St. Petersburg SHINE Mural Festival turns 10
The 10th anniversary St. Petersburg SHINE Mural Festival runs from November 8th through 17th after being rescheduled from October because of Hurricane Milton. This year, the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance’s annual celebration of public art will add 15 murals to downtown and the surrounding arts districts, including four Bright Spot murals artists create in partnership with local community groups.
“Some of the locations this year are extra special,” SHINE Director Jenee Priebe says. “We’re able to paint on the Pier this year, which we’ve never done before. So we’re going to have a mural on the Pier in partnership with the City of St. Petersburg and Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Center. And we’re painting the Walker Whitney Plaza, which is this 14-story condo building downtown. It’ll be the tallest mural ever in St. Pete. That’s going to be really exciting when it’s finished. It’s going be really iconic I think in the end. We’re painting at Studio@620, Anchor Skate Supply, so different kind of culturally significant locations around St. Pete.”
Artist Naomi Haverland’s mural “How’s the Water?” at the St. Pete Pier Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Center is one of this year’s Bright Spot projects. Canadian artist Emmanuel Jarus is doing the massive mural at Walker Whitney Plaza. Kris Markovich and Johnny Vitale are creating the mural at Anchor Skate Supply. George F. Baker III is doing the mural at Studio@620.
SHINE 10 Celebration, a November 9th kickoff event at FloridaRAMA, celebrates the festival’s anniversary. The evening features a solo show and book release by 2023 artist Chris Dyer; custom installations from 2021 artists Nicole Salgar and Ricky Watts; DJ and special performances by Woes Martin (2021) and The Mighty Giants; and Giano Currie’s interactive photography experience.
“It’s going to be a really great event,” Priebe says. “It’s free and open to the public. We’re going to have lot of work from former SHINE artists.”
A new addition this year, Star Trolley will offer daily trolley tours of the vibrant mural art.
“You can hop on a trolley at any point you want to see the progress,” Priebe says. “Our guides are amazing. They’ve done a lot of background work to research the artists. For people who really want to know more about the murals, hopping on one of those is a great way.”
On weekends, Florida CraftArt will lead walking and bike tours. Since 2015, SHINE has added nearly 170 murals to St. Pete’s cityscape. To mark the anniversary, SHINE has also published a postcard book of mural art shot by local photographer Jimmy Fashner.
For more information on the artists and a map of murals, go to SHINE 2024
Ybor Arts Tour
Postponed from October because of Milton, the third annual Ybor Arts Tour is 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday, November 21st. The self-guided, free tour will have more than 35 arts venues, creative businesses and artist studios.
The idea is a self-guided tour that starts at Ybor’s western border with LAB Theater Project, Coastal Film Lab and improv venue The Commodore. It then moves to Hillsborough Community College’s Ybor campus, where there will be art on display at Gallery114 and the HCC dance program will perform. Eventually, it arrives at the arts hub at the Kress Contemporary. Of course, art lovers taking the tour have the choose-your-own-adventure option of making their own route.
Marcolina’s Fine Arts Gallery, 1920 Ybor and venues inside the Kress like the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, Tempus Projects, the USF MFA program’s Reverb Gallery, OXH Gallery and Art Noire Gallery are also part of the tour.
For more information, go to Ybor Arts Tour.
FMoPA events
November is another busy month at the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, located on the ground floor of the Kress Contemporary in Ybor City.
From 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on November 7th, photographer Chip Weiner gives an artist talk on the exhibit “Photo Ybor: Then and Now,” which features historic photos of Ybor side-by-side with Weiner’s modern shots of the same location. That exhibit runs through November 17th.
The artist talk with author Paul Wilborn and his wife, actress Eugenie Bondurant, originally scheduled for October is now happening from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on November 14th. The event marks the fifth anniversary of Wilborn’s book “Cigar City: Tales From a 1980s Creative Ghetto.”
The new exhibit “Fandom: Celebrating Rock & Roll with Jay Nolan and Davy Alder”
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Jay Nolan/Provided by FMoPA“Fandom: Celebrating Rock & Roll with Jay Nolan and Davy Alder” opens at the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts during the Ybor Arts Tour on November 21st
opens during the November 21st Ybor Arts Tour. The exhibit features photojournalist Nolan’s pictures capturing the raw energy of live rock shows and former Virgin Entertainment executive Alder’s collection of memorabilia. “Fandom: Celebrating Rock & Roll with Jay Nolan and Davy Alder” is on display until March 2nd, 2025.
