A small, but interesting band gathered last Friday morning at the Atlanta Bread Company for the Friday Morning Group meeting. It won't do you much good by the time you get this, but we learned that the Pinellas County Cultural Affairs Department is having another round of Fiscal Year 2008 grants. It won't do you much good because the grant application deadline is this Friday, February 15th. Yes, you read that correctly. This is an additional round of grants for work to be completed in 2008.
Speaking of 2008 and grants, I learned something interesting, but not altogether surprising today. The City of St. Petersburg will be sending letters out today to all the Cultural Grants recipients for fiscal year 2008 letting them know that fiscal year 2009 is also a very tough budget climate for the City and they should plan on receiving little or nothing in the way of grant funding from the City again this upcoming year. Sounds like a replay of last year.
Speaking of the City and arts funding, the newly created Arts Trust Fund pushed through by Council Member Jeff Danner is still awaiting its $500,000 seed money funding from the City. I spoke recently with Jeff about this. He assured me that the Mayor is committed to funding the Arts Trust Fund. It is just a matter of identifying an appropriate source of funding. Stay tuned.
We are looking forward to hearing from Michele Tuegel about the Cultural Tourism Workshop held by the Cultural Affairs Department and the Convention and Visitors Bureau last Friday. Talk of that brought up a discussion again of the "New Product Development" grants available from the Convention and Visitors Bureau. Remember, the CVB is funded from the heads & beds tourist tax and thus is not subject to the vagaries of the property tax "reform" movement. This could be a source of funding for an arts project that would draw visitors to Pinellas County, for anyone who is interested.
And of course, what would a Friday Morning Group meeting be these days without a discussion, sometimes passionate, of the art of the City's downtown waterfront, the future of Al Lang Field and the Rays proposal.
All in all, another very interesting Friday Morning.
Showing posts with label Friday Morning Group. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Friday Morning Group. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
A Year's Worth of Friday Mornings
Happy Holidays everyone. Given the press of business and the Holiday season, I have not been able to sit down and write up the last two weeks worth of meetings until now. However, I decided rather than just catch up on the last two weeks, I'd take a look back on the entire year as 2007 comes to a close.
The First Friday of 2007 was not atypical of the entire year. Here's how we got the year started:
A couple of weeks later we had quite the discussion of the Big A and the Little a. Here's how some of that went:
February started off with a Friday Morning Mojo Moment:
Moving into April, a conversation began about our concept paper featuring the Pinellas Prize and the Creativity Center:
June began with Ideas Bouncing Around All Over the Place:
In July we had great discussions about an Interesting Meeting & Big Weekend (Herb Snitzer's show at the Museum of Fine Arts among other things), the Sociology of Art and a continuing discussion on the (lack of) local media coverage of the arts.
In August we had a (W)EDUCational Discussion with Joyce Cotton, the Director of Marketing and Community Partnerships at WEDU. And we had a conversation about The Art of Guerrilla Tactics that was brightened by the all too rare appearance of Carol Dameron.
August was also when we began our discussions of the arts with City Council candidates beginning with Cathy Harrelson and Jamie Bennett.
In September, we did some Catching Up and we talked about Preserving the Garden Cafeteria and Some other History. Also in September, St. Petersburg City Council Member Jeff Danner joined us to talk about Advocating for the Arts and the allocation of the funds the City did manage to find for the arts and social services.
In advance of the November City Council elections, October was full of of discussions with City Council candidates, Ed Montonari, Bill Dudley and Herb Polson.
In November, in advance of the announcement of the Rays stadium proposal, we had a lively discussion about designating the Al Lang Stadium site as a park. Through the good offices of St. Pete City Council Member Leslie Curran, we were able to "kidnap" an old friend for a few minutes last week. Nancy Loehr, who more than anyone else was responsible for the formation of the Friday Morning Group. And I had a very pleasant surprise when my good friend Tom Orr came down from Tarpon Springs to join us at the Friday Morning Group. That was a pleasant enough surprise in itself. But Tom had brought his good friend Rose Sperling along as well. Rose is a very talented potter who is currently living in Fort Pierce. We are (I am) trying very hard to get Rose to move to St. Pete. Can't we all do something to encourage her?
In December so far, we have had a very interesting discussion that If I Told You I'd Have To... that featured City Council Member Elect Bill Dudley and special guest Lance Rogers. And city issues were prominent in a discussion that I labeled Meet the Mayoral Candidates?
That brings us up to the last two weeks. With the holiday season, we had some smaller groups but still some interesting discussions. We were also joined by former St. Petersburg City Council Member Jay Lasita.
All in all a year jam packed with very interesting Friday Mornings.
The First Friday of 2007 was not atypical of the entire year. Here's how we got the year started:
Our main focus again was how to support artists in St. Petersburg. It was suggested that one way to do that would be to try and get the City and the County to market us as an art buyers destination. The tie ins with economic and tourist development became rapidly apparent. Michele Tuegel of the County Cultural Affairs Council suggested that for St. Petersburg, it would make sense to approach Mayor Rick Baker. Herb Snitzer indicated he would contact Pinellas County Commission Chair Ken Welch.We also talked about affordable and mixed use housing development for artists, historic preservation in St. Petersburg, and there was a rather lively discussion about education. And so the year started.
A couple of weeks later we had quite the discussion of the Big A and the Little a. Here's how some of that went:
The St. Pete Times was all abuzz about the Big A shuffle of the Palladium, American Stage and the Florida Orchestra engineered by all the usual Big A suspects. Not a word was written about the Little a artists who actually produce the art for the Big A. So what else is new?The multi-faceted Peter Kagayama dropped the phrase "creative competitiveness"on us. That has a ring to it doesn't it? And our old friend Nancy Loehr dropped by with County Commissioner Ken Welch in tow.
February started off with a Friday Morning Mojo Moment:
This past Friday, February 2nd, may have been a watershed mojo moment for the Friday Morning Group. Not only were we honored to be joined by Pinellas County Commisioner Ken Welch, we were also able to extend a Friday Morning Welcome to St. Petersburg City Council Member Leslie Curran.This discussion shaped the course of a large chunk of our discussions for the next few months.
The admonition to arrive promptly at 8 AM was adhered to by a hardy group of talented folks and Ken started right off by asking how we wanted to proceed. Herb Snitzer laid out for Ken the nut of the issue for the Friday Morning Group artists - respect and recognition. Ken was also exposed to the idea of getting tourist development dollars to promote the City and the County as an art buying destination. That will help to support our Community Based artists, but also meets the Tourist Development Council and Convention and Visitors Bureau's missions of heads in beds.
Ken must have asked at least three times, if not more, for the group to tell him what it is we wanted him to do for us. ... Leslie Curran took out her hammer and beat us over the head, gently. She admonished the group to make sure and follow through to deliver our wish list to Ken. ... Sandy Tabor volunteered to lead a mission statement and goal visioning session and or sessions. This is to be the first step in creating a strategic plan for the Friday Morning Group. (Scary, isn't it?) Bob (Devin Jones) stressed that the mission of the Friday Morning Group needed to be focused on Little a artists and how to support them. Group consensus seems to have formed generally around that premise.That "mission statement and goal visioning session" led to the creation of a plan for the Pinellas Prize and from there OMG - we had a plan :
a "concept paper" that included the Pinellas Prize as a major component... Well, this past week, the Friday Morning Group subjected the "concept paper" to a more or less formal view. And the we did something really astounding - we took a vote! Those in attendance voted unanimously to support the "concept paper" and present it to Commissioner Welch. More than that, we agreed to go back to our various places in the world and try to get support for the provisions put forth in the "concept paper". Our hardy band of volunteers (our committee?) agreed to present the paper to Ken and to be available to him to respond to the questions he would surely have.As we moved into March, even the Friday Morning Group could not avoid the topic of homelessness in St. Pete. The Art of the Homeless included these snippets:
Now, I don't know about you, but all that sounds like we are getting awfully formal to me. It also sounds like progress.
City Council Member Leslie Curran ... mentioned that Grace-Ann Alfiero of Creative Clay had previously approached the city with a proposal to extend their services to the mentally challenged homelessand
Mike Conway reminded us of the Project Home show to be held in Williams Park on March 30th and 31st. This show, planned prior to the current homeless plight emerged in St. Pete, is about artists' concepts of what a "home" means or is.March closed out with a couple of different views on how different communities view supporting artists. Attitudinal Change was how I described the reception our concept paper (http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dfr39tgx_117cgrt39 ) got from the Pinellas County bureaucracy:
... told us right off the bat that our problem was going to be with the $50,000 stipend to the prize winners. That much money going to an individual would be "problematic". ... Bob Devin Jones perhaps said it best when he said placing value on artists is at the core of what we are about. The $50,000 is about valuing artists in the way that our society values things - through financial means.Contrast that with Irish Eyes which started like this:
The real work though is to set out to create the attitudinal change necessary to bring that idea of valuing artists to the forefront. We have the ear of and a proposal before a County Commissioner.
WOW!!!The contrast could not have been more stark.
That about describes our Friday Morning Group meeting last week for me. For those of you who weren't there, well you can follow along below.
Peter Kagayama brought us a very special guest indeed last Friday. Roisin McDonough is the Chief Executive of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, the equivalent of our National Endowment for the Arts. Boy did we get an earful about what respect for artists looks like there.
Moving into April, a conversation began about our concept paper featuring the Pinellas Prize and the Creativity Center:
Last week at the Friday Morning Group a rather lively discussion took place. Judith Powers had written up her comments on our Concept Paper. These comments were distributed to all seven County Commissioners and to Liz Warren, Judith's direct supervisor and to Paul Cozzee, the Assistant County Administrator under which the Cultural Affairs Department now falls (Parks, Leisure and Culture).The conversation continued the following week :
Herb Snitzer gave us a brief review of Judith's comments. They were pretty much what was expected after Judith's visit to our Group on March 9th. If you wish to read Judith's comments, you can find them here. The attendees at the meeting pretty much agreed that despite Judith's comments, we would continue to pursue the concepts of the Pinellas Prize and the Creativity Center contained in the Concept Paper. Also, we agreed that what we would do is advocate for our concepts
Herb Snitzer and I reported on our meeting with Pinellas County Commissioner Karen Seel. We had a very good meeting with Commissioner Seel (we tried very hard not to talk about money). ... We did succeed in getting Commissioner Seel to be supportive of the concept. However, the money part was definitely going to be a problem. We were urged again to look to the Tourist Development Council (TDC) as their revenue stream (bed tax on hotel and motel stays) is not going to be impacted by whatever property tax "reform" ultimately occurs.April closed out with a group discussion about the group itself and a wide ranging discussion on arts and society:
Topics covered included African American Heritage and diversity and tolerance in media in the now post Imus age.Moving into May, we had discussions on Participatory Art , Arts and Attitude and Looking at the Long Term. Lively discussions all.
