“The Lost Weekend: Photographs of John Lennon” at Tempus Projects
May Pang, John Lennon’s girlfriend during the Beatles legend’s “lost weekend” in the 1970s, presents her candid photos of Lennon in a special exhibit at Tempus Projects in Ybor City from January 24th through January 26th.
“Several of these photographs were taken at Disney World, including the only photo of John Lennon signing the contract to dissolve the Beatles while at the Polynesian resort,” a description on Tempus Project’s Facebook page says.
“The Lost Weekend: Photographs of John Lennon” is on exhibit from noon to 7 p.m. on January 24th, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on January 25th, and noon to 4 p.m. on January 26th. Pang will be at the gallery for each day of the exhibition. Tempus Projects is located on the second floor of the Kress Contemporary, 1624 E. Seventh Ave. in Ybor City.
For more information, go to Tempus Projects
“José Ney Milà Espinosa: Land Land Land” at FMoPA
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“José Ney Milà Espinosa: Land Land Land" is at the FMoPA“José Ney Milà Espinosa: Land Land Land,” a collection of photographs by the Cuban-born artist, is on display at the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts (FMoPA) from January 14th through February 16th.
The exhibit explores the “rich spiritual and cultural heritage of the ‘Yoruba’ (Afro-Cuban Santeria) and ‘Kimbiza, Santo Cristo del Buen Viaje,’ a lesser-known Afro-Cuban spiritual practice,” an FMoPA description says.
The opening reception is 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday, January 16th. FMoPA is located on the first floor of the Kress Contemporary, 1630 E. Seventh Ave. in Ybor City.
For more information, go to José Ney Milà Espinosa: Land Land Land
“Invisible Labor: Krystle Lemonias and Sharon Norwood” at Woodson
“Invisible Labor: Krystle Lemonias and Sharon Norwood” is at the Woodson African American Museum of Florida in St. Petersburg from January 7th through March 29th.
“Through the work of these two artists, the exhibition explores the value of African American labor and its simultaneous invisibility,” a write-up on the Woodson website says.
At 6:30 p.m. on Friday, January 10th, Lemonias gives a talk on the exhibit and answers audience questions. If interested, RSVP for the free event on the Woodson website. The opening reception is 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, January 11th, during St. Pete’s monthly Second Saturday ArtWalk.
For more information, go to Woodson Museum events
Upcoming shows at The Commodore
Ybor City improv venue The Commodore has a bevy of shows on tap in January.
Here’s a sample what’s in store. On January 10th, the monthly installment of The Commodore’s signature event, “Salud and Happy Days: Improv Inspired by Stories about Tampa,” features the area’s top improv talent improvising scenes based on stories, anecdotes, and monologues from notable Tampeños.
Also on January 10th, “This Show is for Quitters” will celebrate the day most people abandon their New Year’s resolution with improv comedians acting out sketches inspired by audience member suggestions on things they’ve quit in their lives or wished they had.
On Saturday, January 11th, there’s “Inconvenient Banana: Comedy from Tampa + Denver” and “The French Connection (not the film, the experience).”
The next weekend, comedian and cancer survivor Marla Hartson hosts the monthly clean comedy open mic on January 19th. Also on the 19th, comedian Jeff Klein presents “Wigs and Wit,” which features three comedians and three drag queens, in Tampa for the first time in years.
For more information, go to The Commodore January shows
LAB Theater Project presents “Green Cheese”
The LAB Theater Project presents “Green Cheese,” the biting new comedy from Ottawa-based playwright and actor Guy Newsham, on weekends from January 9th through 26th.
“Green Cheese” tells the story of Olive, whose company is going through tough
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Courtesy Lara Jackson"Green Cheese" is at LAB Theater Project times. She has to decide which senior employee to lay off, her husband or her ex-boyfriend/best friend.
“So, like anyone would, she decides she’ll let a party game settle the question, winner take all!” a LAB Theater press release says. “A fun night out spirals into a high-stakes battle where secrets simmer, alliances shift, and friendships, careers and marriages hang on the roll of the dice.”
