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.
Showing posts with label Leslie Curran. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Leslie Curran. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
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!
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.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
This Week in St. Petersburg
It was an interesting week in St. Petersburg, my hometown. It started off at the home of Larry Newsome. Newsome, the developer of the Midtown shopping center anchored by SweetBay, graciously opened up his home in support of Gershom Faulkner. Faulkner is running for the St. Petersburg City Council seat being vacated by the term limited Rene Flowers.
Faulkner lined up an impressive host committee for this event. Former Florida House Speaker Peter Wallace and and current County Commissioners Ken Welch and Calvin Harris were joined by restaurateur Dan Harvey as headliners on the host committee.
The question of the night was, what was Bob Kersteen doing there? Kersteen is running against Herb Polson. Polson, the City's long time lobbyist, was appointed to fill the seat vacated by now Representative Rick Kriseman. Look for Jack Latvala to continue his losing streak as Kersteen has hired him to lead the smear campaign against Polson. Kersteen and Jack Latvala. There's a recipe for electoral failure right there.
Thursday saw the St. Petersburg City Council approve the Greater Childs Park Strategic Initiative. The consultant for the City produced a plan document that certainly passed the weight test. There are two glaring problems with the Childs Park plan. First is the fact that it was adopted by the City just as the full extent of the first round of property tax cuts were being examined. That does not bode well for the ability of the City to actually spend the funds needed to implement the plan.
The second problem was a statement both in the covering memo and the plan itself. Every table at the City's first public meeting on the plan listed crime and crime related problems as an issue. However, somehow the consultant determined that crime was not a predominate issue. It remains to be seen if that was an accurate statement.
On Friday, the City Council received a briefing from Mayor Rick Baker on his suggested budget cuts resulting from the first round of property tax reforms signed by the governor this week. In all, the mayor recommended that 70 positions be eliminated, including 25% of the Codes Compliance Department. As he threatened to do earlier, the Mayor suggested cutting off all funding to social service agencies and arts organizations. Only Council Member Leslie Curran suggested that cutting all funding to the social services and arts organizations was maybe not the best way to go.
After the somber budget briefing, Council Members Herb Polson, Jamie Bennett Jeff Danner and Ernest Williams attended the Tiger Bay luncheon featuring Florida CFO Alex Sink. Sink showed her growing political maturity by deftly handling the lead off question. An unapologetic boor Republican hit man tried to to rattle Sink with a question about her religion and homosexuality. He failed to rattle Sink and also failed to win the coveted Tiger award. Just another example of the failed conservative worldview that is going the way of the dinosaurs.
And that brings us to the scoop of the week. County Commissioner Bob Stewart was asked about the rumor that he may not run for reelection. His response (with a twinkle in his eye):
The week is going to end on a high note for St. Petersburg. A portrait of Governor Charlie Crist will be unveiled at the St. Petersburg History Museum on Saturday afternoon. Crist, the first native of St. Petersburg to occupy the governors mansion will also headline a fundraiser for the museum at the former Rutland Estate.
Faulkner lined up an impressive host committee for this event. Former Florida House Speaker Peter Wallace and and current County Commissioners Ken Welch and Calvin Harris were joined by restaurateur Dan Harvey as headliners on the host committee.
The question of the night was, what was Bob Kersteen doing there? Kersteen is running against Herb Polson. Polson, the City's long time lobbyist, was appointed to fill the seat vacated by now Representative Rick Kriseman. Look for Jack Latvala to continue his losing streak as Kersteen has hired him to lead the smear campaign against Polson. Kersteen and Jack Latvala. There's a recipe for electoral failure right there.
Thursday saw the St. Petersburg City Council approve the Greater Childs Park Strategic Initiative. The consultant for the City produced a plan document that certainly passed the weight test. There are two glaring problems with the Childs Park plan. First is the fact that it was adopted by the City just as the full extent of the first round of property tax cuts were being examined. That does not bode well for the ability of the City to actually spend the funds needed to implement the plan.
The second problem was a statement both in the covering memo and the plan itself. Every table at the City's first public meeting on the plan listed crime and crime related problems as an issue. However, somehow the consultant determined that crime was not a predominate issue. It remains to be seen if that was an accurate statement.
On Friday, the City Council received a briefing from Mayor Rick Baker on his suggested budget cuts resulting from the first round of property tax reforms signed by the governor this week. In all, the mayor recommended that 70 positions be eliminated, including 25% of the Codes Compliance Department. As he threatened to do earlier, the Mayor suggested cutting off all funding to social service agencies and arts organizations. Only Council Member Leslie Curran suggested that cutting all funding to the social services and arts organizations was maybe not the best way to go.