We discussed Bob Devin Jones' opening performance in Permanent Collection at the studio@620 (http://www.thestudioat620.com/p_tpir07.htm):Permanent Collection is a searing examination of racial politics that ultimately ask how much space – literally and figuratively – the white world gives to African-Americans. What is the cost of failing to view the world through another’s eyes?
Those who have seen it gave rave reviews and highly recommended that the rest of us go see the play.
Herb Snitzer gave us an update on his activity for the week - a table at the African American Heritage gathering at the Hilton. ...
There was also a discussion of the City's situation with the Public Arts program given the current tax "reform" climate.
June began with Ideas Bouncing Around All Over the Place:
About a dozen of us were joined by St. Petersburg City Council Vice Chair Jamie Bennett. Jamie came all prepared to tell us about the situation the City of St. Petersburg finds itself in vis a vis the property tax reforms coming from Tallahassee .As June moved along we discussed Art Happenings and Other Stuff, Smart TV and Looking for Writers (Tom Taggart from WEDU joined us), The Art of Livin' and we had A Whole lot of Art Going On.
... the City of St. Petersburg has already sent a letter to all the Arts and Social Services groups that the City helped to fund last year. That letter told these organizations that they better count on zero money from the City this coming year. The reason for that, of course, is the uncertainty all the local governments are facing about the severity of the budget cuts that may be enforced by the State Legislature.
... we started kicking around the usual ideas. You know, contacting our state legislators, contacting the Governor.
... it looked like we were really going nowhere fast. And then Peter Kageyama tossed three pennies onto the table. Peter asked us to take a moment and realize we were all creative people in the room and that maybe we should be thinking on the creative edge. The pennies were about an idea to find a dedicated funding source for government support of the arts. Now that's thinking on the creative edge.
In July we had great discussions about an Interesting Meeting & Big Weekend (Herb Snitzer's show at the Museum of Fine Arts among other things), the Sociology of Art and a continuing discussion on the (lack of) local media coverage of the arts.
In August we had a (W)EDUCational Discussion with Joyce Cotton, the Director of Marketing and Community Partnerships at WEDU. And we had a conversation about The Art of Guerrilla Tactics that was brightened by the all too rare appearance of Carol Dameron.
August was also when we began our discussions of the arts with City Council candidates beginning with Cathy Harrelson and Jamie Bennett.
In September, we did some Catching Up and we talked about Preserving the Garden Cafeteria and Some other History. Also in September, St. Petersburg City Council Member Jeff Danner joined us to talk about Advocating for the Arts and the allocation of the funds the City did manage to find for the arts and social services.
In advance of the November City Council elections, October was full of of discussions with City Council candidates, Ed Montonari, Bill Dudley and Herb Polson.
In November, in advance of the announcement of the Rays stadium proposal, we had a lively discussion about designating the Al Lang Stadium site as a park. Through the good offices of St. Pete City Council Member Leslie Curran, we were able to "kidnap" an old friend for a few minutes last week. Nancy Loehr, who more than anyone else was responsible for the formation of the Friday Morning Group. And I had a very pleasant surprise when my good friend Tom Orr came down from Tarpon Springs to join us at the Friday Morning Group. That was a pleasant enough surprise in itself. But Tom had brought his good friend Rose Sperling along as well. Rose is a very talented potter who is currently living in Fort Pierce. We are (I am) trying very hard to get Rose to move to St. Pete. Can't we all do something to encourage her?
In December so far, we have had a very interesting discussion that If I Told You I'd Have To... that featured City Council Member Elect Bill Dudley and special guest Lance Rogers. And city issues were prominent in a discussion that I labeled Meet the Mayoral Candidates?
That brings us up to the last two weeks. With the holiday season, we had some smaller groups but still some interesting discussions. We were also joined by former St. Petersburg City Council Member Jay Lasita.
All in all a year jam packed with very interesting Friday Mornings.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Meet the Mayoral Candidates?
We had a very interesting discussion (how many different ways can you say that?) last week at the Friday Morning Group. As you might surmise from the title of this post, city issues were prominent in that discussion. But more on that later.
I want to make sure I pass along to all of you the information on the benefit for the IMAGO artists next Wednesday in Dunedin. Here is the flier(I hope):
And yes, we did discuss art as well. We talked about the Salt Creek opening that was scheduled for last Friday night. And we also discussed Bob Devin Jones' play "C" which was to open last Friday at the Studio @ 620 as well.
Now back to the City happenings. Herb Snitzer related that he has heard nothing about his proposal to document the mural on the wall at the old Piano Exchange (or Garden Cafeteria) if you will. This was followed up by a rather lively discussion about developers and preservation.
And we also talked about the upcoming mayors' race - which is only two years away (November 2009, but who's counting?) This discussion came up because the St. Petersburg Times had run a story the day before about some polling they had done, and specifically related to some potential Mayoral candidates that they polled on.
As Council Member Elect Bill Dudley had joined us, the idea of bring in potential Mayoral candidates to get their view of the arts and perhaps to impart some of our views. Accordingly, we are going to start bringing in the potential candidates to meet with us. The idea is that, perhaps, by starting early we can shape the debate about the value of artists and the arts to our community.
So starting next month, we will try and get these mayoral hopefuls (maybe one per month) in for a chat. Stay tuned.
I want to make sure I pass along to all of you the information on the benefit for the IMAGO artists next Wednesday in Dunedin. Here is the flier(I hope):
And yes, we did discuss art as well. We talked about the Salt Creek opening that was scheduled for last Friday night. And we also discussed Bob Devin Jones' play "C" which was to open last Friday at the Studio @ 620 as well.
Now back to the City happenings. Herb Snitzer related that he has heard nothing about his proposal to document the mural on the wall at the old Piano Exchange (or Garden Cafeteria) if you will. This was followed up by a rather lively discussion about developers and preservation.
And we also talked about the upcoming mayors' race - which is only two years away (November 2009, but who's counting?) This discussion came up because the St. Petersburg Times had run a story the day before about some polling they had done, and specifically related to some potential Mayoral candidates that they polled on.
As Council Member Elect Bill Dudley had joined us, the idea of bring in potential Mayoral candidates to get their view of the arts and perhaps to impart some of our views. Accordingly, we are going to start bringing in the potential candidates to meet with us. The idea is that, perhaps, by starting early we can shape the debate about the value of artists and the arts to our community.
So starting next month, we will try and get these mayoral hopefuls (maybe one per month) in for a chat. Stay tuned.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
If I Told You, I'd Have to...
We had a really interesting meeting last Friday morning at the Friday Morning Group. City Council Member Elect Bill Dudley wowed us all by actually coming back to see us after the election. Bill gets major points for that!
Not only did Bill come back to visit with us, he brought a special guest with him. Now I don't really know how we got so far along in life here at the Friday Morning Group that we would consider Lance Rogers to be a special guest. Nonetheless, we were all glad to see Lance. And we were really glad and intrigued to see what Lance had brought for us to peruse. I'd like to tell you about it, but if I told you...
Details about this most interesting project will be published when the time is ripe. And apparently now is not quite the time. But soon, I hope.
And no, we are not cooking up a stadium deal in the back room at Atlanta Bread. But that is another story.
Not only did Bill come back to visit with us, he brought a special guest with him. Now I don't really know how we got so far along in life here at the Friday Morning Group that we would consider Lance Rogers to be a special guest. Nonetheless, we were all glad to see Lance. And we were really glad and intrigued to see what Lance had brought for us to peruse. I'd like to tell you about it, but if I told you...
Details about this most interesting project will be published when the time is ripe. And apparently now is not quite the time. But soon, I hope.
And no, we are not cooking up a stadium deal in the back room at Atlanta Bread. But that is another story.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
A Rose By Any Other Name
I had a very pleasant surprise last Friday morning. My good friend Tom Orr came down from Tarpon Springs to join us at the Friday Morning Group. That was a pleasant enough surprise in itself. But Tom had brought his good friend Rose Sperling along as well. Rose is a very talented sculptor who is currently living in Fort Pierce. We are (I am) trying very hard to get Rose to move to St. Pete. Can't we all do something to encourage her?
We had a wide ranging discussion this past Friday. We talked about the Roser Park Art Festival that was held the weekend before. We also talked about the new Saturday Art Market to be held in Williams Park starting on December 1st. For more information about that, contact Leslie Curran at Interior Motives, 1110 Central.
The Studio@620 was also a topic of discussion. Seems they are having a juried show in February and the deadline for submissions is January 8th. We also talked about the current show The Water is Wide - the Art of Boat Building which opened last week. I am really looking forward to getting over there to see that.
We also talked about Al Lang Field again. The Rays announcement of their plans to build a new major league stadium on the site certainly puts the decision not to zone the site as parkland into a new light. There are still many questions to be answered, but the site has been the traditional home of a ball park, so I am certainly open to the idea.
Talk of ballparks led us to an unusual historical discussion of artists ties to this area. We talked about the Rolling Stones performance in Jack Russel Stadium in Clearwater which led to the composition of Satisfaction at the Jack Tar Harrison Hotel. Clearwater led to talk of Jim Morrison's ties to this area as well as Jack Kerouac's. And to top it all off, I had heard on NPR on the way in that last Friday was the anniversary of Janis Joplin's arrest at Curtis Hixon Hall in Tampa for using profanity on stage.
That woulda never happened in St. Pete.
We had a wide ranging discussion this past Friday. We talked about the Roser Park Art Festival that was held the weekend before. We also talked about the new Saturday Art Market to be held in Williams Park starting on December 1st. For more information about that, contact Leslie Curran at Interior Motives, 1110 Central.
The Studio@620 was also a topic of discussion. Seems they are having a juried show in February and the deadline for submissions is January 8th. We also talked about the current show The Water is Wide - the Art of Boat Building which opened last week. I am really looking forward to getting over there to see that.
We also talked about Al Lang Field again. The Rays announcement of their plans to build a new major league stadium on the site certainly puts the decision not to zone the site as parkland into a new light. There are still many questions to be answered, but the site has been the traditional home of a ball park, so I am certainly open to the idea.
Talk of ballparks led us to an unusual historical discussion of artists ties to this area. We talked about the Rolling Stones performance in Jack Russel Stadium in Clearwater which led to the composition of Satisfaction at the Jack Tar Harrison Hotel. Clearwater led to talk of Jim Morrison's ties to this area as well as Jack Kerouac's. And to top it all off, I had heard on NPR on the way in that last Friday was the anniversary of Janis Joplin's arrest at Curtis Hixon Hall in Tampa for using profanity on stage.
