GULFPORT - Domain Home Accessories & Gallery will host its next “Meet the Artists” event with a showing of work by three generations of artists from one local family on Saturday, May 18, 6 to 10 p.m.
& Gallery is at 3129 Beach Blvd. South in Gulfport. The artists will be on hand to discuss their work and interact with visitors. Complimentary beverages and hors d’oeuvres will be offered.
The Harper family has produced several artists and artisans from across the generations, including the three artists to be featured during the event. Dorothy Harper’s intricately-crafted baskets are woven with pine needles from long-leaf pine trees native to Central Florida. Raffia is also used in the 90-year-old's weaving. Her baskets include both decorative and functional pieces. The craft of pine needle basket weaving dates from Native American cultures.
Nick Harper’s mixed media sculptures largely incorporate metal and wood. His art has been inspired by his father, who Nick watched sculpting his signature hand-hammered copper birds. Nick’s award-winning sculptural pieces range from traditional to whimsical, often depicting fish and other animals. Devin Pate’s art work is inspired by the generations of artists in his family before him, including his father who is a painter. The 14-year-old's brass and copper sculptures also depict Florida wildlife, especially aquatic creatures.
ST. PETERSBURG - The naming of the Museum of Fine Art’s spectacular glass Conservatory in honor of Mary Alice McClendon honors one of the most generous donors in the Museum’s history.
This space, at 6,180 square feet, connects the original building and the Hazel Hough Wing and has opened up the MFA to its magical setting on the bay. It is now the Mary Alice McClendon Conservatory of the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg.
ST. PETERSBURG - The Museum of Fine Arts is opening its doors wide this summer. Admission is now $10 for everyone through Sept. 30, 2013. Groups of 10 or more adults pay only $8 each and groups of 10 or more students, $4 per person.
On Thursday nights, when the Museum presents “UnchARTed: Random Acts of Culture,” college students with current I.D. pay $5 or can buy one admission, get one free.
The MFA has the only comprehensive art collection, extending from antiquity to the present day, on Florida’s west coast. It is also one of the few museums in the state where visitors can see so many stellar paintings by Claude Monet and Georgia O’Keeffe, as well as works by other important European and American artists.
“The Museum of Fine Arts has always been the community’s museum,” said Director Kent Lydecker. “The MFA opened to the public in 1965--the first art museum in St. Petersburg--and until 1993, was free. Sundays remained free for many years. The high cost of operating the Museum and caring for our collection has forced us to charge admission. We depend on community support. As a ‘thank you,’ we welcome the opportunity to lower our admission fee this summer from $17 to $10, when many people have more time to enjoy and experience great works of art.”
LARGO - The Armed Forces History Museum’s 2013 special event series presented by Maggi Tax Advisory and Veteran Solutions continues with three events this month.
The museum’s 2013 Special Event Series is presented in part by Clearwater Toyota.
Craft brews
The Red, White and Craft Brews Fest returns on Saturday, May 18, 5 to 9 p.m., at 2050 34th Way N. in Largo.
LARGO - Almost every day, Cuban painter, sculpture and ceramist Juan Carlos Santana rides his bike three blocks from his home to the market where he works.
For Santana, Havana Harry’s Market is his artistic studio and the common ground he uses to convey the language of art and to teach appreciation of visual art to those who might never bother with museums.
“I paint here because art is a vehicle to bring people together,” he said, seated in the market with a cafe Cubano nearby and his latest work in progress spread over the small tabletop.
ST. PETERSBURG - Katherine Pill has joined the Museum of Fine Art as its first Assistant Curator of Art after 1950.
This historic step was made possible by The Hazel and William Hough Curatorial Endowment Fund, established in 2012. The Houghs are longtime MFA supporters and collectors of contemporary art. The Hazel Hough Wing is named in honor of Mrs. Hough, a Museum trustee.
Pill brings ideal experience and education to this new position and arrives at an optimum moment in the life of the museum. The MFA has increasingly received donations of and acquired works created after 1950 and up to the present day. Pill has not only curated numerous exhibitions of modern and contemporary art in a variety of media, but has also taken a very active role as an educator and writer. She has designed and conducted many programs to enhance audience understanding and enjoyment of contemporary work.
DUNEDIN - The Professional Association of Visual Artists (PAVA) is exhibiting work by several members at the Nature Center at Honeymoon Island State Park in Dunedin through July 18.
A portion of the proceeds from the sale of art at the show will benefit the Friends of the Island Parks association.
An opening reception for the exhibit is Tuesday, April 23, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Many of the participating PAVA artists will be in attendance to discuss their work. The reception is open to the public. There is no park admission fee the night of the reception.
TREASURE ISLAND - The Treasure Island Art Guild’s final art show of the season will feature the work of five local artists - Elizabeth Beattie, Barbara Cushing, Annie Dwyer, Charles Zetterberg, and Patricia Zill.
The show runs through May 22 at the Treasure Island Community Center.
With abstract realism, acrylics and India ink, Beattie, a long time resident of Micronesia, reflects her love of “warm climates, animals, and the ocean” in unique renderings “Relaxing at Pool” and “California Sunshine in Florida.” Her carefully created imagery treats us to a morphing “Eel Ladies” and a surprising, thought provoking “Reclining Nude With Tapa.”
![[Image]](/content_images/051313_leart-01a_front.jpg)
![[Image]](/content_images/051313_leart-02_thmb.jpg)
![[Image]](/content_images/050113_leart-01_thmb.jpg)
![[Image]](/content_images/050113_leart-03_thmb.jpg)
![[Image]](/content_images/042313_leart-01_thmb.jpg)
![[Image]](/content_images/042313_leart-02_thmb.jpg)
![[Image]](/content_images/070312_pco-01z_front.jpg)
