MOSI opens country’s second-largest planetarium
At Tampa’s Museum of Science and Industry, the country’s second-largest planetarium is now open.
The Digital Dome Theatre and Saunders Planetarium debuted March 31st with a Hillsborough County Public Schools field trip that featured retired NASA astronaut Nicole Stott as a special guest and highlighted MOSI’s mission to spark student interest in STEM subjects and careers.
The approximately 330-seat theater has an eight-story, 10,000 square-foot 360-
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MOSIThe country's second-largest planetarium is now open at MOSI in Tampadegree screen, 8k image technology, high-powered Christie digital projectors, and a state-of-the-art sound system and laser projectors.
A 45-minute planetarium show exploring the cosmos is included with museum admission. Additional shows are $5. For those of us ticking away the moments that make up a dull day, the MOSI press office says the schedule of laser light shows will be finalized in the coming weeks.
On April 3rd, MOSI marks Earth Month and conservationist Jane Goodall’s 91st birthday with two screenings of the documentary “Jane Goodall - Reasons for Hope” in the new theater. Showtimes are 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
For more information, go to MOSI and Reasons for Hope
Florida Orchestra at Centro Asturiano de Tampa
On April 4th, The Florida Orchestra visits Ybor City’s historic Centro Asturiano de Tampa for a special event. At 8 p.m., TFO performs Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” under the direction of concertmaster Jeffrey Multer. Before that, the evening includes a 6 p.m. ticketed dinner event with TFO President and CEO Ignacio Barrón Viela.
For more information, go to TFO event
Kress Contemporary events and exhibitions
It’s a busy month of events and exhibitions at the Kress Contemporary in Ybor City.
With the NCAA Women’s Final Four in Tampa, Boston-based women’s sports brand
Playa Society has a pop-up merch shop and art gallery at the Kress, 1624 E. Seventh Ave. from April 3rd through 5th.
“Weave a Tale,” an exhibition featuring works from Japanese textile artist Misako Nakahira’s “Crossing” and “Interaction” series, is at OXH Gallery in the Kress from April 3rd through May 22nd. This is Nakahira’s first solo exhibit in the United States and it coincides with “Kimono: The Triumph of Japanese Dress,” on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg through June 8th.
The opening reception for “Weave a Tale” is 6 p.m. on Thursday, April 3rd.
The closing reception for artist Ryan Lagasse’s “Momentum” is 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday, April 5th at
Honey Gallery in the Kress. Lagasse will showcase new original drawings, prints, paintings, and t-shirts.
“Staying In,” a group exhibit featuring domestic interiors and housewares, is at
Tempus Projects through April 10th. At 7 p.m. on April 9th, the latest installment of Tempus’ “Go Ahead, Buy Some Art” lecture series features a panel discussion with four artists featured in “Staying In,” Kaylin Price, John Byrd, Gary Schmitt, and Kathleen Bly. Community advocate and former Tampa City Council member Linda Saul-Sena is the moderator.
“The Hutterites: In the World but Not of It” is at the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts from April 10th through June 29th. The exhibit features the work of Manitoba,
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"The Hutterites: In the World but Not of It" is at the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts. Canada-based photographer Tim Smith, who has spent the last 15 years photographing the close-knit communal group the Hutterites.
“This pacifist Anabaptist group has roots going back to the 16th-century Reformation,” a description on the FMoPA website says. “They live communally in colonies spread across western Canada and the northwestern U.S., keeping their culture alive by staying separate from mainstream society and focusing on self-sufficiency.”
The opening reception is 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on April 10th at FMoPA, located on the first floor of the Kress.
From 10 a.m. to noon on April 13th at the FMoPA, the two-hour workshop
“The Art of Auteurs” will explore how great filmmakers like Akira Kurosawa, Stanley Kubrick, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Alfred Hitchcock crafted their movies. Ringling College of Art & Design Professor of Film Studies & Art History Hector Sotomayor is leading the workshop.
“101 Bacterial Infections,” an installation by artist and USF MFA student KJ Skidmore is at USF’s student-run
Reverb Gallery through April 10th. The installation features “a bionic, Dalmatian-loving body with rotting viscera encased in ever-fabulous Mylar” to embody the “heaviness of chronic nerve pain.”
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Tampa Fringe marks the 113th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic with “A Titanic Double Feature.” From April 11th through 13th,
Tampa Fringe marks the 113th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic with “A Titanic Double Feature.” The event features two Titanic-themed award-winning one-woman shows from Fringe festivals, Tampa Bay performer Bridget Bean’s “Mrs. Bliss’s Titanic Adventure” and Orlando-based Katie Thayer’s “A One Woman Titanic Parody in 59 Minutes or Less.”
On May 9th and 10th, German stand-up Paco Erhard brings his show “Paco Erhard: Live Forever” to the Tampa Fringe. Jack Kerouac, Paco's dad, South America, Stalingrad, and LSD will be some of the topics covered in this “true tale of tough times, redemption, and everlasting laughter.”
