Article by Caron Schwartz
Go ahead and bug me
When I was in junior high our school district introduced Quest, a new humanities program. The course comprised art history, mythology, religion, music appreciation, and other “soft” sciences. We were required to keep workbooks, which we were to fill with both found and original photographs, poetry, drawings, etc.
It was during this course that I began to appreciate learning. I think it had a lot to do with our teachers, Miss Rogers and Mrs. Nicolini (thank you, Meryl Ann Butler, for dredging up their names!) who facilitated learning rather than telling us what we needed to know. Those things that had bored or stumped me, e.g., rote memorization of historical facts and multiplication tables, began to take on meaning when applied to things that interested me — art, music, and writing.
I relished the freedom of personal discovery! How I wish I could find that workbook among the schoolgirl artifacts my parents gave me when downsizing from my childhood home.
I thought of Quest as I walked through Jennifer Angus’s exhibit “‘The Grasshopper and the Ant’ and Other Stories” on view through Jan. 5, 2020, at the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg. In the fable that inspired Angus, Aesop tells us of the friendship between the fun-loving grasshopper who plays music all summer and the industrious ant who spends the summer gathering provisions for winter. When winter arrives, the grasshopper pleads with his buddy to share his food, but the ant isn’t moved. The traditional moral celebrates the ant for being prepared.
But Angus wonders why we value only “stuff,” as in the foodstuffs that nourish the body, and not the intangibles that nourish the soul. To that end, she celebrates the beauty of insects — their seemingly infinite variety of iridescent colors, shapes and sizes. What went through my mind was education’s laser focus on rote learning to assure tiptop standardized test scores and the sad state of affairs that causes strapped-for-cash school districts to cut the arts and humanities first. If we had had those tests and hadn’t had Quest when I was a preteen, I may never have come to love learning.
Angus arranges her six-legged artifacts in gorgeous, strange, and sometimes shocking ways to make the viewer ponder the interactions of humans and insects. The first room is lined with “preserves” — shelves of Ball jars filled with amber and orange “jam,” replete with floating insects — that resembles your aunt’s (or ant’s) pantry. Sealed with beeswax, however, it smells earthy and sweet rather than the musty chemical aroma of traditional paraffin wax. Yes, insects have been around since long before us and will likely be around long after we’re gone.
The next room is lined with insect “wallpaper” and dominated by towering beeswax stilt houses. A reminder of climate change and rising water? The room’s repetitive round designs could be clocks. Melting candles on top of the houses are a reminder that people used to measure the hours by burning candles. A cuckoo clock chimed while I was there. Time marches on?
There’s also an animal dinner party (homage to Judy Chicago perhaps?), dioramas, Ball jars, and an apothecary chest with more than 100 drawers, all filled with intriguing insect-based vignettes, each asking more questions than they answer.
Go and ponder now through Jan. 5, 2020.
Museum of Fine Arts, 255 Beach Dr. NE, St. Petersburg, 727.894.4638, mfastpete.org
I’ve got a Gulfport artist jones ArtJones, the Gulfport-based premier artists collective, will have its biggest show ever Dec. 7-8. The third annual self-guided studio tour features 11 new artists representing a wide range of mediums, bringing the total number of professional working artists in the group to 20 spread out among 19 studios. More information and maps are available at the Gulfport Welcome Center, 3101 Beach Blvd. S., and area restaurants and stores. For news and updates click to ArtJonesStudioTour.com and check on Facebook @WeAreArtJones and Instagram @artjonesgulfportfl. Pick up an Artist Passport at your first stop. Get it stamped by at least 12 of the 19 studios and enter to win one of 20 works by ArtJones artists.
I love Paris in the autumn
When Salvador Dalí and Luis Buñuel’s film Un chien Andalou premiered in 1929, Paris was an avant-garde hothouse rife with artistic conflict and friendly rivalry. A new Dalí Museum exhibit, Midnight in Paris: Surrealism at the Crossroads, 1929 immerses visitors in this rich creative era by examining the works, friendships and clashes of Jean Arp, André Breton, Luis Buñuel, Alexander Calder, Giorgio de Chirico, Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, Alberto Giacometti, René Magritte, Joan Miró, Francis Picabia, Man Ray, Yves Tanguy and others.
