful role artists shoulder, telling stories that need to be told. And she shares memories of beloved artist William Pachner, an internationally-known Abstract Expressionist and a longtime, vivid presence in Tampa Bay. In one of the highlights of her curatorial career to date, Erin organized an exhibition where collectors of Pachner’s beautiful and colorful abstractions discovered th

Katherine Pill is the Curator of Contemporary Art at the Museum of Fine Arts in downtown St. Petersburg. In this conversation with Barbara St. Clair, Katherine shares her duties as curator of the growing collection of contemporary art at this classic museum - from exploring cutting-edge new digital works to collaborating with public artists Carol Mickett and Robert Stackhouse on community engagement with their work. Find out more about the Museum of Fine Arts at mfastpete.org. . . . Images 1-2 are from Mickett-Stackhouse’s Irma Reflections at the MFA. Find out more about this participatory installation at mfastpete.org/event/mickett-stackhouse-irma-reflections/all. Image 3 is by Christian Marclay, a still from Telephones, 1995, video, running time 7:30 minutes. © Christian Marclay. Courtesy Paula Cooper Gallery, New York. Find out more about this pioneering artist at tate.org.uk/art/artists/christian-marclay.

Desiree Moore is a multidisciplinary artist working in video and film, art installations and a unique take on interactive public art. She shares her creative process, with plenty of action in the editing room, in this conversation with Barbara St. Clair. Along with her engaging collaborative effort, The Barter Boat, traveling the country to trade people’s special objects and stories. Find out more about Desiree Moore’s work at https://www.desireenicholemoore.com/. Explore the online journal she posted during her Creative Pinellas Emerging Artist Fellowship - https://creativepinellas.org/desiree-moore/. Find out more about the Barter Boat at https://www.facebook.com/BarterBoat/.

Carrie Boucher’s artistic practice is driving a traveling art classroom, providing opportunities for children and adults to create art. The much-beloved Nomad Art Bus visits art festivals and foster homes, domestic abuse shelters, juvenile detention centers and parks, recreation centers and youth programs in areas of poverty throughout Tampa Bay. Carrie talks with Barbara St. Clair about her journey from a solo studio practice to this vibrant community art project. She tells the story of the Bus they drove and coaxed and sometimes towed to events - and how their first participants invented what is now the Nomad trademark, that everybody gets to paint the bus. Carrie explains the joys and challenges of working as an artist with a social practice - and how she uses her training in critiquing art to constantly question her own work, and keep making it better. You can find out more about the Nomad Art Bus at http://www.nomadartbus.org/.

Susana Weymouth is the Executive Director - and sole employee - of Tampa Bay Businesses for Culture and the Arts. The TBBCA is one of 11 national Business Committees for the Arts, connecting business people with artists and art. Their work brings business folk to galleries and theatres, and connects artists with offices looking for art. The relationships the TBBCA build help artists and arts organizations find patrons, and help businesses shape creative workplaces as they engage with the arts around them. Susana talks about the arts as a vital economic force, and how businesses and artists can work together. She explains the TBBCA’s advocacy role in funding for the arts. And for nonprofits struggling to find and develop board members, she shares her tips for building a strong and active board of directors. The scholarship program the TBBCA provides has helped many young Tampa Bay artists build professional careers. And the annual Impact Awards, honoring artists, arts leaders and arts supporters, shines

Painter Nathan Beard found his way to both realistic and abstract new work in the only time he had - when his newborn daughter was napping. Nathan talks with Barbara St. Clair about creating visual artwork that’s inspired by his other passion, environmental science and endangered species. Nathan shares his path and ongoing goals as a professional artist, and the things art school does not prepare you for. The work of Nathan Beard, Akiko Kotani and Rob Tarbell is featured in Unexpected: Art By Alternative Means, on display at the Leepa-Rattner Museum in Tarpon Springs through May 19 - leeparattner.org/explore/exhibitions-on-view/unexpected-art-by-alternative-means-featuring-nathan-beard-akiko-kotani-and-rob-tarbell. Find out more about Nathan’s work at nathanbeardfineart.com. Follow the online journal he kept during his tenure as a Creative Pinellas Emerging Artist Fellow at creativepinellas.org/nathan-beard. - Arts In is produced by Matt and Sheila Cowley. Executive Producer, Barbara St. Clair.