That woulda never happened in St. Pete.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Kidnapped
Wait, hasn't somebody already used that as a title? Oh well. It is apropos here because through the good offices of St. Pete City Council Member Leslie Curran, we were able to "kidnap" an old friend for a few minutes last week. Nancy Loehr, who more than anyone else was responsible for the formation of the Friday Morning Group, was able to join us this past Friday morning at the Friday Morning Group.
Nancy has some marvelous title at Progress Energy, but mainly she deals with community affairs. Since her office has moved to Clearwater, it has been a bit more difficult for her to join us. But we are awfully glad she did last Friday.
Leslie wanted to remind us all of the Saturday Art Market that is starting in Williams Park on Saturday, December 1st. This market will feature artworks from dozens of artists from St. Petersburg and the surrounding area, and is intended to be a compliment to the Saturday Morning Market on Central Avenue. If you are interested in participating, contact Leslie Curran at the Interior Motives Gallery at 1110 Central Avenue or call her at 727 898 6061.
Leslie also told us a little about the Avanca Ska event scheduled for Williams Park on December 7th. This intriguing event will feature a portion of the Florida Orchestra, ballet and live art. Sounds interesting.
While we had Leslie, we asked her about the status of the update to the City's Cultural Plan. Apparently the next step is discussion by the City's Arts Advisory Committee. Stay tuned.
We did talk a little about the now Tampa Bay Rays new logo and uniform launch event last Thursday night in Straub Park. There was general agreement that Kevin Costner ought not give up his day job for the band. Otherwise a very good event.
Of course that conversation was held before we learned of the Rays plans to leave TropicanaField and move to a new stadium on the site of Al Lang Field. As usually happens at the Friday Morning Group, talk of sports franchises brings up the vastly superior economic impact of the arts over sports franchises. Leslie indicated that the arts economic impact study has recently been updated.
We also heard that early next year (which is not all that far away) The Studio@620 is going to be doing a project that pairs Senior artists with Junior Artists. Sounds similar to components of our Pinellas Prize and Creativity Center concepts?
And Shirley got an agent!
Nancy has some marvelous title at Progress Energy, but mainly she deals with community affairs. Since her office has moved to Clearwater, it has been a bit more difficult for her to join us. But we are awfully glad she did last Friday.
Leslie wanted to remind us all of the Saturday Art Market that is starting in Williams Park on Saturday, December 1st. This market will feature artworks from dozens of artists from St. Petersburg and the surrounding area, and is intended to be a compliment to the Saturday Morning Market on Central Avenue. If you are interested in participating, contact Leslie Curran at the Interior Motives Gallery at 1110 Central Avenue or call her at 727 898 6061.
Leslie also told us a little about the Avanca Ska event scheduled for Williams Park on December 7th. This intriguing event will feature a portion of the Florida Orchestra, ballet and live art. Sounds interesting.
While we had Leslie, we asked her about the status of the update to the City's Cultural Plan. Apparently the next step is discussion by the City's Arts Advisory Committee. Stay tuned.
We did talk a little about the now Tampa Bay Rays new logo and uniform launch event last Thursday night in Straub Park. There was general agreement that Kevin Costner ought not give up his day job for the band. Otherwise a very good event.
Of course that conversation was held before we learned of the Rays plans to leave TropicanaField and move to a new stadium on the site of Al Lang Field. As usually happens at the Friday Morning Group, talk of sports franchises brings up the vastly superior economic impact of the arts over sports franchises. Leslie indicated that the arts economic impact study has recently been updated.
We also heard that early next year (which is not all that far away) The Studio@620 is going to be doing a project that pairs Senior artists with Junior Artists. Sounds similar to components of our Pinellas Prize and Creativity Center concepts?
And Shirley got an agent!
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
To Park or Not to Park
My apologies to the Bard, but let me make this perfectly clear:
This past Friday at the Friday Morning Group, we had yet another lively discussion. This one centered on the City as the Art.
There was not a politician in sight last Friday, but somehow the conversation got turned onto an upcoming issue the City Council will be facing. When the City passed its long in development new set of Land Development Regulations (LDRs), one major item remained unsettled: What to do with Al Lang Stadium.
The new LDRs created, amongst other things, a brand new zoning district called Downtown Center - Parks (DC-P). The areas currently zoned as DC-P can be seen on this map in green. Areas zoned DC-P include Williams Park, North Straub Park, South Straub Park, Pioneer Park, Demens Landing, Spa Beach and the new Albert Whited Park. Notably absent from this list is Al Lang Stadium, and oh by the way, the property the Mahaffey Theatre now occupies as well as the property to which the Dali is planned to relocate.
Those areas, shown as blue on the map, are in the DC-3 zoning district. DC-3 is basically the downtown waterfront district. One thing that is evident from the map is the myth of the unbroken string of downtown waterfront parks, at least as far as zoning goes. The park chain is broken by the Museum of Fine Arts, the St. Petersburg Yacht Club and, of course, the Al Lang / Bayfront Center (now the Mahaffey Theatre and Dali) plot.
What is sparking concern about the zoning classification of Al Lang is the fact that the Devil Rays will no longer hold Spring Training at Al Lang after this upcoming season. Without a Spring Training tenant, speculation about what will happen to Al Lang is running rampant. St. Petersburg has hosted Spring Training baseball games on its downtown waterfront since 1914. I am in the camp of those who wish to see that rich part of our history continue into the future. The problem seems to be that the City administration does not appear to be making attracting a new Spring Training tenant to Al Lang a priority.
And therein lies the problem. Because the Al Lang site was not given a park zoning designation, there is a tremendous amount of concern in the community about just what the City administration may be cooking up for Al Lang. To prevent another surprise announcement on the City Hall steps, a very active movement is afoot to give the Al Lang site the added protection of parkland zoning. And just to be clear about that:
There is no doubt that the downtown waterfront park system is the jewel in this city's crown. It is a major part of what makes the city the beautiful canvas that we all paint on. And it looks like we will have the opportunity to repaint a portion of that canvas. We should consider very carefully what happens next. But just to be clear:
BOB IS FOR MORE PARKLAND
This past Friday at the Friday Morning Group, we had yet another lively discussion. This one centered on the City as the Art.
There was not a politician in sight last Friday, but somehow the conversation got turned onto an upcoming issue the City Council will be facing. When the City passed its long in development new set of Land Development Regulations (LDRs), one major item remained unsettled: What to do with Al Lang Stadium.
The new LDRs created, amongst other things, a brand new zoning district called Downtown Center - Parks (DC-P). The areas currently zoned as DC-P can be seen on this map in green. Areas zoned DC-P include Williams Park, North Straub Park, South Straub Park, Pioneer Park, Demens Landing, Spa Beach and the new Albert Whited Park. Notably absent from this list is Al Lang Stadium, and oh by the way, the property the Mahaffey Theatre now occupies as well as the property to which the Dali is planned to relocate.
Those areas, shown as blue on the map, are in the DC-3 zoning district. DC-3 is basically the downtown waterfront district. One thing that is evident from the map is the myth of the unbroken string of downtown waterfront parks, at least as far as zoning goes. The park chain is broken by the Museum of Fine Arts, the St. Petersburg Yacht Club and, of course, the Al Lang / Bayfront Center (now the Mahaffey Theatre and Dali) plot.
What is sparking concern about the zoning classification of Al Lang is the fact that the Devil Rays will no longer hold Spring Training at Al Lang after this upcoming season. Without a Spring Training tenant, speculation about what will happen to Al Lang is running rampant. St. Petersburg has hosted Spring Training baseball games on its downtown waterfront since 1914. I am in the camp of those who wish to see that rich part of our history continue into the future. The problem seems to be that the City administration does not appear to be making attracting a new Spring Training tenant to Al Lang a priority.
And therein lies the problem. Because the Al Lang site was not given a park zoning designation, there is a tremendous amount of concern in the community about just what the City administration may be cooking up for Al Lang. To prevent another surprise announcement on the City Hall steps, a very active movement is afoot to give the Al Lang site the added protection of parkland zoning. And just to be clear about that:
BOB IS FOR MORE PARKLANDMany ideas have been bandied about regarding what would be the best use for Al Lang presuming baseball goes away from that site. A home for the Saturday Morning Market is oft mentioned. Also widely discussed is a plan for a walking trail that would connect Beach Drive directly to the Progress Energy Plaza with the Mahaffey, the Dali and the new airport park. One thing to remember about the Al Lang site: the Dali came to St. Pete lo those many years ago in part because a suitable site was available for it.
There is no doubt that the downtown waterfront park system is the jewel in this city's crown. It is a major part of what makes the city the beautiful canvas that we all paint on. And it looks like we will have the opportunity to repaint a portion of that canvas. We should consider very carefully what happens next. But just to be clear:
BOB IS FOR MORE PARKLAND
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Experience Matters
Last week, the Friday Morning Group had Herb Polson on the hot seat. Herb is running for re election to the St. Petersburg City Council in District 1.
We actually started off with a discussion of the meaning of the term re election. That's because Herb was originally appointed to the Council last year to fill the vacancy created by Rick Kriseman's resignation upon his successful run for the State Legislature. Herb is now running for the seat in his own right. He also did his homework. Understanding the power of incumbency, Herb asked for and received a ruling from the state Division of Elections telling him that, as the incumbent, he was entitled to use the term "re elect" in his campaign material.
Well, Herb's opponent did not like that fact and complained to the St. Petersburg Times. The Times, which has had precious little coverage on any of these City Council races, decided that this complaint was newsworthy. However, as Herb was able to show us, the complaint was absolutely unfounded. So maybe the lesson is if you want to get into the newspaper, lodge a completely unfounded complaint.
OK, enough about that. Herb Polson has spent nearly his entire adult life in the service of the City of St. Petersburg and our country. Herb stared his career with the City as a civilian in the police force, and wound up for many years being the city's liaison to other governments - the city's lobbyist, if you will. Herb also is (was?) an officer in the Navy Reserve for many, many years.
When Rick Kriseman ran for the legislature, Herb retired from the City so that he could seek appointment to the vacated council seat. Herb was appointed last year and has been putting his knowledge of city operations to work as a council member since that time.
And what a year it has been! Of course the big issue for the City this year has been in dealing with the effects of the property tax "reform" effort in Tallahassee. This has caused the City to cut back their spending and initially led the Mayor to propose zero funding this year for arts and social services organizations.
In one of his roles as a City employee, Herb was actually responsible for arts and social services funding. He was also responsible for putting together the City's Cultural Plan that was the initiative of then and now Council Member (and Friday Morning Group member) Leslie Curran.