The exhibition is designed for visitors to stroll through the streets of Paris, with a focus on the paintings, photographs, sculptures, and personalities of iconic Surrealist artists. It also features archival film and documents from the movement, as well as several rarely loaned Salvador Dalí works, including one of his earliest double-image paintings.
The exhibition, open Nov. 23 through April 2, 2020, was organized by the Paris-based Centre Pompidou and The Dali.
A tasty treat at the Dalí
The Dali Museum presents an exhibition featuring food photography and behind-the-scenes looks at restaurant life through the lens of the museum’s Cafe Gala Chef Chuck Bandel. Bandel spent the summers of 2017 and ‘18 in Catalonia, studying at two of the areas renowned restaurants,two-Michelin-star Miramar and Restaurante Martin Bersategui. On view through Dec. 1.
Meanwhile, just down the street, St. Petersburg’s Museum of Fine Arts invites you to EXPLORE THE VAULTS through March 22, 2020. This exhibit offers a chance to learn more about MFA’s expansive holdings — many of which are light-sensitive and only rarely on view. Generally only five percent of the museum’s collection is on view at any given time. The other 95 percent is kept in dark, climate-controlled vaults to protect them from fading. Explore the Vaults makes some of these rare, vulnerable objects available in a unique exhibition format.
The inaugural exhibition, Visions of France, features late 19th- and early 20th-century prints of the French capital and countryside, when Paris underwent a series of sweeping urban changes. Much of the medieval city was demolished to build the quintessentially Parisian buildings and boulevards beloved by tourists then and today. In addition, the rise of industry and transportation systems transformed the city into a modern, international city. Artists of the period related to these changes in a variety of ways — depicting both positive and negative aspects of the city and its inhabitants. Some depicted the countryside as a place of retreat. Yet, even within this seemingly pastoral imagery, one can glimpse elements of modernization, as well as themes of national identity.
This installation features prints, drawings, and photographs by artists such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Camille Pissarro, James Tissot, Edward Jean Steichen, and Paul César Helleu.
A night at the museum
The Margaret Acheson Stuart Society announces an exciting one-of-a-kind evening event on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2020, 6:46 to 9:16pm at the St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts. pARTy of the STrAnGE will feature “stage-inspired dress, edgy entertainment, flamboyant food, dramatic drinks, and other surprises,” says co-chair Mary Anna Murphy.
“It’s going to be a fascinating evening of performance arts merging with the arts focus of the new museum exhibition Art of the Stage,” adds co-chair Lisa Funsch. Tickets will be available on the Stuart Society website stuartsociety.donorshops.com beginning in November. A limited number of “First in Line” tickets at $100 per person will be available, and after those sell out, “Curtain Call” tickets will be $175 per person. Sponsor opportunities are available. For more information contact email party@stuartsociety.org.
6th Annual St. Petersburg Holiday of the Arts
Held in Williams Park on Dec. 14-15, the event showcases original artwork by artisans from across Florida and throughout the US, whose vision and creativity form an outdoor gallery of indescribable art. Explore creations in painting, sculpture, jewelry, glass, ceramics, fiber and wearable art, photography, digital art, mixed-media, metalwork, woodworking and more. Whether for yourself, gifts for family, friends or associates, you will find exceptional art at all price points.
Come by 10am to 5pm. Admission is free. The event is co-sponsored by the City of St. Petersburg and coordinated with the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance.
And over on the other side of the Sunshine Skyway
Chasen Galleries presents “Sequences,” a retrospective collection of works by world-renowned artist Jean Kazandjian. Thirty pieces will be on exhibition and available for acquisition Nov. 14 through Dec. 28 at Chasen Galleries, one of Sarasota’s most venerable art galleries.
Kazandjian’s origins and education brought him into contact with three different cultures. Born in Beirut, his roots are in the Armenian tradition, his high school education introduced him to French culture, while his years spent at university opened him to the influence of the English-speaking world. These various influences have combined to foster in his work the qualities of patience and sensibility, knowledge and wisdom. Chasen Galleries, 1830 S Osprey Ave., Sarasota.
