Feature image: Arts Connection’s exhibit features the alcohol ink works by Patricia Chase

The hurricanes of 2024 certainly added tumult to the year. Many programs, including the Arts Connection at the First Presbyterian Church, seemed to be shoehorned in between these natural events. But now, 2025 is offering a fresh breath and a new start to these endeavors.

Ronn Johnson, one of the organizers, noted that he “wanted to bring the arts to FPC so that our congregation could have the enlightening experiences I was seeing in other churches.” He, and other artists from the congregation, came together to start an arts outreach program.… Read More

Whatever preconceptions you have about the art form that is opera, the St. Petersburg Opera Guild may just change them. 

“You can wear a t-shirt to the opera, and stop in on your lunch break,” says guild volunteer and opera enthusiast Kitty Grubb. “There are subtitles, you don’t need to know Italian. It’s for everyone, and that’s what people don’t understand.” 

The St. Pete Opera Guild is a 501c3 that supports St. Pete Opera, but it is its own entity – don’t confuse SPO with the guild. While St. Pete Opera, founded in 2007, is a company that puts on shows, the guild, founded in 1964, is a community infrastructure that supports and promotes all opera, especially young people who are coming into the art form. … Read More

Photos courtesy of the St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts

Spring is springing in the ‘Burg which means it’s time for the annual Art in Bloom event at the Museum of Fine Arts! As part of our local landscape, this exhibit presents a living four-day floral art installation pairing some of the Bay area’s finest floral artists with works of art throughout the museum. 

What makes this event so special is its unique combination of art and nature and the way it creates an immersive experience for museum visitors. The pieces add a multi-sensory encounter for those who attend. Intermingled with the scent of flowers is a contrast of colors, shapes, and textures. … Read More

A still from the movie Little Satchmo. Courtesy of John Alexander.

On January 30, a sold-out crowd at Studio@620 had the rare pleasure of screening the acclaimed PBS film Little Satchmo, followed by a talk with the film’s subject and star, Louis Armstrong’s “secret” daughter, Sharon Preston-Folta. 

Green Book of Tampa Bay and the Woodson African American Museum presented the event, which was sponsored by the Pinellas County Urban League. Therapist Dr. LaDonna Butler moderated the post-screening “fireside chat,” which packed a powerful emotional punch. 

“I was unprepared for the magic that happened during the whole event,” said Green Book of Tampa Bay co-founder Hillary Van Dyke.… Read More

There are two names that are intricately linked in St. Petersburg: Amanda Cooper and the Morean Arts Center. A familiar face about town, Cooper has worked tirelessly with the local arts community and is the chief curator for the center, with the daunting task of programming the gallery spaces at the Morean and Chihuly Collection. As part of the Morean’s exhibition team, she helps organize over 50 exhibitions each year across three different locations.

Cooper is also preparing to celebrate her 25th anniversary at the Morean this February. 

The first incarnation of her job was as the gallery director for the then-named Arts Center.  She… Read More

Fall in St. Petersburg isn’t just jack-o’-lanterns and spiced lattes. It’s also the backdrop to the annual SHINE Mural Festival, produced by the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance. This unique art festival has added nearly 150 murals across the city since 2015, and shows no sign of slowing down.

Jenee Preibe volunteered with the festival in 2016. Three years later, she was hired as its director. “As a community volunteer, I aided artists with their works. I was so blown away by the experience that I knew I wanted to be a part of it,” she says. “These murals are very accessible.  Anyone… Read More

On May 12, St. Petersburg Press and nonprofit literary arts organization Keep St. Pete Lit joined forces to celebrate St. Pete’s literary scene at the Palladium Theatre’s Side Door. This inaugural event, “Sunlit After Dark,” marked the collaboration of the two grassroots literary organizations to revel in the positive impact that reading and writing plays in St. Pete.

Highlights of the festivities included presentations of the Roy Peter Clark Award, Literary Year in Review, an introduction of special local literary guests, and music by live band Front Porch Picnic as well as light appetizers and cash bar. General admission was free, but VIP tickets, to benefit Keep St.… Read More

Tom Jones: Here We Stand, hosted by the Museum of Fine Arts, explores the modern lives of Native Americans through the lens of one of the tribe, and is the first major retrospective of the Ho-Chunk photographer’s work. Comprised of parts of a dozen series from Jones’ body of work, it includes tribal elders, family life, spirituality, and ideas of cross-cultural appropriation. The pieces shift between documentary and conceptual, with an interest in challenging assumptions, exposing stereotypes, and revealing contemporary tribal experiences. 

Jones, an accomplished artist, writer, curator, and educator, is also an enrolled member of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin.… Read More

In the heart of the downtown business district, nestled in a historic building that was once known as Rutland’s Department Store, stands Florida CraftArt. As a statewide, nonprofit organization, Florida CraftArt’s mission is to grow Florida’s creative economy by engaging the community and advancing fine craft artists with their works. It’s a big mission, and the woman behind it is Chief Executive Officer Katie Deits.

“The best part of my position as CEO is feeling like I am making a difference in the lives of artists and bringing the joy of art to the community with the gallery, exhibitions, and educational programming,” she says.… Read More

Were charcuterie boards a “thing” 37 years ago? If so, they certainly weren’t served when American Stage first started producing outdoor theatre shows at Demen’s Landing Park in 1986. Back then, American Stage park shows were much smaller-scale productions, but this April, organizers expect an estimated 17,000 people – and yes, charcuterie boards. 

On April 12, Demen’s Landing will come alive for opening night of Ragtime – the Musical. It’s the St. Pete theatre company’s largest park show yet, featuring 24 actors and a nine-piece live band for a two-and-a-half-hour musical that famously tells the story of three ethnic groups surviving (and sometimes thriving, though mostly not) in New York City during the turn of the century. … Read More