We had a discussion about the amount of tax relief we each actually received from the first round of property tax "reforms" in Tallahassee. Herb posed the question to us if for the amount of property tax relief we each received, did we think it was worth it in terms of the cuts the City was forced to make. Universally, we did not think it was worth it. However, Herb warned us that the next round of cuts that may come would even be much more painful for the City.
However, Herb also told us that there is a tremendous amount of money inside and outside the City available to fund some of the things we have indicated we wanted, if we just were creative in how we went about looking for it. To his credit, Herb has already found "outside the box" solutions to keep the libraries open on Saturday and with the help of the Devil Rays, to keep an exchange student program with our Japanese sister city alive. That's what experience can do for you.
We also talked about how the arts have had a tremendous impact on the City of St. Petersburg. That, in fact, the arts are a much more valuable economic engine than any of the professional sports franchises in the area. We also talked about how this all seemed to come about when St. Petersburg quit trying to be Tampa and just decided to concentrate on being St. Pete.
Herb also told us how he was a firm believer in asking people what they want and then delivering it to them. This would be as opposed to telling people what they should want and delivering that to them instead. Herb told us that the City used to regularly poll its residents to see just what it was the residents did want. In the early 90's, Herb was responsible for a questionnaire that went out to all 93,000 households in the City asking the residents what their needs and desires for the City were. Out of this came the city's extremely successful neighborhoods program and many other programs that make the City the success story that it is today. Herb believes that it is well past time to go back to the residents again asking them what they want the City to be.
Seems to me like experience does matter.
We actually started off with a discussion of the meaning of the term re election. That's because Herb was originally appointed to the Council last year to fill the vacancy created by Rick Kriseman's resignation upon his successful run for the State Legislature. Herb is now running for the seat in his own right. He also did his homework. Understanding the power of incumbency, Herb asked for and received a ruling from the state Division of Elections telling him that, as the incumbent, he was entitled to use the term "re elect" in his campaign material.
Well, Herb's opponent did not like that fact and complained to the St. Petersburg Times. The Times, which has had precious little coverage on any of these City Council races, decided that this complaint was newsworthy. However, as Herb was able to show us, the complaint was absolutely unfounded. So maybe the lesson is if you want to get into the newspaper, lodge a completely unfounded complaint.
OK, enough about that. Herb Polson has spent nearly his entire adult life in the service of the City of St. Petersburg and our country. Herb stared his career with the City as a civilian in the police force, and wound up for many years being the city's liaison to other governments - the city's lobbyist, if you will. Herb also is (was?) an officer in the Navy Reserve for many, many years.
When Rick Kriseman ran for the legislature, Herb retired from the City so that he could seek appointment to the vacated council seat. Herb was appointed last year and has been putting his knowledge of city operations to work as a council member since that time.
And what a year it has been! Of course the big issue for the City this year has been in dealing with the effects of the property tax "reform" effort in Tallahassee. This has caused the City to cut back their spending and initially led the Mayor to propose zero funding this year for arts and social services organizations.
In one of his roles as a City employee, Herb was actually responsible for arts and social services funding. He was also responsible for putting together the City's Cultural Plan that was the initiative of then and now Council Member (and Friday Morning Group member) Leslie Curran.
We had a discussion about the amount of tax relief we each actually received from the first round of property tax "reforms" in Tallahassee. Herb posed the question to us if for the amount of property tax relief we each received, did we think it was worth it in terms of the cuts the City was forced to make. Universally, we did not think it was worth it. However, Herb warned us that the next round of cuts that may come would even be much more painful for the City.
However, Herb also told us that there is a tremendous amount of money inside and outside the City available to fund some of the things we have indicated we wanted, if we just were creative in how we went about looking for it. To his credit, Herb has already found "outside the box" solutions to keep the libraries open on Saturday and with the help of the Devil Rays, to keep an exchange student program with our Japanese sister city alive. That's what experience can do for you.
We also talked about how the arts have had a tremendous impact on the City of St. Petersburg. That, in fact, the arts are a much more valuable economic engine than any of the professional sports franchises in the area. We also talked about how this all seemed to come about when St. Petersburg quit trying to be Tampa and just decided to concentrate on being St. Pete.
Herb also told us how he was a firm believer in asking people what they want and then delivering it to them. This would be as opposed to telling people what they should want and delivering that to them instead. Herb told us that the City used to regularly poll its residents to see just what it was the residents did want. In the early 90's, Herb was responsible for a questionnaire that went out to all 93,000 households in the City asking the residents what their needs and desires for the City were. Out of this came the city's extremely successful neighborhoods program and many other programs that make the City the success story that it is today. Herb believes that it is well past time to go back to the residents again asking them what they want the City to be.
Seems to me like experience does matter.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
All in the Family?
Last week at the Friday Morning Group we continued our meetings with St. Petersburg City Council candidates. In the hot seat last week was Bill Dudley, candidate for City Council District 3. So far, no blood has been spilled.
This session started off a little differently. Rather than focusing directly on a candidate's feelings about art funding and appreciation of the arts, Bill Dudley was asked why he was running. This is a question that is more typically asked than the kinds of questions we usually ask candidates.
Bill handled this question with aplomb, as he has doubtless been asked it many times before. He related that he felt a calling to serve, and that he has been a public servant his entire adult life, having been a teacher at North East High until his recent retirement. He also described himself as an independent thinker, not endorsed by the Mayor.
Dudley went on to say that the first issue on his agenda was financial. He said people are suffering from taxes being too high and said that he wanted to streamline the way the City does business. He quickly sensed that that message was not being well received by a group that had just seen arts funding in this City cut to the bone due to tax cuts.
He told us that his daughter is a member of the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay and also a music teacher; that he had fought for arts funding as chair of the art department at North East High. Dudley stressed that he thought the arts funding shortfalls could be met by reducing the number of high paid city management employees. Among those specifically mentioned for dismissal was the Deputy Mayor for Midtown Development and the Mayor's education initiative liaison.
Bill also suggested that we aren't being creative enough in seeking public / private partnerships for arts funding. He gave one example of a former student of his who now has a very successful business here in town. This person has never been asked to help fund the arts in the community.
We also briefly discussed the future of Al Lang Stadium (after the Devi Rays stop holding their Spring Training games there next year) and other issues relating to development. The new Land Development Regulations (LDRs) the city has just implemented created a new zoning district called Downtown - park. The Al Lang stadium site was not given this zoning designation. Many people are concerned that this would leave the site open fro redevelopment after the Devi Rays cease Spring Training there. Consensus was that the land needed to be protected as a park. Bill Dudley suggested that development be encouraged to spread west out the Central Avenue corridor.
One other area briefly touched on was the tax structure in the state and the country. Bill Dudley indicated he was an advocate of the so called "Fair or flat tax" idea which as I understand it is some variation of a national sales tax.
As I said at the beginning, no blood was shed and Mr. Dudley made it safely through his encounter with the Friday Morning Group. I hope the next politician is similarly fortunate. I know that we will all look forward to seeing you at the next meeting of the Friday Morning Group.
This session started off a little differently. Rather than focusing directly on a candidate's feelings about art funding and appreciation of the arts, Bill Dudley was asked why he was running. This is a question that is more typically asked than the kinds of questions we usually ask candidates.
Bill handled this question with aplomb, as he has doubtless been asked it many times before. He related that he felt a calling to serve, and that he has been a public servant his entire adult life, having been a teacher at North East High until his recent retirement. He also described himself as an independent thinker, not endorsed by the Mayor.
Dudley went on to say that the first issue on his agenda was financial. He said people are suffering from taxes being too high and said that he wanted to streamline the way the City does business. He quickly sensed that that message was not being well received by a group that had just seen arts funding in this City cut to the bone due to tax cuts.
He told us that his daughter is a member of the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay and also a music teacher; that he had fought for arts funding as chair of the art department at North East High. Dudley stressed that he thought the arts funding shortfalls could be met by reducing the number of high paid city management employees. Among those specifically mentioned for dismissal was the Deputy Mayor for Midtown Development and the Mayor's education initiative liaison.
Bill also suggested that we aren't being creative enough in seeking public / private partnerships for arts funding. He gave one example of a former student of his who now has a very successful business here in town. This person has never been asked to help fund the arts in the community.
We also briefly discussed the future of Al Lang Stadium (after the Devi Rays stop holding their Spring Training games there next year) and other issues relating to development. The new Land Development Regulations (LDRs) the city has just implemented created a new zoning district called Downtown - park. The Al Lang stadium site was not given this zoning designation. Many people are concerned that this would leave the site open fro redevelopment after the Devi Rays cease Spring Training there. Consensus was that the land needed to be protected as a park. Bill Dudley suggested that development be encouraged to spread west out the Central Avenue corridor.
One other area briefly touched on was the tax structure in the state and the country. Bill Dudley indicated he was an advocate of the so called "Fair or flat tax" idea which as I understand it is some variation of a national sales tax.
As I said at the beginning, no blood was shed and Mr. Dudley made it safely through his encounter with the Friday Morning Group. I hope the next politician is similarly fortunate. I know that we will all look forward to seeing you at the next meeting of the Friday Morning Group.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Advocating for the Arts
St. Petersburg City Council Member Jeff Danner joined us last Friday morning at the Friday Morning Group. Jeff came in begging off speaking after using up his voice at the City Council workshop the day before. But some how he hung in there and filled us in on what is happening with the allocation of city funds to the arts, and some future plans as well.
Jeff Danner is the City Council member assigned to the the City's Arts Advisory Committee. In that post, Jeff worked with that Committee to present a coherent plan to the City Council for the allocation of the funds the City did manage to find for the arts and social services. Essentially the plan was to use last year's split of funding to arts organizations and social service agencies to split this year's available funds between the two. That ratio last year was approximately 60% to social service agencies and 40% to arts organizations. That concept to split this year's available funds was adopted by City Council at their workshop last Wednesday.
The next step was to get the Council to agree to let the Arts Advisory Committee plan to allocate that 40% share of funds amongst arts organizations. Jeff was successful in getting Council to agree to that proposal as well. This process will be occurring sometime later this month. The amount to be split amongst the organizations is $175 thousand. Considering that earlier this year the amount was going to be zero, that is something, anyway.
So that's the story of arts funding for this year. However, it pretty much leaves arts organizations in a pickle going forward given the budget pressures cities and counties are currently under. To alleviate that strain, Jeff told us about a couple of possibilities that are being looked at to provide a dedicated funding source for the arts.
The first of these involves some way of charging groups that use city parks for events such as concerts, for example, to pay the City for the use of the park. Currently these organizations pay for the cost of city services provided to their event, but they do not pay for the actual use of the park itself. The idea is that that money would then be used to fund arts and cultural organizations. This proposal is currently being examined by city staff.
