Western, wildlife art focus of new museum in downtown St. Petersburg

The co-founder of Raymond James is opening a new museum in St. Petersburg.

The Tom & Mary James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art, otherwise known as the James Museum, is an 80,000-square-foot gallery of space, is set to open fall 2017. The site will feature 30,000-square-feet of gallery space, a 2,500-square-feet indoor sculpture court throughout a two-story stone "arroyo'' with a backdrop of an indoor waterfall, a 120-seat theater and 6,000-square-feet of event space. A store and cafe will also be on-site. 

"The art that will displayed is western and wildlife, chosen from Tom and Mary James' extensive collection of over 3,000 works," says Anthea Penrose of James Museum. 

The new museum will be located at 100 Central Ave. The family recently gave over $50 million in personal funds to start the renovation project making way for the museum, which is expected to make a great economic impact on the city. 

"It is expected that some 30 new jobs will be created at the museum," Penrose says. 

Office and retail space around the museum is also being renovated. St. Pete Design Group (SPDG) has been selected to be the design architect on the project. They are tasked with the goal of transforming the lower two floors of a 30-year-old existing parking structure into a 21st century art museum. 

“I am incredibly excited about this new partnership between St. Petersburg and what will surely be
a landmark in this city, The James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art, mayor Rick Kriseman states in a news release. 

For more details on this project, click here.