As Keep St Pete Lit brings this year’s Writer in Residence to town, we share a conversation with last year’s award-winning author, Ladee Hubbard. Ladee talks with Barbara St. Clair about her rollicking, imaginative novel, The Talented Ribkins, about a family of African Americans living in the South who have odd and unique superpowers. . . like drawing maps and seeing colors no one else can see. The inspiration for the book is an essay by W.E.B. DuBois, a story of a strangely-shaped potato and her grandfather defying odds to earn a PhD in chemistry and teach at St Pete College, at a time when that was a rare thing for an African American to do. Ladee Hubbard talks about deciding to earn an MFA while raising three young children, and how Toni Morrison encouraged all her wild experiments with language as a student. You can find out more about her work at https://ladeehubbard.com/. Check out the events around this year’s Keep St Pete Lit Writer in Residence and the annual SunLit Festival, celebrating re

You might think that Sheryl Oring’s work is about old-fashioned manual typewriters. But her compelling style of public art is about memory, and stories. Sheryl Oring’s powerful body of work gives voice to writers who were silenced, and helps people share stories and make their voices heard. In this vibrant conversation, she explains how she developed Writer’s Block to honor the writers, dancers and musicians whose work was banned in Nazi Germany. From the first manual typewriter she bought in Berlin, to the construction crew charmed by her bold request for rebar, to the night she debuted the work where Nazis burned books in the rain in 1933 - and hundreds of people under umbrellas watched dancers and musicians performing in the rain on her monumental sculpture installation, of typewriters trapped in cages. Dressed like a secretary in the 1950s, Sheryl has created vibrant public art projects that invite people to dictate a postcard to politicians. She asked New Yorkers what they’d like people to remember

You’ve seen Herb Snitzer’s photographs - on album covers, CD covers and almost every major magazine and newspaper. His images of Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, Miles Davis and Nina Simone are legendary, a few of the many classic jazz musicians he knew well and loved. His photographs are striking, and they always tell a story. Herb Snitzer’s candid photos of the Civil Rights Movement capture moments of electric change. Though he still regrets being backstage with Martin Luther King Jr., Ossie Davis and James Baldwin - without his camera. In his 80s now, Herb is still creating - and he still chooses black and white film over digital. Herb shares the stories behind many of his best-known images - revealing where and when, and what’s happening outside the frame. And he shares the story of the late-lamented Salt Creek Artworks, a vibrant group of artists who broke new ground for St. Petersburg’s now thriving arts community. Find out more about Herb Snitzer at http://herbsnitzer.com/statement.htm. E

Dancer, choreographer and USF professor Andee Scott says dance is public art as much as performance art. In her work on Our Town, she turned a walking tour of downtown St. Pete into an exploration of site-specific dance performances. For Our Trail, she brought dance to locations along the Pinellas Trail. Andee talks with Barbara St. Clair about her changing role in dance as she grows older, and her passion for exploring our humanity through movement, in this exciting conversation on Arts In. Explore Andee Scott’s work during her time as a 2017 Creative Pinellas Professional Artist Fellow - https://creativepinellas.org/andee-sun-scott/ Find out more about Andee Scott’s work at USF at http://theatreanddance.arts.usf.edu/content/templates/?z=0&a=3132 with links to articles at - http://theatreanddance.arts.usf.edu/content/templates/?z=9&a=4210 A video of Between Here and Now, choreographed by Andee Scott at USF - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zUBo5CeVAc

Jake Troyli is a young artist working with classical oil painting techniques, and making them his own. With humor, and inspiration from both Rubens and Richard Pryor, his work explores race, identity and politics, and invites constant conversation. Jake talks with Barbara St. Clair about his focus on perfecting his technique and why he chooses representational painting. He talks about growing up backstage at St. Pete’s American Stage, and how it’s easier to ask bold questions with art than conversation. Find out more about Jake Troyli’s work at https://www.jaketroyli.com. Read Creative Loafing’s article about his 2018 exhibition at the ArtsXchange - https://www.cltampa.com/arts-entertainment/theater/article/20991797/jake-troyli-at-the-arts-xchange-gallery-race-matters-addressed-with-comic-precision. Explore Jake Troyli’s work during his time as a 2017 Creative Pinellas Emerging Artist at https://creativepinellas.org/jacob-troyli/.