The second idea is to establish a trust fund for arts funding. One of the ideas being considered is pretty interesting. The city has a pot of money that it received for the sale of City owned property in Weeki Wachie. The sale of this property had to be approved by voter referendum. As part of that referendum, the money from the sale was set aside in a separate fund. The income of the fund is to be used for recreational and cultural uses. The current idea being floated is that income from the Weeki Wachie fund could be used to establish a trust fund for arts funding. Stay tuned.
Jeff was asked what he thought would be the best thing that arts supporters could do to impress upon City leaders the value of supporting the arts. Jeff suggested a couple of things. One would be to make sure that the Mayor and Council members are invited to arts openings and other events so they will be reminded of the vibrancy and the importance of the arts to our community. The other idea is to come to City Council meetings and speak at Open Forum to extend those invitations and to talk to Council Members about arts events in the City. the advantage of that approach is that anyone watching the Council meeting on TV will hear about these events. Maybe they will attend themselves. Or maybe they would become more aware of the value of arts to our community. A couple of good ideas, in my opinion.
I want to extend my personal thanks to Jeff for coming to the Friday Morning Group last week; and despite having nearly lost his voice fighting for the arts the day before, speaking at length with us about the state of the arts in St. Petersburg.
And I want to extend to each of you my wish to see you this Friday.
Jeff Danner is the City Council member assigned to the the City's Arts Advisory Committee. In that post, Jeff worked with that Committee to present a coherent plan to the City Council for the allocation of the funds the City did manage to find for the arts and social services. Essentially the plan was to use last year's split of funding to arts organizations and social service agencies to split this year's available funds between the two. That ratio last year was approximately 60% to social service agencies and 40% to arts organizations. That concept to split this year's available funds was adopted by City Council at their workshop last Wednesday.
The next step was to get the Council to agree to let the Arts Advisory Committee plan to allocate that 40% share of funds amongst arts organizations. Jeff was successful in getting Council to agree to that proposal as well. This process will be occurring sometime later this month. The amount to be split amongst the organizations is $175 thousand. Considering that earlier this year the amount was going to be zero, that is something, anyway.
So that's the story of arts funding for this year. However, it pretty much leaves arts organizations in a pickle going forward given the budget pressures cities and counties are currently under. To alleviate that strain, Jeff told us about a couple of possibilities that are being looked at to provide a dedicated funding source for the arts.
The first of these involves some way of charging groups that use city parks for events such as concerts, for example, to pay the City for the use of the park. Currently these organizations pay for the cost of city services provided to their event, but they do not pay for the actual use of the park itself. The idea is that that money would then be used to fund arts and cultural organizations. This proposal is currently being examined by city staff.
The second idea is to establish a trust fund for arts funding. One of the ideas being considered is pretty interesting. The city has a pot of money that it received for the sale of City owned property in Weeki Wachie. The sale of this property had to be approved by voter referendum. As part of that referendum, the money from the sale was set aside in a separate fund. The income of the fund is to be used for recreational and cultural uses. The current idea being floated is that income from the Weeki Wachie fund could be used to establish a trust fund for arts funding. Stay tuned.
Jeff was asked what he thought would be the best thing that arts supporters could do to impress upon City leaders the value of supporting the arts. Jeff suggested a couple of things. One would be to make sure that the Mayor and Council members are invited to arts openings and other events so they will be reminded of the vibrancy and the importance of the arts to our community. The other idea is to come to City Council meetings and speak at Open Forum to extend those invitations and to talk to Council Members about arts events in the City. the advantage of that approach is that anyone watching the Council meeting on TV will hear about these events. Maybe they will attend themselves. Or maybe they would become more aware of the value of arts to our community. A couple of good ideas, in my opinion.
I want to extend my personal thanks to Jeff for coming to the Friday Morning Group last week; and despite having nearly lost his voice fighting for the arts the day before, speaking at length with us about the state of the arts in St. Petersburg.
And I want to extend to each of you my wish to see you this Friday.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Preserving the Garden Cafeteria and Some Other History
Another lively discussion and a call to action was had last Friday morning at the Friday Morning Group (FMG). It all started out innocently enough. Patrice Pucci reported on attending the WEDU Be More Awards seminar the previous week. We had previously discussed the WEDU Be More Awards for non profit groups and the seminar was held to educate the non profit groups on how to apply for the awards.
Tom Taggart reminded us that WEDU would be 50 years on the air in October 2008. In connection with that, Patrice Pucci had used the Friday Morning Group Mail List with an interesting request. It turns out that WEDU originally was housed at what is now known as the Gibbs Campus of St. Petersburg College. Patrice had put a request out on the mail list for any information or documentation of that fact that anyone may know of. She was looking for this information for the St. Petersburg History Museum. Of course her request sparked several replies which were all shared with the FMG via the list.
Shirley Linde also got in on the act by using the list to ask the FMG if anyone knew of an alternative publisher she might approach for publishing her book. This also sparked several replies shared with the FMG via the mail list.
Tony Collins then remarked on the online social phenomena of mail lists and the interests sparked by seemingly simple requests. Tony remarked about these two requests being invitations to our community to respond via a new, social interactive media. in this case, the mail list.
The conversation then turned to a photographic assignment that was being offered to Herb Snitzer. The Garden Cafeteria / Piano Exchange building is slated for demolition and redevelopment. This building located in the 200 block of 2nd Street North is currently the studio of a metal working artist. It had also formerly been the home of a piano sales business. But the building had started out in life as the Garden Cafeteria.
The Garden Cafeteria was one of many cafeterias in St. Petersburg in the days of the green benches. The only remaining example of this type of business still in use is the Tramor building, which is used as the St. Petersburg Times cafeteria. In the heyday of the green bench era, cafeterias were one of the major parts of the tourism trade in St. Petersburg. Many, many such enterprises were located in and around the down town area catering to our winter visitors.
To differentiate themselves, many of these cafeterias used interior decorating to lure customers. If you have not seen the interior of the Tramor on 4th Street South, you should definitely check it out. (Little know fact - it is open to the public). The Garden, as its name implies, used a garden decorating motif. This included interior streams and bridges and potted plants all over the place. To top off this motif, the Garden employed muralist Scott Hill to paint murals on the walls and other murals to be mounted on the walls. Scott Hill was a well known Depression Era muralist. One of his murals has been preserved and is on display at Tampa International Airport. Hill in this case apparently picked up some commercial work. The crowning piece is a full wall mural painted directly onto the back wall of the Garden Cafeteria.
As the years have gone by, the Garden Cafeteria / Piano Exchange Building has deteriorated. Along with it, many of Hill's murals have deteriorated as well. The building has been acquired by a developer, who plans to demolish the building and redevelop the block. it's location across the street from Bay Walk makes it a prime candidate for such redevelopment.
When the developer filed his site plan for redevelopment of the property with the City, St. Pete Preservation became interested in saving the murals. They entered into talks with the City and the developer about saving the Scott Hill murals. The developer was not adverse to this, but everyone knew the full wall mural was going to be a problem. The developer hired an appraiser, another Florida muralist who was very familiar with Hill's work.The appraiser noted the deterioration of many of the pieces that had been painted on the mounted wall boards, but which could be removed and preserved relatively easily. He also noted that some of the work was probably not Hill's at all, but some other unknown artist's. However, much of the work was undoubtedly Hill's.
The full back wall mural turns out to in fact have been painted directly onto the wall. In approving the site plan, the developer and the city agreed that any murals that could be, would be removed and preserved. Prior to any demolition of the building, the remaining murals were to be photographically documented. This is the commission that was offered to Herb.
This is a rather long winded description of the situation to this point. But at the last meeting of the Friday Morning Group, a really interesting thing happened. It was suggested that while photo documenting the building was a good idea, a better idea would be to actually preserve the entire wall mural. This is a huge mural, encompassing the entire back wall of the building. The consensus of the group was that the effort should be made and that a way would be found to accomplish this.
So, anybody got a home for a wall with a beautiful mural on it?
Tom Taggart reminded us that WEDU would be 50 years on the air in October 2008. In connection with that, Patrice Pucci had used the Friday Morning Group Mail List with an interesting request. It turns out that WEDU originally was housed at what is now known as the Gibbs Campus of St. Petersburg College. Patrice had put a request out on the mail list for any information or documentation of that fact that anyone may know of. She was looking for this information for the St. Petersburg History Museum. Of course her request sparked several replies which were all shared with the FMG via the list.
Shirley Linde also got in on the act by using the list to ask the FMG if anyone knew of an alternative publisher she might approach for publishing her book. This also sparked several replies shared with the FMG via the mail list.
Tony Collins then remarked on the online social phenomena of mail lists and the interests sparked by seemingly simple requests. Tony remarked about these two requests being invitations to our community to respond via a new, social interactive media. in this case, the mail list.
The conversation then turned to a photographic assignment that was being offered to Herb Snitzer. The Garden Cafeteria / Piano Exchange building is slated for demolition and redevelopment. This building located in the 200 block of 2nd Street North is currently the studio of a metal working artist. It had also formerly been the home of a piano sales business. But the building had started out in life as the Garden Cafeteria.
The Garden Cafeteria was one of many cafeterias in St. Petersburg in the days of the green benches. The only remaining example of this type of business still in use is the Tramor building, which is used as the St. Petersburg Times cafeteria. In the heyday of the green bench era, cafeterias were one of the major parts of the tourism trade in St. Petersburg. Many, many such enterprises were located in and around the down town area catering to our winter visitors.
To differentiate themselves, many of these cafeterias used interior decorating to lure customers. If you have not seen the interior of the Tramor on 4th Street South, you should definitely check it out. (Little know fact - it is open to the public). The Garden, as its name implies, used a garden decorating motif. This included interior streams and bridges and potted plants all over the place. To top off this motif, the Garden employed muralist Scott Hill to paint murals on the walls and other murals to be mounted on the walls. Scott Hill was a well known Depression Era muralist. One of his murals has been preserved and is on display at Tampa International Airport. Hill in this case apparently picked up some commercial work. The crowning piece is a full wall mural painted directly onto the back wall of the Garden Cafeteria.
As the years have gone by, the Garden Cafeteria / Piano Exchange Building has deteriorated. Along with it, many of Hill's murals have deteriorated as well. The building has been acquired by a developer, who plans to demolish the building and redevelop the block. it's location across the street from Bay Walk makes it a prime candidate for such redevelopment.