After the somber budget briefing, Council Members Herb Polson, Jamie Bennett Jeff Danner and Ernest Williams attended the Tiger Bay luncheon featuring Florida CFO Alex Sink. Sink showed her growing political maturity by deftly handling the lead off question. An unapologetic boor Republican hit man tried to to rattle Sink with a question about her religion and homosexuality. He failed to rattle Sink and also failed to win the coveted Tiger award. Just another example of the failed conservative worldview that is going the way of the dinosaurs.
And that brings us to the scoop of the week. County Commissioner Bob Stewart was asked about the rumor that he may not run for reelection. His response (with a twinkle in his eye):
There may be some truth to that.
The week is going to end on a high note for St. Petersburg. A portrait of Governor Charlie Crist will be unveiled at the St. Petersburg History Museum on Saturday afternoon. Crist, the first native of St. Petersburg to occupy the governors mansion will also headline a fundraiser for the museum at the former Rutland Estate.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Six Months Back...And...Forth
I thought I'd take a look back at the last six months. Last December we re kick started the Friday Morning Group. Can you believe it has been six months already? I know I can't. Back on December 8th we got the 2006 / 2007 version of the Friday Morning Group off to a rousing start. We reviewed some of the accomplishments from the past. The Manhattan Casino restoration was one of the first projects the group took on. Also, the idea and practice of artists being able to live and work in the same location was spearheaded by the Friday Morning Group. The Studio@620; The new, more casual look of the Orchestra's catalog is a direct result of the groups' conversation with the Orchestra. My favorite little passage is this
Moving on to January 2007, we talked about this
Later on in January, we had this happy news to report
Moving on into February, we had this
Well that little session morphed into OMG - We Have a Plan . A group of volunteers got together and came up with the Friday Morning Group Concept Paper which included plans for the "Pinellas Prize" and a Creativity Center.
As time went along, we continued to work on bring the Friday Morning Group Concept Paper to life. But we also talked about the Art of the Homeless and about Attitudinal Change . And we even had time to be wowed by Irish Eyes. That happened when Peter Kagayama brought us a very special guest indeed, Roisin McDonough, 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 along into April, we began a conversation about implementing the Friday Morning Group Concept Paper at a very tough time for local governments in this climate of tax reform. We talked about being leaders instead of followers and The Value of Art Education .
Lately we have been Looking at the Long Term nature of attitudinal change. Last week we talked about group life cycles and dynamics.
And that is the point. This is your group. It will be whatever you want it to be. Or not.
A couple of years ago, a reporter from Creative Loafing sat in on one of the meetings of the group. We were discussing the Chamber of commerce brochure that proclaimed on its cover that St. Petersburg was the "City of the Arts". Well, our artists particularly thought that was just pretentious as hell and were pretty contemptible of the whole idea. Yes St. Petersburg is a good place for artists. It could be better. But to proclaim St. Pete as The City of the Arts? Hello.
So we were discussing this foolishness and kicking around ideas. One of our members came up with this:St. Petersburg is not the City of the Arts, the city is the art.
That comment wound up in print. I think that's a pretty good explanation of the Friday Morning Group. The beautiful City of St. Petersburg is the canvas that is our art work in progress. We continue to put more creative touches on it all the time.
Moving on to January 2007, we talked about this
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.
Later on in January, we had this happy news to report
Last Friday we welcomed back some old faces and greeted some new (to me anyway) faces. Bob Devin Jones brought us up to date on the goings on at the Studio @ 620. The Studio currently is showing a very interesting photography exhibit by Zachariah Thompson. The photographs are of laundromats reminding all of us of the good old (or maybe not so good old) days. The show has been very well received, perhaps because we all can relate to the subject in one way or another.
The multi-faceted Peter Kagayama, current President of Creative Tampa Bay, another old familiar face also joined us last Friday. Peter just returned from some more of his Creative Community globe hopping to Singapore and other interesting far off places. Being the ever so deft communication specialist that he is, Peter dropped the phrase "creative competitiveness"on us. That has a ring to it doesn't it?
Len Neff also joined us. Besides Len's well known work with beaded glass, Len talked about his work with public art in Pinellas County.
And our old friend Nancy Loehr dropped by with County Commissioner Ken Welch in tow.
