Participatory Art

There was a spirited discussion at the Friday Morning Group last week. Most of the discussion centered around how to put the ideas that have been bounced around at the Friday Morning Group into action. This would include the ideas espoused in the Friday Morning Group Concept Paper and other ideas about making the community better for artists.

Here's what we came up with. We are asking as many of you as possibly can to join us this week. We are going to attempt to put together an action plan to move these ideas closer to fruition. We need you to participate both in the planning and the execution of the plan. Consider this a participatory art exercise. We have the rough idea for subject matter and a blank canvas (or piece of paper, or computer screen) in front of us. We need to bring this rough idea into life. And we need your participation to do it.

Herb Snitzer and I began our quest for private funding for our concepts last week. We met with Dick Jacobs of the law firm Trenam Kemker. Dick, besides being an accomplished attorney, is also a skilled photographer. He is also the former chairman of the Art Center Board of Directors. And his firm has the largest collection of photography in the Southeast US. If you know of any other folks who could be helpful to us in the acquisition of private funding, please let Herb or me know.

In other news:

• The annual NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet will be held June 2nd at the Coliseum. Tickets can be had from Herb Snitzer.
• Patrice Pucci related her experience at the Destin Jazz Festival. Despite being held on the Redneck Riviera, there was a very heavy flavor of African American participation in the audience.
• The City of St. Petersburg has sent letters to all the recipients of cultural and social grants informing them to expect no money from the City this year. This included more than $100 thousand for the Florida Orchestra and funding for the Black Nativity. This is a result of the pending property tax "reform" that is bouncing around the state legislature. The legislature will be back for a special session in June to deal with property taxes.
• To help us understand the impact that this tax "reform" will have on St. Petersburg and our quality of life, St. Petersburg City Council member Jamie Bennett will join us on Friday, June 1st.

Please plan to join us this Friday for a little participatory art.