When the developer filed his site plan for redevelopment of the property with the City, St. Pete Preservation became interested in saving the murals. They entered into talks with the City and the developer about saving the Scott Hill murals. The developer was not adverse to this, but everyone knew the full wall mural was going to be a problem. The developer hired an appraiser, another Florida muralist who was very familiar with Hill's work.The appraiser noted the deterioration of many of the pieces that had been painted on the mounted wall boards, but which could be removed and preserved relatively easily. He also noted that some of the work was probably not Hill's at all, but some other unknown artist's. However, much of the work was undoubtedly Hill's.
The full back wall mural turns out to in fact have been painted directly onto the wall. In approving the site plan, the developer and the city agreed that any murals that could be, would be removed and preserved. Prior to any demolition of the building, the remaining murals were to be photographically documented. This is the commission that was offered to Herb.
This is a rather long winded description of the situation to this point. But at the last meeting of the Friday Morning Group, a really interesting thing happened. It was suggested that while photo documenting the building was a good idea, a better idea would be to actually preserve the entire wall mural. This is a huge mural, encompassing the entire back wall of the building. The consensus of the group was that the effort should be made and that a way would be found to accomplish this.
So, anybody got a home for a wall with a beautiful mural on it?
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Bennett Gets His Ear Bent and Bends Right Back
St. Petersburg City Council Member Jamie Bennett got his ear bent in our hot seat last week at the Friday Morning Group. Jamie is running for re election to the District 5 seat he has held since 2001. He joined us last Friday.
Jamie was immediately taken to task about a mail piece he brought with him. The mail piece talked about "Protecting Our Quality of Life". Yet nowhere did the arts get mentioned as a part of that quality of life. Jamie, to his credit, stated that when the mailer gets redone for the city wide general election, the arts would be included in the quality of life being protected.
Jamie related that this is going to be the battle for the next 10 years. He told us that the arts are as much of an economic driver in St. Petersburg as anything else we have here, if not more so. Jamie told us that to be a real city that you had to have more than just police and fire service. You need the arts and the social services that go hand in hand with making St. Petersburg the wonderful place we all believe it has become. Jamie agreed that to a very large extent the arts are the quality of life in St. Petersburg.
When asked how he might turn around the mind set that puts the arts and social services on the front of the chopping block, Jamie was blunt and forthright in his outlook. He suggested that some organizations will have to be funded out of emergency contingency funds to keep them from shutting their doors. Jamie explained that under our strong mayor form of government, the Mayor sets the tone and those that the Mayor controls end up dancing to his tune. He told us if we want to see this changed, the arts community would have to go get its political mojo and elect the right people.
Jamie explained that there is a great philosophical war going on between those who bleieve that the government has a role to play in the arts and social services and those who do not believe the government has a role. Right now, in St. Petersburg, the non believers are winning, Jamie said. He also had a rather interesting suggestion about what might be done to help stem the tide - partnering with big business. Currently the Mayor is getting corporate sponsors, or partners, for the public schools in St. Petersburg. Jamie suggested that we could be doing that for some of the smaller arts organizations. He also cautioned that for the arts to maintain their independence, that a variety of sponsors would have to get involved.
Herb Snitzer reminded us that Sandy Freidman, when Mayor of Tampa, would hold her cabinet meetings at the Tampa Museum of Art. This resulted in a very large increase in the number of memberships in the Museum. Jamie asked Herb to keep reminding him to hold meetings at the St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts.
Here is a correction that most of you probably already know. The Arts Center Member Show opens this Friday, Septmeber 7th, not last Friday as previously reported. But, we hope to see you all this Friday morning at the Friday Morning Group.
Jamie was immediately taken to task about a mail piece he brought with him. The mail piece talked about "Protecting Our Quality of Life". Yet nowhere did the arts get mentioned as a part of that quality of life. Jamie, to his credit, stated that when the mailer gets redone for the city wide general election, the arts would be included in the quality of life being protected.
Jamie related that this is going to be the battle for the next 10 years. He told us that the arts are as much of an economic driver in St. Petersburg as anything else we have here, if not more so. Jamie told us that to be a real city that you had to have more than just police and fire service. You need the arts and the social services that go hand in hand with making St. Petersburg the wonderful place we all believe it has become. Jamie agreed that to a very large extent the arts are the quality of life in St. Petersburg.
When asked how he might turn around the mind set that puts the arts and social services on the front of the chopping block, Jamie was blunt and forthright in his outlook. He suggested that some organizations will have to be funded out of emergency contingency funds to keep them from shutting their doors. Jamie explained that under our strong mayor form of government, the Mayor sets the tone and those that the Mayor controls end up dancing to his tune. He told us if we want to see this changed, the arts community would have to go get its political mojo and elect the right people.
Jamie explained that there is a great philosophical war going on between those who bleieve that the government has a role to play in the arts and social services and those who do not believe the government has a role. Right now, in St. Petersburg, the non believers are winning, Jamie said. He also had a rather interesting suggestion about what might be done to help stem the tide - partnering with big business. Currently the Mayor is getting corporate sponsors, or partners, for the public schools in St. Petersburg. Jamie suggested that we could be doing that for some of the smaller arts organizations. He also cautioned that for the arts to maintain their independence, that a variety of sponsors would have to get involved.
Herb Snitzer reminded us that Sandy Freidman, when Mayor of Tampa, would hold her cabinet meetings at the Tampa Museum of Art. This resulted in a very large increase in the number of memberships in the Museum. Jamie asked Herb to keep reminding him to hold meetings at the St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts.
Here is a correction that most of you probably already know. The Arts Center Member Show opens this Friday, Septmeber 7th, not last Friday as previously reported. But, we hope to see you all this Friday morning at the Friday Morning Group.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Harrelson on the Hot Seat
The Friday Morning Group had Cathy Harrelson, candidate for St. Petersburg City Council District 3 on the hot seat last Friday. Cathy has been an investment advisor and financial professional for over twenty-five years. She is also immediate past Chair of the Suncoast Sierra Club. She is running for the City Council seat currently held by Bill Foster, who is leaving due to term limits. So Cathy came to the Friday Morning Group to hear our concerns. She got an earful.
Herb Snitzer, never the shrinking violet, looked at her campaign materials and noticed there was no mention of the arts. Cathy forthrightly explained that to get through the primary, her mail pieces to voters in District 3 had to deal with the issues of top concern to the voters in that district. To her credit, Cathy came equipped with information on the economic value of the arts and indicated that she could make use of that in the general election , but she needed to focus on "front burner" issues for the primary election.
Herb noted how the arts are too often seen as a luxury and thus get the short end of the funding stick, even in good economic times. Cathy agreed that the arts always moved to the front of the chopping block when it is government budget cutting time. Bob Devin Jones volunteered that he would be more than happy to help Cathy understand how to move the arts off the front end of the chopping block.
This lead to a vigorous discussion about how best to do that. I noted that when the City and the County were holding public input budget hearings, the artist community failed to show up and give their input. Bob responded that after all his service on governmental arts committees, that if our elected officials didn't get it by now, they were never going to get it. I pointed out that the real audience for these hearings was not the elected officials on the dais, but the general public watching on TV, or those that would be reading the newspaper accounts of the hearings.
At the end of these discussions, it was apparent to those in attendance that Cathy Harrelson would be an ally to the arts if elected. Carol Dameron suggested that Cathy contact the women in the Stuart Society at the Museum of Fine Arts and seek their support. Herb and Carol also graciously agreed to be hosts for a fund raising event for Cathy.
There was also a discussion about one of my favorite subjects - that the City is the Art rather than St. Petersburg being the "City of the Arts." I gave the group an update on the City Council's recent passage of the new Land Development Regulations (LDRs) for the downtown, completing a seven year effort to update zoning and land usage in the entire city. There are still some issues to be resolved in a "glitch bill" later on this year.
The biggest issue is the zoning for the site of Al Lang Field. Al Lang has carried a commercial zoning designation and that has carried over to the new LDRs. However, with the Devil Rays moving their spring training out of town in 2009, there is significant citizen concern about future uses for that site. Many people feel that the City would be better served by designating the Al Lang site with Park zoning. Others believe that a really special use could be found for the land that would offer unique benefits to the City.
The other big issue to be resolved is historic preservation efforts against the background of downtown redevelopment. The new LDRs provide some incentive to developers for historic preservation. However it is unclear that they are sufficient to actually accomplish much in the way of historic preservation as the incentives currently are written. Stay tuned.
And this week, Friday, August 31st, City Council Member Jamie Bennett (District 5) will be getting in the hot seat. Council Member Bennett is also running for re election this year.
Speaking of elections, there are primary elections in Districts 3 and 5 on September 11. Early voting is already underway. Voter turnout is expected to be dismally low. If you live in these districts and want the voice of the arts community to be heard, please be sure to vote in this important election.
And for some arts news, the Arts Center Member Show opens this Friday August 31st. I hope you will start the day by joining us at the Friday Morning Group. Hope to see you there.
Herb Snitzer, never the shrinking violet, looked at her campaign materials and noticed there was no mention of the arts. Cathy forthrightly explained that to get through the primary, her mail pieces to voters in District 3 had to deal with the issues of top concern to the voters in that district. To her credit, Cathy came equipped with information on the economic value of the arts and indicated that she could make use of that in the general election , but she needed to focus on "front burner" issues for the primary election.
Herb noted how the arts are too often seen as a luxury and thus get the short end of the funding stick, even in good economic times. Cathy agreed that the arts always moved to the front of the chopping block when it is government budget cutting time. Bob Devin Jones volunteered that he would be more than happy to help Cathy understand how to move the arts off the front end of the chopping block.
This lead to a vigorous discussion about how best to do that. I noted that when the City and the County were holding public input budget hearings, the artist community failed to show up and give their input. Bob responded that after all his service on governmental arts committees, that if our elected officials didn't get it by now, they were never going to get it. I pointed out that the real audience for these hearings was not the elected officials on the dais, but the general public watching on TV, or those that would be reading the newspaper accounts of the hearings.
At the end of these discussions, it was apparent to those in attendance that Cathy Harrelson would be an ally to the arts if elected. Carol Dameron suggested that Cathy contact the women in the Stuart Society at the Museum of Fine Arts and seek their support. Herb and Carol also graciously agreed to be hosts for a fund raising event for Cathy.
There was also a discussion about one of my favorite subjects - that the City is the Art rather than St. Petersburg being the "City of the Arts." I gave the group an update on the City Council's recent passage of the new Land Development Regulations (LDRs) for the downtown, completing a seven year effort to update zoning and land usage in the entire city. There are still some issues to be resolved in a "glitch bill" later on this year.