Moving on into February, we had this
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 Commissioner Ken Welch, we were also able to extend a Friday Morning Welcome to St. Petersburg City Council Member Leslie Curran.
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. ... After Ken left 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. It was clear to Leslie, and she made it clear to us that Ken wanted to help us, but he needed guidance on exactly what we wanted him to vote on.
Well that little session morphed into OMG - We Have a Plan . A group of volunteers got together and came up with the Friday Morning Group Concept Paper which included plans for the "Pinellas Prize" and a Creativity Center.
As time went along, we continued to work on bring the Friday Morning Group Concept Paper to life. But we also talked about the Art of the Homeless and about Attitudinal Change . And we even had time to be wowed by Irish Eyes. That happened when Peter Kagayama brought us a very special guest indeed, Roisin McDonough, 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 along into April, we began a conversation about implementing the Friday Morning Group Concept Paper at a very tough time for local governments in this climate of tax reform. We talked about being leaders instead of followers and The Value of Art Education .
Lately we have been Looking at the Long Term nature of attitudinal change. Last week we talked about group life cycles and dynamics.
And that is the point. This is your group. It will be whatever you want it to be. Or not.
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Art of the Homeless
Even the Friday Morning Group can not avoid the topic of homelessness in St. Pete these days. At both meetings in the last two weeks the topic has come up and been addressed in various ways.
The week before last, City Council Member Leslie Curran joined us again. She reminded us of the St. Petersburg Homeless Summit that was to be held the next day. Herb Snitzer participated in the charette style meeting that was held at the USF Saint Pete Student Activity Center.
Leslie mentioned that Grace-Ann Alfiero of Creative Clay had previously approached the city with a proposal to extend their services to the mentally challenged homeless. I spoke to Grace-Ann about this at the summit. She indicated she was still willing to look at the idea. However, she rightly insisted that sufficient funding would have to be forthcoming to get any such plan to happen.
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. There will be a pre-show event at the St. Pete Shuffleboard Club on March 24th. Mike is looking for a home for a post-show event. If anyone has any ideas, let Mike know.
On the topic of keeping artists from becoming homeless, Sandy Tabor reported on how our concept paper was faring at the Pinellas County Government. Commissioner Ken Welch has shared the concept paper with an Assistant County Administrator and with Judith Powers of the County Cultural Commission and asked them to study it. Judith will be joining us this Friday to discuss the concepts with us.
Entirely away from the homeless topic, Bob Barancik brought a new friend on Friday. Lynne Warburg is a photographer living in Sarasota. She has leased the Ringling family's "party house" there and has restyled it as the Ringling Art House. She is using the space as a communal space for artists showings. There is a new show opening Thursday, March 8th at 6 PM. The Ringling Art house is in Sarasota at 7715 Westmoreland Drive. Anyone interested is asked to call 941-296-5942 to RSVP (and to get directions).
Other ongoing and upcoming events:
Herb Snitzer told us of a new show at Salt Creek. Among the featured artists is Herb's wife and a fine artist in her own right, Carol Dameron. Pedro Jarquin of the Nation of Poetry reminded us of his show upcoming at the State Theatre on Sunday, April 1st. Tickets are $10 and can be had by contacting Pedro at 727-698-3998. Advanced ticket sales will help Pedro with some last minute funding needs for the show.
The week before last, City Council Member Leslie Curran joined us again. She reminded us of the St. Petersburg Homeless Summit that was to be held the next day. Herb Snitzer participated in the charette style meeting that was held at the USF Saint Pete Student Activity Center.
Leslie mentioned that Grace-Ann Alfiero of Creative Clay had previously approached the city with a proposal to extend their services to the mentally challenged homeless. I spoke to Grace-Ann about this at the summit. She indicated she was still willing to look at the idea. However, she rightly insisted that sufficient funding would have to be forthcoming to get any such plan to happen.
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. There will be a pre-show event at the St. Pete Shuffleboard Club on March 24th. Mike is looking for a home for a post-show event. If anyone has any ideas, let Mike know.
On the topic of keeping artists from becoming homeless, Sandy Tabor reported on how our concept paper was faring at the Pinellas County Government. Commissioner Ken Welch has shared the concept paper with an Assistant County Administrator and with Judith Powers of the County Cultural Commission and asked them to study it. Judith will be joining us this Friday to discuss the concepts with us.