Dolores Coe leads guided drawing sessions with students, caregivers and clinicians - and people who’ve lost language due to strokes or injury. And everyone communicates by making art. Dolores is the Curator of the University of South Florida’s Art in Health Programs, a creative lab aimed at training health care professionals to carefully observe and decode what they’re seeing, hearing and communicating when they’re trying to heal patients. In the Art in Health workshops, artists teach drawing, a composer shares tools for creating and understanding sound, a dancer explores how to see and record movement, and actors teach the listening and responding skills of improvisation. All of this is geared toward making medical and health care students better at their future jobs. The program is part of the Institute for Research in Art that includes the Graphicstudio and USF Contemporary Art Museum. Dolores shares the methods and focus of the Art in Health team - and the surprising offshoots of this program. Her i

Roxanne Fay brings fascinating characters to life onstage. You might see her as Mary Magdalene, or a battered housewife who is suddenly set free. She’s played a wounded grandmother, a young girl hiding in a tree, Coco Chanel - and even wielded stormclouds in The Tempest. As an actor and a playwright, Roxanne Fay crafted a life in professional theatre, working steadily in classic plays, new plays and her own projects. In this conversation with Barbara St. Clair, Roxanne shares insights into vivid characters she’s played, and the love of research that drives her work. She talks about becoming a playwright to create compelling roles to play as she’s grown older, and the passion for live theatre that leads her from one project to the next. Find out more about Roxanne Fay at http://www.roxannefay.com. Check out her work as a 2017 Creative Pinellas Professional Artist Fellow at https://creativepinellas.org/roxanne-fay/.

Gloria Muñoz thinks about the details she observes in life. Details, feelings, shades of meaning that she observes as closely as a scientist. Gloria explores the environment and nature in her work, the prospect of extinction, the complexities of family and the compression of sound. Gloria Muñoz is a poet - examining the world and investigating humans through her work. Gloria shares her passion for eco-poetics and the art of observation, and beautiful poetic structures from around the world. She’s also a filmmaker and advocate for women in the arts. Gloria talks with Barbara St. Clair about the complicated energies of growing up as a first-generation American, and how she trains her students at Eckerd College to truly see the world. Find out more about Gloria Muñoz’s work at http://www.gloria-munoz.com Check out Gloria’s film production company, Pitch Her Productions at https://www.pitchherproductions.org. (Photo by Devon Moore Curtin)

Marlys Meckler is a docent who gives tours full of stories at the Salvador Dalí Museum, the Chihuly Museum and The James Museum, as well as Mural Tours for Florida CraftArt and tours of St. Pete’s Public Art. Marlys talks with Barbara St. Clair about the work she does - how Public Art is chosen and the stories behind many of the striking artworks that residents of St. Pete don’t always notice as they go about their day. She became an expert by getting involved and volunteering after she retired, and by talking with the artists who work here. Listening to her stories will send you out exploring. Check out the links below for opportunities to find out more, and directions to many of Marlys Meckler’s favorite Public Art pieces. Docent Tours and Volunteer Opportunities THE DALI MUSEUM Salvador Dalí Museum Docent Tours https://thedali.org/visit/tours/ Dalí Museum Volunteer Opportunities https://thedali.org/join-and-give/get-involved/become-volunteer/ Dalí Docent Training Program https://thedali.org/jo