The biggest issue is the zoning for the site of Al Lang Field. Al Lang has carried a commercial zoning designation and that has carried over to the new LDRs. However, with the Devil Rays moving their spring training out of town in 2009, there is significant citizen concern about future uses for that site. Many people feel that the City would be better served by designating the Al Lang site with Park zoning. Others believe that a really special use could be found for the land that would offer unique benefits to the City.
The other big issue to be resolved is historic preservation efforts against the background of downtown redevelopment. The new LDRs provide some incentive to developers for historic preservation. However it is unclear that they are sufficient to actually accomplish much in the way of historic preservation as the incentives currently are written. Stay tuned.
And this week, Friday, August 31st, City Council Member Jamie Bennett (District 5) will be getting in the hot seat. Council Member Bennett is also running for re election this year.
Speaking of elections, there are primary elections in Districts 3 and 5 on September 11. Early voting is already underway. Voter turnout is expected to be dismally low. If you live in these districts and want the voice of the arts community to be heard, please be sure to vote in this important election.
And for some arts news, the Arts Center Member Show opens this Friday August 31st. I hope you will start the day by joining us at the Friday Morning Group. Hope to see you there.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Three Jewels of St. Petersburg
Last Friday at the Friday Morning Group, we noted the passing of Mrs. Astor in New York and her remarks about the three jewels of New York City. We could recall that she named the Metropolitan Museum, and the New York Public Library, but could not recall the third.
This led to a discussion about the three jewels of St. Petersburg. There was widespread agreement about the first two jewels, the waterfront park system and the Dali Museum. After that, well...
The Florida Orchestra was mentioned as the third possible jewel. However, there was not agreement that the Orchestra was in a place that qualified as being called a jewel. There is certainly the potential, and I know many of us would like to be able to say it it the third jewel in St. Petersburg's crown. So ,let's hear it. What do you think the three jewels of St. Petersburg are?
We also talked about the Battle of the B3's at the Palladium. For those of you who did not attend, you really missed a show. The Palladium was sold out for this battle of Jazz vs Blues organists playing the venerable Hammond B3 organs. The good news for those of you who missed it is that this event will almost certainly be back next year, probably for more than one night. This was a terrific display of the musical talent in the Tampa Bay area.
We also talked about an art preservation project now going on in St. Petersburg. The Piano Exchange Building, formerly the Garden cafeteria, is going to be redeveloped. This building is on Second Street North in downtown St. Pete, across from the Bay Walk. The Garden cafeteria was once one of the jewels of the cafeteria culture in St. Petersburg. It was decorated in a garden motif including Florida garden scene murals on the walls.
As a condition of the approval of the site plan for redevelopment of this building, the developers agreed to make the murals available to anyone who wants to preserve them. There are several murals that are painted on wall boards that can simply be removed. However, the entire back wall of the building is a giant mural that appears to be painted directly into the concrete. The developers have agreed to make the wall available to anyone who wants to remove it. But it is BIG. At a minimum, the artwork will be photographically documented before the building is demolished. If you can provide any assistance in this project, please let me know.
See you this Friday.
This led to a discussion about the three jewels of St. Petersburg. There was widespread agreement about the first two jewels, the waterfront park system and the Dali Museum. After that, well...
The Florida Orchestra was mentioned as the third possible jewel. However, there was not agreement that the Orchestra was in a place that qualified as being called a jewel. There is certainly the potential, and I know many of us would like to be able to say it it the third jewel in St. Petersburg's crown. So ,let's hear it. What do you think the three jewels of St. Petersburg are?
We also talked about the Battle of the B3's at the Palladium. For those of you who did not attend, you really missed a show. The Palladium was sold out for this battle of Jazz vs Blues organists playing the venerable Hammond B3 organs. The good news for those of you who missed it is that this event will almost certainly be back next year, probably for more than one night. This was a terrific display of the musical talent in the Tampa Bay area.
We also talked about an art preservation project now going on in St. Petersburg. The Piano Exchange Building, formerly the Garden cafeteria, is going to be redeveloped. This building is on Second Street North in downtown St. Pete, across from the Bay Walk. The Garden cafeteria was once one of the jewels of the cafeteria culture in St. Petersburg. It was decorated in a garden motif including Florida garden scene murals on the walls.
As a condition of the approval of the site plan for redevelopment of this building, the developers agreed to make the murals available to anyone who wants to preserve them. There are several murals that are painted on wall boards that can simply be removed. However, the entire back wall of the building is a giant mural that appears to be painted directly into the concrete. The developers have agreed to make the wall available to anyone who wants to remove it. But it is BIG. At a minimum, the artwork will be photographically documented before the building is demolished. If you can provide any assistance in this project, please let me know.
See you this Friday.
Three Jewels of St. Petersburg
Last Friday at the Friday Morning Group, we noted the passing of Mrs. Astor in New York and her remarks about the three jewels of New York City. We could recall that she named the Metropolitan Museum, and the New York Public Library, but could not recall the third.
This led to a discussion about the three jewels of St. Petersburg. There was widespread agreement about the first two jewels, the waterfront park system and the Dali Museum. After that, well...
The Florida Orchestra was mentioned as the third possible jewel. However, there was not agreement that the Orchestra was in a place that qualified as being called a jewel. There is certainly the potential, and I know many of us would like to be able to say it it the third jewel in St. Petersburg's crown. So ,let's hear it. What do you think the three jewels of St. Petersburg are?
We also talked about the Battle of the B3's at the Palladium. For those of you who did not attend, you really missed a show. The Palladium was sold out for this battle of Jazz vs Blues organists playing the venerable Hammond B3 organs. The good news for those of you who missed it is that this event will almost certainly be back next year, probably for more than one night. This was a terrific display of the musical talent in the Tampa Bay area.
We also talked about an art preservation project now going on in St. Petersburg. The Piano Exchange Building, formerly the Garden cafeteria, is going to be redeveloped. This building is on Second Street North in downtown St. Pete, across from the Bay Walk. The Garden cafeteria was once one of the jewels of the cafeteria culture in St. Petersburg. It was decorated in a garden motif including Florida garden scene murals on the walls.
As a condition of the approval of the site plan for redevelopment of this building, the developers agreed to make the murals available to anyone who wants to preserve them. There are several murals that are painted on wall boards that can simply be removed. However, the entire back wall of the building is a giant mural that appears to be painted directly into the concrete. The developers have agreed to make the wall available to anyone who wants to remove it. But it is BIG. At a minimum, the artwork will be photographically documented before the building is demolished. If you can provide any assistance in this project, please let me know.
See you this Friday.
This led to a discussion about the three jewels of St. Petersburg. There was widespread agreement about the first two jewels, the waterfront park system and the Dali Museum. After that, well...
The Florida Orchestra was mentioned as the third possible jewel. However, there was not agreement that the Orchestra was in a place that qualified as being called a jewel. There is certainly the potential, and I know many of us would like to be able to say it it the third jewel in St. Petersburg's crown. So ,let's hear it. What do you think the three jewels of St. Petersburg are?
We also talked about the Battle of the B3's at the Palladium. For those of you who did not attend, you really missed a show. The Palladium was sold out for this battle of Jazz vs Blues organists playing the venerable Hammond B3 organs. The good news for those of you who missed it is that this event will almost certainly be back next year, probably for more than one night. This was a terrific display of the musical talent in the Tampa Bay area.
We also talked about an art preservation project now going on in St. Petersburg. The Piano Exchange Building, formerly the Garden cafeteria, is going to be redeveloped. This building is on Second Street North in downtown St. Pete, across from the Bay Walk. The Garden cafeteria was once one of the jewels of the cafeteria culture in St. Petersburg. It was decorated in a garden motif including Florida garden scene murals on the walls.
As a condition of the approval of the site plan for redevelopment of this building, the developers agreed to make the murals available to anyone who wants to preserve them. There are several murals that are painted on wall boards that can simply be removed. However, the entire back wall of the building is a giant mural that appears to be painted directly into the concrete. The developers have agreed to make the wall available to anyone who wants to remove it. But it is BIG. At a minimum, the artwork will be photographically documented before the building is demolished. If you can provide any assistance in this project, please let me know.
See you this Friday.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Art of Guerrilla Tactics
The conversation at the Friday Morning Group last Friday ranged from "radical transparency" to guerrilla tactics and everything in between. No matter the topics, the conversation was brightened by the all too rare appearance of Carol Dameron.
The underlying topic that had us touch on these diverse subjects was the position of arts and culture in these tough financial times. We all have been feeling the effects of the property tax reform movement in Florida and its impact on local government funding for the arts. Now as signs continue to show the overall economy slipping, the art funding situation appears to be even more tenuous.
We discussed how people and institutions make values choices when allocating resources. The question we are continuously trying to answer is how to demonstrate the total value of arts and culture on the community. Where do arts and culture fit into this mix? What do we value and why do we value it? What impact does this have on our quality of life. And what does it say about us as a community?
We also touched on who our natural allies should be in this effort to upgrade the place of arts and culture on the values choices ladder. We even talked about good old Mazlow and his "hierarchy of needs". We talked about the creation of "Business Improvement Districts" and how incremental taxes within those districts can be used to provide additional city employees to aid visitors and residents within those districts. This has been used to great effect in Washington DC. There are a number of economies with this approach, because these "Business Improvement District" city employees are not police officers and therefore do not carry the high cost overhead of additional police.
We talked about the role of cities, that they exist to create human interactions. These interactions create possibilities which all serve to enhance the quality of life in our communities. But how to raise the visibility of the value of arts and culture within the clutter of everything else that is going on?
That is where the guerrilla tactics come in. Imagine a series of more or less spontaneous little artistic "interventions" going on all over town at unexpected times and places. Don't know what these interventions might look like? Me neither. But you all are creative. Think about it. How much fun could you have with it? How much would it add to the quality of life in the community? How much might it add to the value of arts and culture in the community?
Anybody feeling guerillaish today? How about joining us tomorrow at the Friday Morning Group and sharing your ideas? I look forward to seeing you.
The underlying topic that had us touch on these diverse subjects was the position of arts and culture in these tough financial times. We all have been feeling the effects of the property tax reform movement in Florida and its impact on local government funding for the arts. Now as signs continue to show the overall economy slipping, the art funding situation appears to be even more tenuous.
We discussed how people and institutions make values choices when allocating resources. The question we are continuously trying to answer is how to demonstrate the total value of arts and culture on the community. Where do arts and culture fit into this mix? What do we value and why do we value it? What impact does this have on our quality of life. And what does it say about us as a community?
We also touched on who our natural allies should be in this effort to upgrade the place of arts and culture on the values choices ladder. We even talked about good old Mazlow and his "hierarchy of needs". We talked about the creation of "Business Improvement Districts" and how incremental taxes within those districts can be used to provide additional city employees to aid visitors and residents within those districts. This has been used to great effect in Washington DC. There are a number of economies with this approach, because these "Business Improvement District" city employees are not police officers and therefore do not carry the high cost overhead of additional police.