Kitchen Table Literary Arts holds its free weekly writing workshop “Writing Over Everything” from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, April 5th,12th,19th, and 26th. Writers of every level are encouraged to bring “stories, poems, novels, screenplays, and more for dedicated writing time and craft-specific mini-lessons to help you take your work to the next level.”
HCC Ybor events, performances
On Wednesday, April 9th at Hillsborough Community College’s Ybor City campus,
“Women in Ybor City’s History” features a conversation with writer, college professor, historian, and Tampa native Sarah McNamara, author of the book "Ybor City: Crucible of the Latina South.” Cuban-American book critic and influencer Carmen Alvarez is the moderator.
The event is from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Ybor Room at HCC Ybor. It is free and open to the public. After the discussion, Tombolo Books will be at the event for a book signing with McNamara. Pre-registration is required.
From April 17th through 19th in the Performing Arts Building’s Mainstage Theatre, the
HCC Dance Department’s spring dance concert features the HCC Dance Ensemble in a performance crafted by several guest choreographers. Shows are 7:30 p.m. each day. Tickets are $23 for general admission. HCC faculty, staff, and students with I.D. get in free.
At 3 p.m. Sunday, April 27th in the Mainstage Theatre, Jack Wilkins, the retired Director of Jazz Studies at USF, performs “
An Afternoon at Blue Note” with special guest James Suggs. Tickets are $25, $10 for students with I.D., or free for HCC students and faculty.
50th Mainsail Art Festival
The 50th annual
Mainsail Art Festival is April 5th and 6th at waterfront Vinoy Park in downtown St. Petersburg.
A St. Pete mainstay, Mainsail attracts more than 100,000 visitors each year and features more than 250 arts and crafts exhibitors competing for $60,000 in prize money in 13 categories: ceramics, digital art, fibers, glass, graphics, jewelry, metal, mixed media, oil/acrylic, photography, sculpture, watercolor, and wood.
The festival’s Young at ARt student exhibition features artwork from Pinellas County students.
Each day has a full afternoon of live music by a lineup of well-known Tampa Bay music acts. The School of Rock, Rev. Billy C. Wirtz, the Betty Fox Band, and the Damon Fowler Group play on Saturday. On Sunday, Shaun Hopper, Crossfire Creek, and Trey Wanvig play.
The free festival also includes children’s activities and food vendors. Free shuttle service to and from Vinoy Park will be available at
various locations from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on April 5th and 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on April 6th.
“Thank You in Advance: 2025 MFA Thesis Exhibition” at USF CAM
“Thank You in Advance: 2025 MFA Thesis Exhibition,” a show featuring work by third-year Master of Fine Arts candidates in the University of South Florida School of Art and Art History, is at the University of South Florida Contemporary Art Museum from April 4th through May 10th. The opening reception is 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
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Jocelyn Chase's "Apocalypse" is part of "Thank You in Advance: 2025 MFA Thesis Exhibition" at USF CAM on April 4th. This year’s featured artists are Jocelyn Chase, Olin Fritz, Adrian Gomez, Michael Lonchar, Emily Martinez, and Tom Rosenow.
The 52-page “Thank You in Advance: 2025 MFA Thesis Exhibition” catalog, which features an essay and MFA artist profiles by Laurie Rojas and texts by USFCAM Director Margaret Miller and USF School of Art & Art History Director Andrew Scott
is available to download for free online. It is also available for free to museum visitors.
TESA exhibit “Creative Strokes” at Sterling Art Studios & Gallery in Dunedin
Members of The Exhibiting Society of Artists (TESA), a cooperative of local artists and creatives, showcase their work in
“Creative Strokes,” an exhibit running April 1st through 28th at Dunedin’s Stirling Art Studios & Gallery. The artist reception and awards ceremony is 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 12th at Stirling, located on the second floor of 730 Broadway.
Tampa Bay Black Heritage Music Fest
The
Tampa Bay Black Heritage Music Fest is Saturday, April 26th and Sunday, April 27th at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park in downtown Tampa.
The Saturday lineup is Boney James, Eric Darius, Full Force, and Brick ft. Jimmy Brown. Sunday’s lineup has Jeff Bradshaw, Raheem DeVaughn, Eric Roberson, and Morris Day and the Time.
“Fresh Squeezed 9: Emerging Artists in Florida” at Morean Arts Center
“Fresh Squeezed 9: Emerging Artists in Florida,” an exhibit showcasing up-and-coming artists who live in Florida, is at the Morean Arts Center in St. Petersburg from April 12th through June 26th. The opening reception is 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on April 12th, during the monthly Second Saturday ArtWalk.
Here’s information from the Morean website on the artists in this year’s exhibit.
“Orlando-based artist Stella Arbelaez‘s large-scale drawings and paintings are an homage to the Florida National Scenic Trail, which she hiked in 2020 to reset her mind after experiencing personal challenges.”
Sarasota’s Lily Capierseho “makes playful mixed media paintings about her life and family history, using themes of identity, self-expression, mortality, relationships, and nature.”
