Wide Ranging Discussion: Arts and Society

Last week's attendees at the Friday Morning Group engaged in a wide ranging discussion of the Arts and their impact on society (and vice versa). Topics covered included African American Heritage and diversity and tolerance in media in the now post Imus age.

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 he met the lovely director of an African American museum in Jacksonville. They are going to be working on a possible showing of Herb's work and tying it into the Civil Rights movement. That developed into an interesting discussion on the diversity of cultural offerings in Jacksonville - museums, galleries, restaurants and art exhibits. Jacksonville has a rich cultural background, fueled in part by its traditional role as the financial capitol of the state.

There was also a discussion of the City's situation with the Public Arts program given the current tax "reform" climate. Arts are way down the list of people's thoughts, particularly those 1 1/2 paychecks away from being homeless. There was also a comment that art is messy - it causes creative thinking. We generally agreed that the arts potential for this community is great, but that perhaps the governance isn't there for it - yet. Anyone interested in a discussion of the value of art education can find it here.

So, that's a brief rundown of what you missed last Friday. Why not stop by this week and experience it firsthand?

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.

Really Stupid People Tricks

Michael Hussey over at Pushing Rope alerted me to one of the stupidest and mean spirited plans I've heard of from someone local in a long time. You have to read this and maybe like me, you still won't belive it:


Rachel Moran has the less-than-brilliant brainstorm of filming homeless people getting assaulted by her friends.

We are thinking about proving this nuisance and need for civil action by making a short film called “Eddie Rolls on the Homeless,” whereby Mark secretly videotapes me and Lil Sis in a variety of situations to see how many homeless people approach us and, then, how many of these situations escalate into harrassment. Then, he’s gonna videotape Eddie in the same scenarios, only Eddie is going to beat up every homeless person who escalates the contact after being told that his panhandling is illegal and annoying.

More from Michael Hussey's post:

Let's make this clear. What Moran proposes is illegal. This isn't funny. It's a crime and should be treated as such. Feel free to contact the St. Petersburg police department about this post.

District I
(southern St. Petersburg)
551-3181

District II
(north and northeast - Including Downtown St. Petersburg)
551-3182

District III
(western St. Petersburg)
551-3183

Give them a call and let them know you want the police to do their duty to serve and protect.

And, yes, that includes the homeless.