By Caron Schwartz
Stop & sniff the snapdragons at Padme Flower Farm. Mallika Nair is transforming an empty lot tucked into the Warehouse Arts District into a palette of color planted with hand-tended, organic flowers from anemones to phlox. Admire, pick, order a bouquet. www.padmeflowerfarm.com
Surreal space The Dali Museum’s major expansion will break ground this fall. Expect new galleries, learning spaces, and immersive art experiences in the $65 million, 35,000-square-foot addition. https://thedali.org
Thinking ahead The St. Petersburg Arts Alliance offers Funding Futures, a grant program to help talented, low-income emerging artists attend the St. Pete arts camp of their choice. Application deadline 4/30. https://bit.ly/spaa-futures
Creative thinking camps Have your child join the Art of Science summer camps for days of science exploration and hands-on learning. Choices include No-Tech Gamers Week, the imaginative world of video games without the need for a console! Or Keep Our Planet Green, where campers learn about recycling, environmental conservation, renewable energy, reducing waste, and protecting plants and animals. https://bit.ly/science-summer
Hey kids, dive in to the amazing world of Tampa Bay with Estuary Quest Summer Camp. Each week there’s a different animal theme and snorkeling, science experiments, games, boat rides, eco-friendly art, and tons of exciting activities. Two fun locations: Auer Marine Education Center in Tierra Verde andt the Discovery Center on the St. Pete Pier. www.tbwdiscoverycenter.org/summer-camp
Sew what’s new? Summer camps at Sew Pinellas offer week-long sewing and fashion design camps that are the perfect mix of skill-building, self-expression, and fun. Each camp focuses on a different theme – from fashion design and garment making to bags, costumes, and creative accessories. https://bit.ly/sewing-camp
Hokey hockey Tampa Bay History Center presents History as a Joke: Hockey with comedians Johnny B, John J. Murray, and Matt Fernandez, pointing out the humorous side of hockey history. 4/16 @ 7pm. https://bit.ly/joke-hockey
Let’s go Lealman! Creative Pinellas and Lealman Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) selected six artists for their annual partnership of art supporting community beauty, safety, and identity. Hanna Eriksson Patry, Paulina Casati, Charli Regel, Chris Dyer, and Nia Mitchell will create wraps for five signal boxes. Frankie G. will paint a 900-square-foot mural. Since 2019, Creative Pinellas has managed and installed 65 public art projects across Pinellas County. https://bit.ly/lealman-mural
Wite-Out like an Egyptian While studying a 3,300-year-old papyrus, curators at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, England, noticed the outline of a jackal had been modified with a white fluid to make the animal appear thinner. Apparently, the hieroglyphics copyeditor thought the manuscript needed a correction. https://bit.ly/papyrus-fix
Gulfport’s beloved John Prine is remembered in How Lucky Can One Man Get, a documentary featuring previously unreleased footage of Prine performing and reminiscing about his roots. All proceeds from this screening benefit the Hello in There Foundation. 4/10 @ 7pm, Beach Theatre in St. Pete Beach. www.thebeachtheatre.org
Step away from the screen A new bookstore called Pages and Perks is preparing to open at 914 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street S near Historic Roser Park. The lounge area will welcome readers of all ages, where parents can enjoy adult beverages at a six-seat bar while children spend time in a kid-friendly area. www.pagesandperks.com
My flower lady The Morean Arts Center presents State Flower Ladies, June Bunch’s transformation of 50 US state flowers into botanical ballerinas. on display thru 5/2. Opening reception 4/11, 5-8pm; gallery talk with the artist 4/23, 5:30-7pm. www.junebunch.com/illustration
ART HEALS Suncoast Center Inc. presents ART HEALS, an exhibit of artwork created by survivors of sexual violence, opening during the 4/11 Second Saturday Art Walk at ArtsXchange Tully-Levine Gallery. The exhibition remains open during April, Sexual Assault Awareness and Child Abuse Awareness Month. www.suncoastcenter.org/art-heals
Never forget freeFall Theatre presents And Then They Came for Me, a multimedia play that combines videotaped interviews of Holocaust survivors Eva Schloss and Ed Silverberg, Anne Frank’s first boyfriend, and live actors recreating scenes from their lives during World War II. 4/10-5/17.
www.freefalltheatre.com
Get OUT your art OUT Arts & Culture seeks submissions from LGBTQ+ artists for the ninth annual ArtOUT this June. The juried exhibition showcases visual art through an LGBTQ+ lens. Application deadline 5/15. https://bit.ly/artout-exhibit
HEAR HEAR Congress has approved an extension of the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery (HEAR) Act, a 2016 law that makes it easier for families to recover art stolen during the Holocaust. The original law gave heirs up to six years to file a claim once they found the artwork. The new bill limits time-based defenses, pushing more cases to be decided on their merits rather than procedural grounds. https://bit.ly/holocaust-art-recovery
Sunshine sells For more than a century, tourism has shaped St. Pete’s identity. Learn more at Wish You Were Here! on display at the St. Pete Museum of History. Through hand-tinted postcards to exotic citrus crate labels, northern visitors discovered our beaches, palm trees, and oranges.
www.spmoh.com
Feelin’ groovy Join the Museum of the American Arts & Crafts Movement for a live concert by soul-jazz trio Groove Merchant, Phil Magallanes, Andrew Jankura, and Eric Roberts. Special guest: GRAMMY Award-winning saxophonist Kenny Anderson. 4/25 @ 7:30pm. https://my.museumaacm.org/3230/3709
Patience, Grasshopper Next time you visit the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Pete, the first thing you’ll see is Yvette Mayorga’s Magic Grasshopper, a 30-foot-long opulent carriage drawn by carousel-style horses and loaded with 90’s nostalgia. Now thru 7/26. https://bit.ly/magic-grasshopper
Rite of spring Art in Bloom returns to the MFA 4/16-19. This annual tradition brings together a diverse array of floral designs, based on artwork throughout the museum, created by a mix of professionals, hobbyists, and members of The Margaret Acheson Stuart Society. https://bit.ly/art-in-bloom-mfa
Muzic, muzic, muzic GCAA ArtWorks in St. Pete hosts Vernal Equinox 2026, an exhibition by Muzicianist, an interdisciplinary artist whose work merges music composition, multi-instrumentalism, and light-painting videography. Vibe with Muzicianist as he performs during GCAA’s reception for Vernal Equinox 2026 4/11 from 5-9pm. On view 4/2-25.
Cedar’s canvas Brenda McMahon Gallery in Gulfport celebrates the latest works of award-winning painter Cedar Kindy with Kindy’s exhibit, Heaven, Earth & Gulfport, on display throughout April. Kindy will return to the gallery on 4/18 from 6-8pm for a Meet & Greet to discuss her career, her style, and what keeps her inspired as a creator. www.brendamcmahongallery.com
Sacred scroll An icon of American letters – the original 120-foot typewritten scroll of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road – sold for $12.1 million at auction, setting a record for a literary manuscript. The Beat Generation classic is a benzadrine-fueled stream-of-consciousness recounting of the adventures of Sal Paradise (a Kerouac stand-in) and Dean Moriarty (modeled after Neal Cassady) across America. https://bit.ly/on-the-road-scroll