New Smyrna Beach native and Gainesville resident Caroline Crawford “is known for her striking representations of human figures in bodies of water, capturing fluidity and grace of movement in a way that is both realistic and emotionally evocative.”
Tampa artist Nobert Gonsalves “utilizes the Hindi concept of ‘Rass’ (lit., sap of a plant or tree) in his vibrant ceramic sculptures, creating colorful, fluid forms out of solid materials.”
Tampa’s Mary-Helen Horne “invites viewers to stroll through an imagined woodland canopy and reflect on future memories of trees not yet lost to climate change within her prints and installations.”
“Inspired by coral forms and marine life structures,” Tallahassee-based artist Hannah Keats creates abstract sculptural and immersive installations that engage viewers in world-building, in a similar manner as science fiction authors.”
Gainesville’s Benedicta Opoku-Mensah “is a sculptor whose work is a commentary on her native Ghana and the gender stereotypes entrenched in her upbringing.”
West Palm Beach’s Ryan Toth’s “paintings and sculptures are inspired by bestiaries, natural history, vintage freakshow banners, art history, tacky tropical patterns, and the balance between fabricated and natural environments, using the ‘Florida Man’ as a protagonist.”
Tampa Bay Design Week
AIA Tampa Bay’s Center for Architecture and Design’s annual
Tampa Bay Design Week is April 13th through 19th, with events at locations across the Bay Area.
From 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on April 13th, there’s a walking tour of St. Petersburg’s newest local historic district, Mirror Lake, in conjunction with the group Preserve the Burg. From 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on April 14th at the Tampa Theatre, there are screenings of the films “The House: 6 Points of Departure” and “This is Not A House,” followed by a panel discussion with the filmmakers and Robin Donaldson, the architect featured in the films.
From 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on April 15th, there is a tour of USF’s five-story, 85,000-square-foot Judy Genshaft Honors College. From 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. April 16th at the Center for Architecture and Design, “20 x 20: Perspectives from Award-Winning Architects” is a “fast-paced series of Pecha Kucha-style presentations by past winners of the Eduardo Garcia Award, the prestigious honor given to licensed architects under 40.” The event also showcases work by USF School of Architecture and Community Design students on exhibit in the Center Gallery.
From 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on April 17th, architect and planner Keith Greminger leads a walking tour of Water Street Tampa. The tour begins at global architecture, design, and planning firm Gensler’s office in Thousand & One and ends with cocktails and impressive views on the rooftop of the Tampa EDITION. From 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. on April 18th, urban designer Josh Frank and architect Ross Tisdale lead an urban riverboat tour of Tampa on a Pirate Water Taxi.
On April 19th, things move to Polk County. There’s a visit to the Ashley Gibson Barnett Museum of Art (previously known as the Polk Museum of Art) at Florida Southern College to check out the museum addition designed by Straughn Trout Architects and the gallery exhibits. Then travel to Winter Haven to check out three properties designed by Gene Leedy, a key figure in the mid-century modern “Sarasota School of Architecture.”
“For Closure!” at freeFall Theatre
“For Closure!” by acclaimed playwright Hannah Benitez, makes its world premiere at St. Pete’s
freeFall Theatre on April 11th. Set in the small Florida coastal town of Gulfpalm, “For Closure!” is directed by freeFall Artistic Director Eric Davis and stars Renata Eastlick, Sara DelBeato, and Matthew McGee.
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"For Closure!" is at freeFall Theatre in St. Pete from April 11th through May 11th. “Partners Raven (Renata Eastlick) and Amanda (Sara DelBeato) are trying to keep the family real estate agency afloat in trying times,” a description on the freeFall website says. “When a nefarious local politician threatens to bring even more disruption to their lives, they must join forces with the enigmatic psychic, Camille Chevalier Milk (played by Tampa Bay favorite Matthew McGee) to expose the true nature of this threat to the town before it’s too late. With the help of a wild cast of Florida characters including a surly handyman, a rapper turned cannabis baker, a Russian oligarch's mistress, an acerbic bird lady, and an activist exotic dancer, they just might pull it off.”
“For Closure!” runs through May 11th.
“Meteor Shower” at TheatreFor
A production of Steve Martin’s absurdist comedy “Meteor Shower” is at
TheatreFor in Clearwater from April 17th through May 4th. Performances are 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday.
“We are ecstatic to present Meteor Shower
as part of our first full season,” TheatreFor Director Graham Jones says in a press release. “It’s the perfect production to highlight our commitment to contemporary, thought-provoking theatre that entertains and inspires.”
Tampa Oratorio Singers perform Brahms “Requiem”
The
Tampa Oratorio Singers have two performances of Johannes Brahms’ “Requiem” this month.
At 4 p.m. on April 6th, Nancy Callahan will lead singers from TOS, St. Petersburg College, and other local choristers for a performance at First Presbyterian Church, 701 Beach Drive NE in St. Petersburg. Admission is donation-based.
The second performance is at 4 p.m. on April 13th at Palma Ceia Presbyterian Church, 3501 W. San Jose St. in Tampa. Tickets are $30 for general admission, $10 for students.