LAB Theater Project is located at 812 E. Henderson Ave. on the western edge of Ybor City.
For more information and tickets, go to LAB Theater Project
“Source of All Hair, Wearer of All Socks” at Creative Pinellas
“Source of All Hair, Wearer of All Socks,” an exhibit featuring the work of Tampa-based Nigerian-Sri Lankan artist Sam Modder, is at Creative Pinellas from January 16th through February 23rd.
“Modder, now living in Tampa, Florida, creates powerful allegorical spaces through digitally manipulated, mural-sized ballpoint pen drawings,” a Creative Pinellas description says. “In her most recent series, these installations, inspired by a Black
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“Source of All Hair, Wearer of All Socks,” featuring works by Tampa-based Nigerian-Sri Lankan artist Sam Modder, is at Creative Pinellaswoman’s fairytale, blend childhood wonder with critical reflection, tackling themes of power, exploitation, and resilience. Black hair emerges as a central character, pushing the narrative forward with soft curls and defiant shapes, embodying resistance and strength. Modder’s speculative worlds decenter broken realities to reimagine and critique oppressive structures. As her work towers above, she invites viewers to step back into a space of childhood, wonder, and possibility—and, in the best of ways, to feel small, open, and ready to hear one more story.”
The opening reception is 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on January 16th.
For more information, go to Source of All Hair, Wearer of All Socks
New exhibits at HCC
Hillsborough Community College’s Gallery221 and Gallery114 both have new exhibits featuring the work of arts faculty currently teaching at a four-year university in Florida. The exhibits are intended to introduce HCC art students to potential mentors and departments and schools where they might continue their education after HCC.
At Gallery221 on the Dale Mabry campus, “Ukombozi: Reclaiming Place and Self” features recent works by multidisciplinary artist Njeri Kinuthia, who is currently a visiting lecturer at the University of Central Florida.
“Swahili for ‘liberation,’ Ukombozi reflects on the artist’s own experiences growing up in Kenya, combining self-portraiture and culturally significant materials to explore
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“Ukombozi: Reclaiming Place and Self” features recent works by multidisciplinary artist Njeri Kinuthia concepts of heritage, identity and the body,” a description from the HCC website says. “Kinuthia’s background in fashion design and her passion for textiles are woven into her artistic practice, which spans painting, drawing, installation and fiber arts. Her work invites audiences to engage with the intricate interplay of tradition, personal history and contemporary discourse, posing urgent questions about self expression and the boundaries imposed on women by their cultural spheres.”
“Ukombozi: Reclaiming Place and Self” is on exhibit at Gallery221 through April 17th. The opening reception is 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday, January 23rd with an artist talk at 6 p.m.
For more information, go to Gallery221 current exhibitions
At HCC’s Ybor City campus, “Eszter Sziksz: Let It Go” features the work of Sziksz, a multidisciplinary artist who is currently a visiting professor at the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota.
“Sziksz prints family portraits using ephemeral materials like ice, sand, milk, MSG and ash that quickly wash away, speaking to her acceptance of change as a constant,” an exhibit description says. “Her work also addresses environmental impacts, touching on collective concerns about impending catastrophes and how the fragility of life can be both universal and deeply intimate.”
The exhibit runs through February 20th. The reception is 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on February 20th, with an artist talk at 6 p.m.
For more information, go to Gallery114 current exhibitions
New exhibits at Leepa-Rattner
The Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art at St. Petersburg College’s Tarpon Springs campus has a trio of exhibits running from January 11th through April 27th.
In “X-Ray Vision vs. Invisibility,” artist Noelle Mason, the director and curator at Tampa alternative exhibition space Parallelogram, uses a variety of non-digital media, including cyanotype, embroidery, and tintype, to explore the “nuanced interplay between surveillance and anonymity, control and vulnerability.”
“Reflections: The Legacy of Frank Rampolla” features works by the late master of figurative expressionism, who died in 1971.
“Active during the transformative cultural and political upheavals of the mid-20th century, Rampolla’s art always captured his subjects with unflinching honesty and emotional intensity,” a description says. “His work often explores a variety of themes including alienation, existential struggle, and the interplay between the sacred and the profane, offering viewers a visceral encounter with the frailty and resilience of the human spirit.”
