Featured image: Charles Morrison of the Morean Center for Clay chats with Margaret Murray from Creative Pinellas at Open Studio. Photo by Luci Westphal.

St. Petersburg has a thriving art scene, with crowds flocking to shows and galleries every second saturday for Art Walk. But when do the artists get to go? 

In March, artist Luci Westphal started her latest initiative – a special night before the art walks where various art groups open their studios to other creatives. 

“There is a huge benefit to have one evening a month where we can have a focused visit to a building with other artists’ studios,” says Luci.… Read More

Featured image: MoM allies, from left, Mary Havlock and Sierra Clark with founder and Executive Director Martha Joy Rose and ally. Photos courtesy of the MoM.

Barbara Lynch believes St. Petersburg got a rare gift when Martha Joy Rose brought the Museum of Motherhood from New York to The Factory St. Pete.

“I feel like St. Petersburg was blessed with this,” Lynch said, “because, you know, she could have gone anywhere.”

For Mother’s Day, that blessing offers more than a place to celebrate moms. The Museum of Motherhood invites visitors to think about motherhood as art, labor, history, science, identity, and community care.… Read More

Featured image: Fisherwomen Erika Almond says of the local waters, “Our fishery is amazing.

Think fishing is a man’s hobby? Think again. More women pick up the recreation every year, for fun and for sport. As an avid fisher myself, I got curious about stories from some of our own local fisherwomen. I had the privilege of interviewing four area women passionate about fishing about what drew them to the seas, why the waters around St. Pete are the best, and how camaraderie makes the sport that much better. 

Marlo K. Alleva: A Stand-Up Fisherwoman 

Marlo K. Alleva learned how to freshwater fish during summers with her grandparents, “climbing down the high creek banks behind their piano shop,” she recalls. She… Read More

The James Museum of Western and Wildlife Art recently held an exhibit celebrating the work of acclaimed photographer and ethnologist Edward S. Curtis. Best known for his monumental early 20th-century publication of the North American Indian, Curtis took photos of indigenous Americans over 23 years beginning in 1907. The publication includes twenty volumes, features more than 100 native nations and tribes, and contains over 2,200 images. The original work is exceedingly rare with fewer than 300 sets printed. In 2021 a set sold for $950,000.

While this work is an important archive of the culture of native peoples at the beginnings of the last century, it is also a reflection of Curtis’s artistry and mastery of photographic mediums.… Read More

Featured image: The Woodson Warriors scholarship program celebrated community and camaraderie at December’s Holiday Mid-Term Luncheon.

Although the Woodson African American Museum of Florida is temporarily closed as renovations continue – doors are expected to reopen later this spring – the museum’s mission has not faltered.

“Through exhibitions, educational programming, community engagement and scholarship initiatives, The Woodson serves as a living repository of Black heritage, honoring the past, illuminating the present, and inspiring future generations,” said Executive Director Terri Lipsey Scott.

One way the museum inspires future generations is through The Woodson Warrior Scholarship, which reflects the mission of the museum itself “to preserve, present, interpret, celebrate, and educate the public about African American history and culture.” … Read More

Featured image: Lodwick created publicity stunts like the “Purity League,” which had Mayor Frank Pulver measuring the length of ladies bathing attire to assure it complied with a (fictitious) city ordinance, image c 1922. Courtesy of St. Petersburg Museum of History

Babe Ruth is rightly credited with putting St. Pete on the national map, as early St. Pete Mayor and baseball booster Al Lang reflected, “The Yankees with Babe Ruth and their stars meant millions to this town.” But there was another promoter diligently working to do the same. His name was John Lodwick.

Lodwick was born in 1890. He began his career as a messenger boy at age 13 for the Associated Press in Cleveland, Ohio.… Read More

Featured image: For generations, Williams Park has served as St. Petersburg’s original city square. Image via Florida Memory.

On a recent Saturday during Localtopia, Williams Park didn’t feel like an afterthought. It felt like a destination.

Families filled the walkways. Food trucks lined the park’s edge. Neighbors lingered beneath 82 shade trees while music drifted from the bandshell. For a few hours, St. Petersburg’s first public space looked exactly like what it was meant to be in 1888: a town square.

That description isn’t accidental. “It was the first platted public space for the city,” said Shaun Drinkard, vice president of the St.… Read More

Something new is rolling out from the Dalí Museum: a 40-foot classroom art space and mobile museum. Christened the The Key to Dalí Art Mobile, this travelling surrealistic exhibition is designed to bring art to the people in classrooms around the county. 

Now, instead of students going to the museum, the museum can come to them, all during school hours. While the Dalí Museum still offers free field trips for local students, “there remained a need to bridge the gap for students or schools that cannot visit the museum in person to experience Dalí’s masterpieces and worldview,” said Sumaya Ayad, school programs & education manager at the museum. … Read More

Enhanced Mobile Mapping with Emerging Technologies – EMMET for short – has an outsized mission to survey the shallowest reaches of Tampa Bay. Photo courtesy of USF-SP

Have you noticed a curious new watercraft of elfin proportions plying the shallows of Tampa Bay? If so, don’t worry – that’s just EMMET!

Enhanced Mobile Mapping with Emerging Technologies – as it is more formally known to its creators at USF’s Center for Ocean Mapping and Innovative Technologies (COMIT) and the Florida Flood Hub for Applied Research and Innovation – is a pint-sized pontoon boat, just six feet long and three feet at the beam.… Read More

The Sunshine City Soiree will benefit the St. Pete Museum of History and its mission to curate and tell the stories of our city.

The 2026 social season is a whirl, but queen of the ball may just be the first annual Sunshine City Soiree – a community celebration benefitting the St. Petersburg Museum of History (SPMOH) February 21 in the Vinoy ballroom from 6-10 pm.

 “It’s an unforgettable evening of cocktails, dinner, and entertainment with Bryan Hughes & The Crew, with live and silent auctions,” says Executive Director Rui Farias. “This is an opportunity for the museum to help the city celebrate their 134th birthday.… Read More