We talked about the role of cities, that they exist to create human interactions. These interactions create possibilities which all serve to enhance the quality of life in our communities. But how to raise the visibility of the value of arts and culture within the clutter of everything else that is going on?
That is where the guerrilla tactics come in. Imagine a series of more or less spontaneous little artistic "interventions" going on all over town at unexpected times and places. Don't know what these interventions might look like? Me neither. But you all are creative. Think about it. How much fun could you have with it? How much would it add to the quality of life in the community? How much might it add to the value of arts and culture in the community?
Anybody feeling guerillaish today? How about joining us tomorrow at the Friday Morning Group and sharing your ideas? I look forward to seeing you.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Stop the Presses
Last Friday morning we talked about a subject that keeps coming up again and again - coverage of the arts in the local media - or lack thereof. This has been a subject that we have been talking about at the Friday Morning Group for about as long as there has been a Friday Morning Group.
Meeting in St. Petersburg, most of the attention was focused on the efforts of the Times to cover the burgeoning art scene in St. Pete and Pinellas County over the years. Nice things were said about John Fleming, the Times performing arts critic. Fleming had just written a piece on the effects of the upcoming budget cuts as a result of the property tax reform. On the whole, not a pretty picture. Perhaps more pieces on the economic impact of the arts in the community would have kept us from getting to this point?
We were also joined by photographer Richard Stewart. Richard has been involved in the effort to start the St. Petersburg Photographic Gallery. The gallery, a more or less cooperative effort, has been stalled by lease issues. However, the idea lives on.
Patrice Pucci filled us in on the successful City Players run of Hello Dolly at Ruth Eckerd Hall. They sold the place out for the Sunday Matinee. Way to go!
We also talked again about the success of Herb Snitzer's "informal" talk to over 50 people during the first weekend of his show at the Museum of Fine Arts. The show is celebrating Herb's 50 years in photography. Pretty remarkable considering photography is only about 150 years old. Herb will give his "formal" talk about his work on Sunday, August 12th at 3 PM.
For more informal art talk, we hope to see you Friday Morning.
Meeting in St. Petersburg, most of the attention was focused on the efforts of the Times to cover the burgeoning art scene in St. Pete and Pinellas County over the years. Nice things were said about John Fleming, the Times performing arts critic. Fleming had just written a piece on the effects of the upcoming budget cuts as a result of the property tax reform. On the whole, not a pretty picture. Perhaps more pieces on the economic impact of the arts in the community would have kept us from getting to this point?
We were also joined by photographer Richard Stewart. Richard has been involved in the effort to start the St. Petersburg Photographic Gallery. The gallery, a more or less cooperative effort, has been stalled by lease issues. However, the idea lives on.
Patrice Pucci filled us in on the successful City Players run of Hello Dolly at Ruth Eckerd Hall. They sold the place out for the Sunday Matinee. Way to go!
We also talked again about the success of Herb Snitzer's "informal" talk to over 50 people during the first weekend of his show at the Museum of Fine Arts. The show is celebrating Herb's 50 years in photography. Pretty remarkable considering photography is only about 150 years old. Herb will give his "formal" talk about his work on Sunday, August 12th at 3 PM.
For more informal art talk, we hope to see you Friday Morning.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Sociology of Art
I guess you are getting somewhere when a social scientist is interested enough in what you are doing to want to study you. We were joined last Friday morning by a sociologist from Eckerd College who also happens to be a potter. Unfortunately for him, he joined us about half way through, so here's what he missed.
We started off talking about the Music of the Harlem Renaissance show at The Studio@620 the previous night. All who attended gave it rave reviews. Thanks to sponsorships from the Florida Humanities Council, The Studio@620 and the Al Downing / Tampa Bay Jazz Association, the event was free to the public. Way to go guys!
Herb Snitzer informed us that seven of his photographs have been hung in the Mayors outer office in City Hall. Also, Herb's show went up Friday at the Museum of Fine Art. Herb gave an informal talk Saturday afternoon on his fifty years in photography. Interestingly enough, he gave it to about 50 people.
We again talked about the idea of getting community art programming on WEDU. We kept coming back to the funding stumbling block. It costs about $250,000 to produce 12 1/2 hour episodes. Maybe the Pinellas Convention and Visitors Bureau would have an interest in underwriting something like that?
And speaking of money, we got a report from the St. Pete City Council. It seems the City Council has not yet decided how to allocate the $500 thousand that it has put back in the budget for arts and social service agencies. One proposal floated by a Council Member is to give all $500 thousand to the homeless. That would be none to the arts and none to any other social service agency. Stay tuned on this one.
See y'all on Friday.
We started off talking about the Music of the Harlem Renaissance show at The Studio@620 the previous night. All who attended gave it rave reviews. Thanks to sponsorships from the Florida Humanities Council, The Studio@620 and the Al Downing / Tampa Bay Jazz Association, the event was free to the public. Way to go guys!
Herb Snitzer informed us that seven of his photographs have been hung in the Mayors outer office in City Hall. Also, Herb's show went up Friday at the Museum of Fine Art. Herb gave an informal talk Saturday afternoon on his fifty years in photography. Interestingly enough, he gave it to about 50 people.
We again talked about the idea of getting community art programming on WEDU. We kept coming back to the funding stumbling block. It costs about $250,000 to produce 12 1/2 hour episodes. Maybe the Pinellas Convention and Visitors Bureau would have an interest in underwriting something like that?
And speaking of money, we got a report from the St. Pete City Council. It seems the City Council has not yet decided how to allocate the $500 thousand that it has put back in the budget for arts and social service agencies. One proposal floated by a Council Member is to give all $500 thousand to the homeless. That would be none to the arts and none to any other social service agency. Stay tuned on this one.
See y'all on Friday.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Interesting Meeting & Big Weekend
It was an interesting meeting of the Friday Morning Group last Friday. Topics ranged from Nina Simone to the decline of the newspaper industry. And for early summer, or almost any time for that matter, this is a big weekend for some of our community based artists.
First, Herb Snitzer's show goes up this Friday, July 20th at the Museum of Fine Arts. Herb will be at the Museum on Saturday, July 21st at 4 PM. On Sunday, August 12th at 3 PM Herb will give a lecture at the Museum. There will be a dinner in Herb's honor in September at Redwoods. Cost will be $35. The dinner will be sponsored by the Museum's Friends of Photography.
Speaking of friends of photography, there was a discussion about the recent auction price of photographic art. Seems an Edward Weston piece was recently auctioned in New York for $824,000!
Also opening on Friday, July 21, the City Players, ably represented at the Friday Morning Group by Patrice Pucci, will present Hello, Dolly at Ruth Eckerd Hall. Shows are Friday and Saturday at 8 PM with a 2 PM Matinee on Sunday.
Last Friday, at The Studio@620, the Artist's Trading Card show opened. Sounds like a very interesting show, and it runs to Saturday, July 21. Learn more about ATC's here. Bob Devin Jones also let us know that in September he will be bringing in a doppelganger of Herb Snitzer's friend Nina Simone. I, for one, will be looking forward to that.
And we'll look forward to seeing you on Friday morning.
First, Herb Snitzer's show goes up this Friday, July 20th at the Museum of Fine Arts. Herb will be at the Museum on Saturday, July 21st at 4 PM. On Sunday, August 12th at 3 PM Herb will give a lecture at the Museum. There will be a dinner in Herb's honor in September at Redwoods. Cost will be $35. The dinner will be sponsored by the Museum's Friends of Photography.
Speaking of friends of photography, there was a discussion about the recent auction price of photographic art. Seems an Edward Weston piece was recently auctioned in New York for $824,000!
Also opening on Friday, July 21, the City Players, ably represented at the Friday Morning Group by Patrice Pucci, will present Hello, Dolly at Ruth Eckerd Hall. Shows are Friday and Saturday at 8 PM with a 2 PM Matinee on Sunday.
Last Friday, at The Studio@620, the Artist's Trading Card show opened. Sounds like a very interesting show, and it runs to Saturday, July 21. Learn more about ATC's here. Bob Devin Jones also let us know that in September he will be bringing in a doppelganger of Herb Snitzer's friend Nina Simone. I, for one, will be looking forward to that.
And we'll look forward to seeing you on Friday morning.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
A Quiet Week
It may have been the 4th of July hangover effect, but last Friday Morning was a quick, quiet meeting at the Friday Morning Group. It was an interesting one nonetehless.
The talk on Friday centered around the looming budget cuts for local governments. But this one had a twist. Almost all local governments are saying that they have to cut social service and arts funding to protect law enforcement functions. That includes the City of St. Petersburg. But it turns out that there is one law enforcement function that St. Pete has no qualms about cutting.
So, which function is this you ask? St. Petersburg is eliminating its Human Rights Office. This function is going to be handed off to Pinellas County. There is one slight problem with this, however. Pinellas County does not have the authority to enforce St. Petersburg's Human Right Ordinance. That little factoid has the practical effect of killing off the Human Rights ordinance that the Mayor didn't support in the first place. That's because no one will be around to enforce it. So, in effect, the Mayor is cutting law enforcement.
There was also some discussion that the City Council was likely to restore some funding to Arts and Social Service organizations. The question was, how much. The number $500,000 was floated previously by Council Member Leslie Curran. It turns out that was the number that was restored in yesterday's City Council Budget workshop. That's still an 80% cut from last years levels. At least it is not a 100% cut. Stand by now for the scramble as organizations make a mad dash to get some of that money.
The talk on Friday centered around the looming budget cuts for local governments. But this one had a twist. Almost all local governments are saying that they have to cut social service and arts funding to protect law enforcement functions. That includes the City of St. Petersburg. But it turns out that there is one law enforcement function that St. Pete has no qualms about cutting.
So, which function is this you ask? St. Petersburg is eliminating its Human Rights Office. This function is going to be handed off to Pinellas County. There is one slight problem with this, however. Pinellas County does not have the authority to enforce St. Petersburg's Human Right Ordinance. That little factoid has the practical effect of killing off the Human Rights ordinance that the Mayor didn't support in the first place. That's because no one will be around to enforce it. So, in effect, the Mayor is cutting law enforcement.
There was also some discussion that the City Council was likely to restore some funding to Arts and Social Service organizations. The question was, how much. The number $500,000 was floated previously by Council Member Leslie Curran. It turns out that was the number that was restored in yesterday's City Council Budget workshop. That's still an 80% cut from last years levels. At least it is not a 100% cut. Stand by now for the scramble as organizations make a mad dash to get some of that money.
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