“Dignity: The Light Within” features photographic works of artist and 1983 University of South Florida graduate Renato Rampolla.
“Renato Rampolla’s photographic practice traverses urban landscapes, creating work that examines the intricate and multifaceted nature of the human condition,” a description says. “Through deeply personal engagements with his subjects, Rampolla crafts portraits that foreground the lived experiences of individuals who occupy the margins of society, particularly those experiencing housing instability. These works are not merely visual representations; they are profound meditations on resilience, vulnerability, and the complexity of human connection.”
For more information, go to Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art
“X Factor: Latinx Artists and the Reconquest of the Everyday” at USF CAM
“X Factor: Latinx Artists and the Reconquest of the Everyday” is at the University of South Florida Contemporary Art Museum from January 17th through March 8th.
The exhibit explores and expands the term “Latinx” through the work of more than a dozen modern and historical artists
“The exhibition grounds a series of redefinitions of “Latinity” in the everyday lives of its creators, especially where artworks and creative processes reconquer novel meanings from hackneyed and conventional ideas of ethnicity, race, class, politics, representation, and the history of US migration,” a description on the USF CAM website says.
Exhibiting artists are Gabino A. Castelán, Gisela Colón, Danielle De Jesus, Lucia Hierro, Karlo Andrei Ibarra, Laura Perez Insua, José Lerma, Eddy A. López, Miguel Luciano, Narsiso Martinez, Angel Otero, Edison Peñafiel, Shizu Saldamando, Yiyo Tirado-Rivera, and Rodrigo Valenzuela.
There is an artist talk at 6 p.m. January 17th at USF Theatre 2 with an opening reception following from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Contemporary Art Museum.
For more information, go to USF Cam exhibits
“The Sacred Arts Tour 2025” at Florida CraftArt
“The Sacred Arts Tour” returns to Florida CraftArt in St. Petersburg from January 13th through 18th.
The event, a cherished St. Pete tradition, features eight Tibetan monks from the
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Brian James, via Florida CraftArt"The Sacred Arts Tour" returns to Florida CraftArtDrepung Gomang Monastery creating a sand mandala over several days and a series of community events at Florida CraftArt. The opening reception is 10:30 a.m. on January 13th. There is a morning meditation on January 15th and mala making workshops on January 17th and 18th. The “Sacred Arts Tour” culminates in a sand mandala dissolution ceremony on January 18th.
In conjunction with “The Sacred Arts Tour,” the exhibit “The Mandala Project” will feature works by more than 80 regional artists. “The Mandala Project” runs from January 10th through 23rd, with an opening reception from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on January 10th.
For more information, go to The Sacred Arts Tour 2025
Hillsborough Arts Council grant opportunities
The Hillsborough Arts Council is accepting applications from arts and cultural organizations for two grant programs through January 24th.
The Cultural Development Grant provides general program support to local cultural organizations in Hillsborough County that offer programming serving diverse audiences and geographically diverse communities. The maximum award is $25,000.
The Special Events Partnership Grant awards up to $100,000 for events organized by nonprofit organizations.
“The grant is designed to strengthen and promote cultural assets through growing and supporting arts and cultural events that encourage place-making and community-building outcomes aligned with Hillsborough County’s economic and community prosperity goals,” an Arts Council description says. “These events should communicate the authentic County story, activate public spaces, enrich the lives of residents, and leverage private sector financial support while aligning to economic development objectives of achieving greater patron spending and maximizing visitation to our market.”
For more information, go to Hillsborough Arts Council grants
Clearwater Arts Alliance call for artists
The Clearwater Arts Alliance has issued a call for sculpture artists for “Sculpture 360,” a placemaking and public art initiative the nonprofit arts organization does in partnership with the City of Clearwater’s Community Redevelopment Agency.
They seek artist proposals for temporary, three-dimensional sculptures that will be installed in the median on the 400, 500, and 600 block of Cleveland Street in downtown Clearwater.
For more information and the application, go to Call to sculpture artists