Elizabeth A. Baker is a composer, a touring toy piano player, a classical guitarist, an experimental performance artist, a recording engineer, a cellist, a collaborator with dancers and visual artists, a computer programmer, a rarely-heard singer, an educator, sound designer. . . so many things that people forget she’s a concert pianist. Renaissance Artist is the most accurate job description Elizabeth could think of. No one can describe her work better than herself. “Celebrated for her ‘terrifying dynamic range,’ cleanliness of sound, as well as unique sensitivity and ability to sculpt her performance for the acoustics of a space, Elizabeth A. Baker is a dramatic performer with an honest, near psychic connection to music, which resounds with audiences of all ages and musical backgrounds. “An active performer highly sought after for her unique concert presentation methods, which break the fourth wall and draw the audience further into the music by asking them to listen beyond the surface through interact

Amanda Cooper is the longtime Curator of Exhibitions at the Morean Arts Center, the 100+ year mainstay of St. Petersburg’s arts community, with a mission to provide training in the arts for all ages. Amanda talks with Barbara St. Clair about the process of shaping the Morean’s adventurous themed exhibitions. She explains how the gallery focuses on local artists but places their artwork in a national perspective, and shares what she’s looking for in an emerging artist’s work. She details the history of the Center, which now includes the Chihuly Collection and glass-blowing Hot Shop, and the Morean Center for Clay - the largest working pottery in the Southeast. Amanda shares the challenges of keeping on the cutting edge of contemporary art while raising four children, and tells Barbara about the painting she saw as a teenager at the Museum of Fine Arts, that led her toward an arts career. Find out more about the Morean Arts Center’s classes here, with training available in drawing, painting, welding, potter

If you’ve seen theatre or opera in Tampa Bay, you’ve probably seen a production Keith Arsenault helped bring to life. A skilled lighting designer, set designer, theatre tech consultant and arts administrator, Keith is the resident lighting designer of the St Pete Opera, runs HCC Ybor’s beautiful Performing Arts Center, has worked as a voiceover artist, theatrical producer and circus ringmaster, and served on the staff of The Joffrey Ballet, the Opera Company of Boston, Palm Beach Opera and Nacional Ballet de Colombia. His theatrical work has taken him to 45 states and across Canada and Latin America, and he’s the winner of Creative Loafing Best of the Bay Awards for both Lighting and Scenic Design. Keith talks with Barbara St. Clair about growing up in a family rooted in theatre and dance. He shares the imaginative work of lighting design and the fascinating details of Tampa’s participation in the Federal Theatre Project in the 1930s, the one city in the U.S. that had both an English and a Spanish language

Kim Dohrman works in an art studio full of laughter and music. She’s the Executive Director of Creative Clay, St. Pete’s long and much-beloved arts center whose mission is to make the arts accessible for all. Creative Clay helps people with disabilities find their paths as working artists who actively create, market and sell their artwork. Kim shares how much she loves her job, the rich artistic programs Creative Clay offers - and the vibrant, expressive artists who work there. Creative Clay’s big fundraiser, Creative Clay Fest, takes place Sunday, November 11 at 3 Daughters Brewing in St. Pete’s Warehouse Arts District, with visual art, music, food and festivity. You can find the details at creativeclay.org/creative-clay-fest. Find out more about Creative Clay at creativeclay.org. Visit Creative Clay during ArtWalk, when the gallery is open from 5-9 p.m. with live music, every second Saturday. Their pay-what-you-can art Thrift Store is a source for art supplies including paint, paper, cloth, craft mate

When Helen Hansen French is onstage, it’s hard to keep your eyes on anybody else. As a dancer, Helen’s every move is purposeful and thoughtful, but seems utterly spontaneous. As a choreographer, she’s an expert at visual storytelling and often collaborates with composers, writers and visual artists. Helen is a St. Pete native with a degree from Julliard, who’s danced around the world. After joining NY’s Buglisi Dance Theatre, performing with Karen Reedy Dance, Nilas Martins’ Dance Company, the Guggenheim Works/Process program and at national and international dance festivals, we’re lucky that she came back to St. Petersburg to live and work and raise a family. Explore Helen Hansen French’s work during her time as a 2016 Creative Pinellas Professional Artist Fellow, including her Motherhood Project film about balancing an artistic career with motherhood. . . rapidreturns.org/helen-hansen-french. And her extensive resume. . . rapidreturns.org/helen-hansen-french/2016/5/30/helen-hansen-french See images fr