While you’re in Sarasota …
You might want to take in a performance and check out the brand new seating in the Harold and Esther Mertz Theatre, the main performance space for the Asolo Repertory Theatre and The Sarasota Ballet. Capacity has increased from 503 to 535 seats, with most of the new seats added to the orchestra section of the theatre. Aisle lighting was also added for increased safety and visibility for patrons. The new layout also allows for an improvement in sight line clarity and an increase in ADA seating at a variety of price points. The Mertz, which was originally an opera house built in Dunfermline, Scotland, in 1903, has served as Asolo Rep’s performing space since 1990 and The Sarasota Ballet’s since 1996. The theatre is located in the FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N Tamiami Trail, Sarasota
Talk to the animals
SPCA Tampa Bay and Great Explorations Children’s Museum have partnered on a new “For All Animals” exhibit. For All Animals provides visitors with important interactive and hands-on learning opportunities focused on animal care, safety and health while offering experiences with adoption and animal-related careers. This exhibit will instill a positive and respectful attitude toward all animals while teaching about SPCA Tampa Bay’s work. The exhibit is located near the Forever Home and Treehouse in the museum, 1925 4th St. N. in St. Petersburg.
Cuba Libro
Clyde and Niki Butcher’s newly designed second edition Cuba book is available just in time for the holidays. Pre-order special is 15% off the $30 coffee-table book, and the first 100 sold will be signed by Clyde and Niki. This second edition of Cuba: The Natural Beauty features 50 of Clyde’s iconic fine art black and white photographs of the Cuban landscape and special color photos and journal by Niki. Any questions give us a call 941-486-0811. To view and order book click:
clydebutcher.com/s/books-and-gifts/books/cuba-the-natural-beauty-second-edition/
Art school for all
The Marcia P. Hoffman School of the Arts at Ruth Eckerd Hall offers a variety of classes, workshops and private lessons to all ages, providing them with the opportunity to explore their talents, discover new friends and learn from professional arts instructors. Enrollment is now open. For more information on private lessons, please call 727-712-2706 or visit HoffmanSchooloftheArts.com. Tuition assistance is available thanks to the generosity of our sponsor, the Tampa Bay Times Fund and its commitment that no child shall be denied an arts experience because of financial need.
SHINE on St. Pete
This SHINE mural festival may be over, but it continues to illuminate our fair city.
This year’s SHINE St. Petersburg Mural Festival partnered with Hawaii-based nonprofit PangeaSeed Foundation to produce Sea Walls: Artists for Oceans which features two ocean conservation themed murals. The project is funded by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Association (NOAA), the federal agency’s first public art project nationwide. Portland artists Blaine Fontana and Plastic Birdie painted a Sea Walls mural at Bama Sea Products on along the Pinellas Trail. The Vitale Brothers painted the other ocean themed mural located at Techno-Solis, 301 20th Street South.
Shining bright in the Deuces Live District, the SHINE St. Petersburg Mural Festival partnered with the Boys & Girls Club at the Royal Theater to produce a mural on the side of the historic Quonset hut. Designed in collaboration with the surrounding community, local artist Brian McAllister and students from the Gibbs Mural Club painted alongside Boys & Girls Club participants. Built in 1948 to serve as one of the only movie theaters for African Americans during the days of segregation, the historic Royal Theater still operates as a social and cultural landmark.
I’ll drink to that!
The Tampa-based Florida Aquarium has signed a new, multi-year partnership with Corona Extra®. The Florida Aquarium, known for their groundbreaking conservation work, is considered a “must-see attraction” in Tampa Bay. The Corona brand has been the #1 imported beer brand in the U.S. for more than 20 years. This relationship is an investment in and an innovative approach to protect and restore the world’s oceans and the animals that call it home.
The Florida Aquarium’s outdoor cantina has been renamed Corona Cove. Corona has also committed to donate $1 for every case of Corona Extra cans sold in Hillsborough County during the busy summer months of June and July.