This month, FMoPA also has the monthly “Museums on Us” weekend, which offers free admission to Bank of America and Merrill Lynch debit and credit cardholders, on November 2nd and 3rd. There are also a variety of photography classes and workshops throughout the month.
For more information, go to FMoPA
New Tampa Performing Arts Center events
The New Tampa Performing Arts Center has a packed calendar in November. On November 1st, 2nd and 3rd, the Tampa City Ballet presents its fresh and unique interpretation of the opera classic “Carmen.”
The Tampa Bay Symphony performs its 2024 Fall Virtuosic Adventures on November 8th. The performance includes Rossini’s overture to “La Gazza Ladra”; “Rhapsody for Flute and Orchestra” by Pasquale Tassone, winner of the 7th Annual International Composition Competition; and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92.
On November 10th, the New Tampa Unplugged series features author and musician Paul Wilborn and his wife, actress Eugenie Bondurant. The event marks the firth anniversary of Wilborn’s book “Cigar City: Tales From A 1980s Creative Ghetto.” Bondurant will read stories from the book and Wilborn and his band will play during story breaks.
On November 13th, the center’s Steinway Piano Series has the Nikolov West Duo in a performance featuring the center’s new Steinway & Sons Model D Concert Grand.
On November 16th, the Jansen Dance Project’s students will put on two performances of “Goin Nuts! A Contemporary Nutcracker.”
“Artistic Director Troy Jansen has taken everyone’s favorite holiday ballet and turned it into a present-day extravaganza that the whole family can enjoy,” a description says. “Featuring the music of Duke Ellington, this performance is filled with great dance, humor, sarcasm, and a nutty twist to a holiday classic.”
For more information on performances and tickets, go to New Tampa Performing Arts Center
Third annual Tampa Bay Afrofuturism Festival
Pinellas Diaspora Art Project’s third annual Tampa Bay Afrofuturism Festival runs from November 7th through December 8th, with 13 free community events.
It starts November 7th at the Studio@620 with the opening and artist talk for “The Futurists” exhibit, which features the work of several local artists. November 9th there’s a free night of music at Studio@620. November 10th has poet Miesha Brundridge’s VALOR Fest, an afternoon of poetry music and art, followed by Women of the Future, a performance event featuring writers and performers Erica Sutherlin, Maranda Douglas and more.
On Friday, November 15th, there’s a Community Tech Day at Artz 4 Life Academy in Clearwater. Saturday, November 16th has an evening with multidisciplinary artist Tenea D. Johnson at E. Chambliss Studio on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street South in St. Petersburg.
Artist and activist Jay Coachman and other artists and musicians have an event at Shuffle in Tampa on November 16th. There’s a fashion event at Studio@620 on the 17th.
Prof. Donnie Ibn Malik Ali McClendon and DJ Speedy are at Studio@620 on November 17th. Artist, fashion designer and metalsmith Kamysha Martin also has an event at Studio@620 on the 17th.
For more information, go to Afrofuturism Festival
St. Pete Reads! Lit Festival
Cultured Books Literacy Foundation’s St Pete Reads! Lit Festival, a day of books, authors and literary fun, kicks off at 10 a.m. Saturday, November 2nd at the Woodson African American Museum of Florida in The Deuces neighborhood in St. Petersburg.
Award-winning author and former St. Pete resident Winsome Bingham, known for
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Elan Vital VisualsCultured Books Literacy Foundation’s St Pete Reads! Lit Festival is November 2nd at the Woodson African American Museum. “The Walk” and “Soul Food Sunda
y,” has two storytime sessions, with “The Walk” at 10:15 a.m. and “Missing Mama” at 2:15 p.m.
At 10 a.m., award-winning author and St. Pete resident Nicole D. Collier, known for “The Many Fortunes of Maya” and “Just Right Jillian,” gives an author talk on her new book “The Best Friend Bracelet.”
At 2 p.m., award-winning author Derrick Barnes, known for titles like “Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut,” “I Am Every Good Thing,” “King of Kindergarten" and “Queen of Kindergarten,” has a talk about his latest book, “Like Lava In My Veins,” which is part comic book and part picture book.
Cultured Books Literacy Foundation presents the festival in collaboration with The Woodson African American Museum of Florida, St. Petersburg Library System, Florida Humanities and the Gobioff Foundation.
