By Caron Schwartz
Yay for Ya La’ford!
Local artist Ya La’ford received the Blanche Armwood Legacy Award at the annual National Alumnae Association of Spelman College Tampa Bay Chapter event. The award honors the legacy of Tampa native Blanche Armwood, who graduated from Spelman College in 1906 and was the first African American woman from Florida to earn a law degree from Howard University Law School in 1938. Like Armwood, La’ford earned a JD. But it is her work as a community and public arts activist that earned her the honor.
But wait, there’s more
La’ford’s work is on display at the annual Florida Contemporary exhibit at the Baker Museum in Naples, FL. Since she lived in Naples during Hurricane Ian, La’ford created VORTEX, an exhibit that serves as a place to find solace and healing through the beauty of art. On exhibit through July 16, 2023. www.artisnaples.org/baker-museum
Art and caffeine, my favorite combo
Local coffee roaster Kahwa Coffee is collaborating with St. Pete’s favorite doodle master, artist Chad Mize, to support the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance. Mize designed art-wrapped coffee canisters that Kahwa is filling with its Signature Sirocco Blend. Sales of this delicious and artful combination, available in Kahwa shops and online (www.kahwacoffee.com/products/artcoffeecan), will support SPAA. At $24.99 a can ($10 for refills) it’s a project every coffee and art aficionado can enjoy.
Another inspired alliance
Creative Clay and the Dalí Museum have joined forces with Surreal Surprise. This exhibit in Creative Clay’s Good Folk Gallery features Salvador Dalí-inspired artwork by its Member and Transition Student artists. At the same time, the Dalí museum store is selling greeting cards featuring Creative Clay artists’ original surreal artwork. Artists receive a 50 percent commission on all works sold. 1846 First Ave. S. or in Creative Clay’s virtual gallery www.creativeclay.org.
Lealman, you’re looking fine
The Lealman Mural Project continues to achieve more visual vibrancy. Daniel “R5” Barojas will collaborate with the Lealman Innovation Academy scholars to inspire his design at the school building on 28th St. N. Hanna Eriksson Party will help bring color to Ceramics by Kayla’s new location on the corner of Haines Road N and 53rd Ave. N. Reid Jenkins (Reid Jenkins Art) will transform the Tommy Todd Landscape and Design Warehouse on Haines Road N.
The Bishop Museum of Science and Nature presents Towers of Tomorrow with LEGO® Bricks through March 18, 2023. The interactive experience combines architecture, design, and engineering, allowing guests an up-close view of 20 of the world’s most iconic skyscrapers from the Empire State Building to Burj Khalifa, all constructed by Robin Sather, one of only 22 LEGO® certified professionals in the world. Located at 201 10th St. W, Bradenton. www.bishopscience.org
Cost: $25 for adults, $23 for seniors, $16 for children (5-17), $19 for college students, free for kids 4 and under.
Color my world
The Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg is joining with EnChroma (www.enchroma.com), creators of glasses for color blindness, to offer an enhanced art-viewing experience for visitors with Color Vision Deficiency (CVD). The MFA was the first museum in the Tampa Bay area to prioritize color accessibility through this initiative. EnChroma glasses at the museum are available in adult and children’s sizes, as well as in fit-over glasses for those who also wear prescription lenses.
Art News Nudes
“Hyperrealism. This is Not a Body,” a group show of 30 lifelike sculptures, many nudes, are now on exhibit at Paris’s Museé Maillol, marking the 13th stop of the exhibition’s now six-year tour. As if that’s not interesting enough, at least 800 attendees visited the show naked themselves during specially appointed time slots during November. Previous “Hyperrealism” engagements in Liège and Lyon hosted similar all-nude events.
No business like show business
Theatre Tampa Bay’s 2022 awards included 24 awards honoring excellence in theatrical design and production. Congrats to the theater winners: 8 – Stageworks for three productions; 6 – Straz Center for two productions; 4 – Jobsite for three productions, 4 – Opera Tampa for two productions; 1 – Early Bird Dinner Theatre and 1 – St. Petersburg Opera. Kudos to the shows: 4 – 12 Angry Men; 3 – Crowns; 3 – Murder on the Orient Express; 3 – Nunsense A-Men!; 2 – Gianni Schicchi/Cavalleria Rusticana; 2 – Pirates of Penzance; 2 – The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui; 1 – Animals Out of Paper; 1 – Boeing-Boeing, 1 – Diary of Anne Frank; 1 – Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; 1 – La Fille de Regiment.
Awards galore
Twelve of the nation’s top contemporary fine craft artists were presented with $10,500 in awards at the 25th Annual Florida CraftArt Festival. Trent Manning (mixed media) won Best of Show. John Kellum (ceramics) received the Directors’ Award. Four Awards of Excellence went to Pam Fox (jewelry), William Kidd (ceramics), Pottery Boys Glen Woods and Keith Herbrand (ceramics), and John Mascoll (wood). Six Awards of Merit were given to Dominice Gilbert (sculpture), Amos Amit (fiber), Steve Palmer (glass), Michelle Chang and Wayne Gao (mixed media), Sandra Matasick (jewelry), and Dawn Waters (fiber). Emerging Artist Matthew Szidik (glass) received the Judge’s Award.
Calls for artists
Gulfport-based DRV Gallery invites artists to take part in “Art for a Cause,” an exhibition where artists can support a cause of their choice. Deadline for entry is Dec. 15 and the gallery will choose from the first 50 submissions. Apply online at www.drvgallery.com. The exhibition runs Jan. 19 – Feb. 3, 2023, at DRV Gallery, 5401 Gulfport Blvd. S, and awards will be handed out at the opening reception on Jan. 19 at 6pm. The gallery will collect a 35 percent commission on sales and donate 10 percent of that commission to the artist’s chosen cause.
Haven’t you always wanted to paint a fire hydrant? The city of Brooksville, in collaboration with the Hernando Fine Arts Council, asks artists to apply to the Art on Fire Program. Interested artists (no residency requirements) will “adopt” and decorate fire hydrants throughout downtown Brooksville. Learn more and apply here: www.cityofbrooksville.us/370/Art-on-Fire
Get happy with a historian
On the second Friday of the month enjoy happy hour with a historian at the St. Pete Museum of History, 335 2nd Ave NE. Doors open at 6pm, program begins at 6:30pm. SPMOH members get in free, all others pay $10. Cash bar on site. On Jan. 13 have a drink with Dr. Kathyrn Weedman Arthur who will speak on Black Heritage Landscapes: St. Pete 1868-1930. For a complete schedule see www.spmoh.com/2021-happy-hour-with-the-historian.
I’ll drink to that
Make New Year’s Eve special 7-9:30pm at Joe’s Palette Paint and Wine Bar Paint and Sip Party on Central Ave. Ring in the new year with a free drink and more wines for purchase, live DJ, and a pre-stenciled canvas to create and have fun with art; $40 by reservation only at Eventbrite (www.bit.ly/3ggh2LG).