Entirely away from the homeless topic, Bob Barancik brought a new friend on Friday. Lynne Warburg is a photographer living in Sarasota. She has leased the Ringling family's "party house" there and has restyled it as the Ringling Art House. She is using the space as a communal space for artists showings. There is a new show opening Thursday, March 8th at 6 PM. The Ringling Art house is in Sarasota at 7715 Westmoreland Drive. Anyone interested is asked to call 941-296-5942 to RSVP (and to get directions).
Other ongoing and upcoming events:
Herb Snitzer told us of a new show at Salt Creek. Among the featured artists is Herb's wife and a fine artist in her own right, Carol Dameron. Pedro Jarquin of the Nation of Poetry reminded us of his show upcoming at the State Theatre on Sunday, April 1st. Tickets are $10 and can be had by contacting Pedro at 727-698-3998. Advanced ticket sales will help Pedro with some last minute funding needs for the show.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
OMG - We Have a Plan
One of the things I have really enjoyed about our Friday Morning Group is that it is not a very structured affair. People attend, or not, as the spirit moves them. There is no written agenda. It has just been a place where people could float ideas and get feedback from their peers.
That is not to say that nothing constructive has come out of the Friday Morning Group meetings. That is far, far from the truth. It has just sort of worked that individuals or small groups have taken ideas bounced around on Friday Morning and gone out and made something of them. You know who you are and what you have done.
The change started a couple of weeks ago. Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch and St. Petersburg City Council Member Leslie Curran joined us on the same day. Ken solicited our ideas for improving the community for artists. He got an ear load (or two). Fortunately for Ken, he couldn't stay long, he had a dentist appointment. But he did ask the Group to provide him something concrete that we would like to see happen.
This spawned a group of volunteers (a committee?) to do a little visioning to see what they might come up with in response to Ken's request. The response was a "concept paper" that included the Pinellas Prize as a major component. We talked a little about the Pinellas Prize last week ( http://localpoliticsisall.blogspot.com/2007/02/pinellas-prize.html ) . I don't have the position paper in front of me, and I don't want to do it an injustice by trying to paraphrase off the top of my weary head. Suffice it to say, it is an extremely intriguing idea.
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.
Now, I don't know about you, but all that sounds like we are getting awfully formal to me. It also sounds like progress.
That is not to say that nothing constructive has come out of the Friday Morning Group meetings. That is far, far from the truth. It has just sort of worked that individuals or small groups have taken ideas bounced around on Friday Morning and gone out and made something of them. You know who you are and what you have done.
The change started a couple of weeks ago. Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch and St. Petersburg City Council Member Leslie Curran joined us on the same day. Ken solicited our ideas for improving the community for artists. He got an ear load (or two). Fortunately for Ken, he couldn't stay long, he had a dentist appointment. But he did ask the Group to provide him something concrete that we would like to see happen.
This spawned a group of volunteers (a committee?) to do a little visioning to see what they might come up with in response to Ken's request. The response was a "concept paper" that included the Pinellas Prize as a major component. We talked a little about the Pinellas Prize last week ( http://localpoliticsisall.blogspot.com/2007/02/pinellas-prize.html ) . I don't have the position paper in front of me, and I don't want to do it an injustice by trying to paraphrase off the top of my weary head. Suffice it to say, it is an extremely intriguing idea.
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.
Now, I don't know about you, but all that sounds like we are getting awfully formal to me. It also sounds like progress.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Pinellas Prize
Last week, the Friday Morning Group talked about keeping our eyes on the Prize. What prize, you ask? Why the Pinellas Prize of course!
The week before last. Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch and St. Petersburg City Council Memeber Leslie Curran asked us to provde them something they could talk about. something they could vote on. Last week, several Group members met at The Studio@620 to do just that. The result? Why the Pinellas Prize.
The Group members gave Ken Welch quite an earfull the prior week. But we had a very small window to address the commissioner. Poor Ken. He had to listen to us immediately prior to going to the dentist. I can't imagine that he had a very good morning that morning.
Ken's response to our laundry list of suggestions and complaints? Give me something I can talk to my colleagues on the Commission about. He must have made this request at least three times. After Ken departed for his rendezvous with the dentist, Leslie Curran made it as clear as it could get. Give Ken what he asked for if we want to move forward with anything concrete.
Sandy Tabor led the group's committee that met at 620. Bob Devin Jones graciously provided the venue before he had to hop on an airplane and head for the frozen north. Herb Snitzer was there as well. Sandy gave us her report last Friday, including a brief description of how the Pinellas Prize would work.
If you want to know more about this - stay tuned.
The week before last. Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch and St. Petersburg City Council Memeber Leslie Curran asked us to provde them something they could talk about. something they could vote on. Last week, several Group members met at The Studio@620 to do just that. The result? Why the Pinellas Prize.
