By Caron Schwartz
Food lovers, start your saucepans MasterChef All-Stars Live! brings a night of food, fun, and fierce competition to the Mahaffey when chefs straight from the MasterChef kitchen show off their moves. 10/4 at 7pm. https://bit.ly/mahaffey-masterchef So long, it’s been good to know you After four years at the helm, CEO Terry Marks bids farewell to the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance. Marks was brought in to replace retiring founder John Collins. She will return to consulting on the arts and other initiatives close to her heart.
And after just six months at The Gabber, arts writer Maggie Duffy is starting a new position as the managing editor of Creative Pinellas’ digital magazine. Before gracing the pages of Gulfport’s hometown newspaper, Duffy was the Tampa Bay Times arts writer.
Plenty of parking Florida State Parks has again been named a finalist for the 2025 National Gold Medal Award for Excellence in Park and Recreation Management. Florida has earned the Gold Medal four times, more than any other state. The park service manages 175 state parks spanning more than 815,000 acres, including 101 miles of beaches, 3,024 miles of trails, and 18 springs parks. So get out there!
Break barriers like it’s 1865 Get ready for Tampa Bay’s best family reunion during the Juneteenth Festival, 6/16-21 in Tampa! Festivities include Youth Summit, Food for Thought, State of the Diaspora, Cultural Couture Ball, TopGolf, and the main festival at Raymond James Stadium on 6/21 from 2:30pm-9pm. Organized by ROC THE BLOCK INC. www.roctheblockinc.com Repatriation on the rise More museums are voluntarily returning artworks to their places of origin without being legally forced to. The National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago is returning an ancient Mayan frieze to the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History. The frieze had been donated by a Chicago family.
Not that Elvis Elvis Costello & The Imposters with Charlie Sexton’s Radio Soul! Tour – The Early Songs of Elvis Costello, at the Mahaffey Theater on 7/9 at 8pm. Costello is the composer or lyricist of over 600 published titles, collaborating with the likes of Paul McCartney, Allen Toussaint, the Brodsky Quartet, T Bone Burnett, and Burt Bacharach. https://bit.ly/mahaffey-costello
Three’s company A trio of massive starfish sculptures will move into Tampa International Airport’s Main Terminal as part of the airport’s newest public art installation. Claudia Comte’s “Starfish Family | Dancing Algae” has found its forever home in the future Airside D shuttle lobby near the Red Express Curbsides area on Level 3. The starfish family is currently out of public view but will be a hands-on installation when the space opens to airport guests in a few months.
Another artsy airport Creative Pinellas, in partnership with St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport (PIE), launched Sightline, a new airport gallery located post-security near Gates 7-11. The first exhibition, Made in the Shade, invites travelers and visitors to experience the beauty, creativity, and culture of Florida through the eyes of local artists Elizabeth Barenis, Matthew Drennan Wicks, and Babette Herschberger.
Good, clean R-rated fun Get ready for a night of live band burlesque at the Palladium!
They’re turning up the heat with an evening of glamour, tease, and slapstick comedy – vintage vaudeville with a modern twist. 6/28 at 8pm. https://bit.ly/palladium-burlesque
Gimme a head with hair In her two-decade search for ultra-long hair, Argentinian photographer Irina Werning has traveled around Latin America building her body of work titled “Las Pelilargas,” or “The Long-haired Ones.” The collection celebrates the shared reverence for long tresses across the region and their role in cultural identity and ancestral traditions.
The real story of the birds and the bees The James Museum’s latest exhibition, RARE AIR: Endangered Birds, Bats, Butterflies, and Bees, showcases Sarah Kaizar’s illustrations of endangered birds, bats, butterflies, and bees, including species found in Florida. In this call–to–action for wildlife conservation, Kaiser captures the beauty and fragility of endangered species of flight. Now through 9/14. https://bit.ly/james-air
Hutterite shutterbug The Florida Museum of Photographic Arts presents The Hutterites: In the World but Not of It. Manitoba-based photographer Tim Smith has spent the last 15 years photographing the close-knit communal community of the Hutterites. This pacifist Anabaptist group has roots going back to the 16th-century Reformation. On exhibit through 6/29. www.fmopa.org/the-hutterites
Cool off in a cool place Imagine Museum invites Floridians to stay cool this summer amid bright, shiny things. Show proof of Florida residency and get a discount ticket to the St. Pete glass museum. The Out of this World Summer Scavenger Hunt offers a playful way to enjoy the museum, while the Introductory Tours (Tues-Fri 3pm) provide insightful views of exhibitions. Available June-August. https://bit.ly/floridians-imagine
Wonder Women Besties Erin East and Aimée Kosta invite you to get creative at WonderWorks (featured image), a co-working, co-creating, and event space they launched in an adorable 100-year-old Gulfport cottage. Here’s a tip: keep kids entertained on Saturdays all summer with kindergarten teacher David Feldman’s weird and wonderful art classes. https://bit.ly/wonderworks-gulfport
To see or not to see … Shakespeare’s Hamlet gets a comedic makeover in Fat Ham, James Ijames’s imaginative take. Set in a backyard barbecue, Juicy (aka Hamlet) is dealing with the aftermath of his dad’s untimely death. But he’s not buying the official story of how his old man met his end. Cue the drama, intrigue, and quest for truth. On stage now through 6/22 at American Stage. https://bit.ly/fat-link
It’s only natural Spend a Sunday immersed in art and nature during Art & Nature Sunset Tours. Begin the afternoon at the Museum of Fine Art discovering artwork inspired by nature. Then head to the St. Pete Pier for a sunset cruise with Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Center’s marine science educators8:45-4, 29/6. pm. https://bit.ly/mfa-nature-tour
Creative healing NAMI Pinellas’s Jeff Morris offers Healing Through Comics, a two-day workshop that blends creativity and mental health. People ages 15-26 process emotions, explore grief, and reshape their personal narrative by producing a published comic – a tangible expression of their journey, creativity, and resilience. 6/10 & 6/12, 12-4pm. https://bit.ly/healing-comics
FloridaRAMA funhouse There’s even more to experience at St. Pete’s immersive, walk-through art experience, FloridaRAMA. Check out the latest installations, including Nicole Salgar’s Vortex Veritas, Guy Williams’s steampunk lamps, Mike Norton’s miniature robot assemblages, Type_n’s (aka Tyler Norman) digital “diorama bench,” Dolios’s two-headed alligator sculpture, and iBOMS’s (aka Jabari Reed-Diop) Joy For All. www.floridarama.art