For more information, go to St Pete Reads
Peace Memorial Concert Series
The Peace Memorial Concert Series at Peace Memorial Presbyterian Church in downtown Clearwater features Tampa Bay’s award-winning jazz trio La Lucha on Sunday, November 10th.
Performing with guest musicians trumpeter James Suggs and percussionist Patrick Hernly, La Lucha’s set will include jazzy renditions of songs like “My Little Suede Shoes,” “A Felicidade,” “Mambo Influenciado.” The concergt begins at 3 p.m. There’s no required charge to get in but a $5 to $10 donation is suggested.
Future Peace Memorial concerts this season include the Florida Orchestra Brass Quintet on December 8th; vocalist Daniela Soledade and guitarist Nate Najar on January 12th; St Pete Baroque on February 9th; and violist Carol Rodland and organist Catherine Rodland on March 9th.
For more information, go to Peace Memorial Concert Series
St. Pete Second Saturday ArtWalk
The St. Petersburg Arts Alliances’ Second Saturday ArtWalk on November 9th features 34 venues in the city’s arts districts.
Craftsman House Gallery has the opening reception for “Rise,” an exhibit featuring the work of artists who were impacted by the two recent hurricanes. Some have lost homes, cars, supplies or their studios.
Julie Haura Art + Design has “Perfectly Square,” an exhibit featuring more than 100 works by more than 50 local artists. ArtsXchange Gallery and Studios features “Relevant,” an exhibit showcasing the work of Warehouse Arts District Association members, and a collection of works by Pinellas Arts Education Association educators.
At Soft Water Gallery, an exhibit featuring paintings from artist David Williams' American Roadside Series opens. Wild Space Gallery has the opening reception for “Breaking Barriers: Nature in Focus,” a special exhibit featuring nature photography of veterans in the Breaking Barriers photography program.
That is just a taste of what’s in store at this month's ArtWalk.
For more information and a venue map, go to November Second Saturday ArtWalk
"Crazy Quilts" at LAB Theater Project
The new dark comedy “Crazy Quilts” premiers at LAB Theater Project on the western edge of Ybor City on November 14th.
“The spirited Crazy Quilts club has been a fixture on their small island in Puget Sound for years,” a LAB Theater press release says. “Members cheerfully stitch beautiful bed covers by day, while quietly conspiring to find solutions – permanent solutions – to each members’ personal problems. When Lisa comes to interview the quilters for the local paper, she suddenly realizes she is being recruited into the club! If she accepts that her own plight requires a terminal fix, this friendly group could change her life forever. But then she’ll have to pay it forward herself when the next vulnerable recruit comes along!”
Written by playwright Karen Fix Curry, “Crazy Quilts” is directed by LAB’s founding director Owen Robertson and features Tampa area actors Avry Eden, Caroline Jett, Judy Wilson, Rusty Gillespie and Amanda Cappello. The play runs for two weekends from November 14th through 24th.
Out Arts and Culture SpeakOUT
OUT Arts and Culture hosts SpeakOUT, a post-election dialogue about LGBTQ identity and literature, law and mass media, on Thursday, November 14th at the Gulfport Public Library.
Panelists include transgender activist Nathan Bruemmer, Big Gay Radio host Bryan Hinkson, bookstore owner Erin Decker Kratter, author Silk Jazmyn and the Director of Rollins College Media Arts Program, Dr. Steve Schoen.
For more information and to register, go to SpeakOUT
“Out of Context: Jason Hulfish REMIX” at University of Tampa
“Out of Context: Jason Hulfish REMIX,” a student-led exhibition offering a fresh look at the work of renowned local artist Jason Hulfish, is at the University of Tampa Scarfone/Hartley Gallery through December 12th.
Hulfish, a Clearwater native, has created sculptures and installations for theme park giants Disney and Universal Studios and special furniture and installations for cable TV shows “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” “Treehouse Masters” and “Bar Rescue.”
The Scarfone/Hartley Gallery recently featured his work in an exhibition that ran from August to early October. After the show, there was no place to store the artwork because of storm damage to Hulfish’s studio. So, with Hulfish’s permission, UT Art + Design students Ian Carruthers and Lennon Chrones reimagined and rearranged the work under the guidance of Director of College Galleries Jocelyn Boigenzahn.
The Scarfone/Hartley Gallery is on the University of Tampa campus at the R.K. Bailey Art Studios, 310 N. Blvd. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Friday, and 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday. There is no charge for admission.
For more information, go to Scarfone/Hartley Gallery