The Group members gave Ken Welch quite an earfull the prior week. But we had a very small window to address the commissioner. Poor Ken. He had to listen to us immediately prior to going to the dentist. I can't imagine that he had a very good morning that morning.
Ken's response to our laundry list of suggestions and complaints? Give me something I can talk to my colleagues on the Commission about. He must have made this request at least three times. After Ken departed for his rendezvous with the dentist, Leslie Curran made it as clear as it could get. Give Ken what he asked for if we want to move forward with anything concrete.
Sandy Tabor led the group's committee that met at 620. Bob Devin Jones graciously provided the venue before he had to hop on an airplane and head for the frozen north. Herb Snitzer was there as well. Sandy gave us her report last Friday, including a brief description of how the Pinellas Prize would work.
If you want to know more about this - stay tuned.
Saturday, February 3, 2007
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.
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.
Herb and Bob Devin Jones also expressed their disappointment that the Pinellas County Cultural (nee Arts) Council's failure to extend honors to any Little a artists at their annual awards banquet. Bruce Kotchkey was asked by Ken for his take on that issue. Bruce replied that the criteria for an award to an artist was based on community participation in the furtherance of the arts. Surely we had artists at the table Friday morning who met that criteria. Stay tuned on that one.
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. Ken left us at 8:30 to go to his dentist's appointment. When asked to comment on which he thought was going to be more fun, Ken was unwilling to declare. He has declared that he is running for re-election to the County Commission in 2008. Thank you, Ken, for taking the time to meet with us. Please know that you have an open invitation to join us any time that your schedule permits.
After Ken left 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. It was clear to Leslie, and she made it clear to us that Ken wanted to help us, but he needed guidance on exactly what we wanted him to vote on.
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 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. The first strategic visioning session for the Friday Morning Group will be this Monday afternoon at 2 PM at the Studio at 620.
Leslie Curran could not have been more supportive of the mission of the Friday Morning Group. Seated on her left was Ann Wykel . In the category of two degrees of separation, Ann's very presence in St. Petersburg was due to the efforts of Leslie Curran. In her former incarnation on the St. Pete City Council, Leslie pushed for the creation of a Cultural Plan. Ann Wykel's position at the City of St. Petersburg came out of that Cultural Plan. Leslie is currently asking that the Cultural Plan be reviewed and updated, since it is getting nearly a decade old.
All in all, this Friday had to be one of the best meetings ever held by the Friday Morning Group. If you were in attendance and either agree or disagree with that statment, please let me know. You can either email me at gatordem at verizon.net or you may post a comment at Local Politics is All.
Until next week, here's looking at your art kids.
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.
Herb and Bob Devin Jones also expressed their disappointment that the Pinellas County Cultural (nee Arts) Council's failure to extend honors to any Little a artists at their annual awards banquet. Bruce Kotchkey was asked by Ken for his take on that issue. Bruce replied that the criteria for an award to an artist was based on community participation in the furtherance of the arts. Surely we had artists at the table Friday morning who met that criteria. Stay tuned on that one.
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. Ken left us at 8:30 to go to his dentist's appointment. When asked to comment on which he thought was going to be more fun, Ken was unwilling to declare. He has declared that he is running for re-election to the County Commission in 2008. Thank you, Ken, for taking the time to meet with us. Please know that you have an open invitation to join us any time that your schedule permits.
After Ken left 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. It was clear to Leslie, and she made it clear to us that Ken wanted to help us, but he needed guidance on exactly what we wanted him to vote on.
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 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. The first strategic visioning session for the Friday Morning Group will be this Monday afternoon at 2 PM at the Studio at 620.
Leslie Curran could not have been more supportive of the mission of the Friday Morning Group. Seated on her left was Ann Wykel . In the category of two degrees of separation, Ann's very presence in St. Petersburg was due to the efforts of Leslie Curran. In her former incarnation on the St. Pete City Council, Leslie pushed for the creation of a Cultural Plan. Ann Wykel's position at the City of St. Petersburg came out of that Cultural Plan. Leslie is currently asking that the Cultural Plan be reviewed and updated, since it is getting nearly a decade old.
All in all, this Friday had to be one of the best meetings ever held by the Friday Morning Group. If you were in attendance and either agree or disagree with that statment, please let me know. You can either email me at gatordem at verizon.net or you may post a comment at Local Politics is All.
Until next week, here's looking at your art kids.
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