Arts In

Marlys Meckler is a docent who gives tours full of stories at the Salvador Dalí Museum, the Chihuly Museum and The James Museum, as well as Mural Tours for Florida CraftArt and tours of St. Pete’s Public Art. Marlys talks with Barbara St. Clair about the work she does - how Public Art is chosen and the stories behind many of the striking artworks that residents of St. Pete don’t always notice as they go about their day. She became an expert by getting involved and volunteering after she retired, and by talking with the artists who work here. Listening to her stories will send you out exploring. Check out the links below for opportunities to find out more, and directions to many of Marlys Meckler’s favorite Public Art pieces. Docent Tours and Volunteer Opportunities THE DALI MUSEUM Salvador Dalí Museum Docent Tours https://thedali.org/visit/tours/ Dalí Museum Volunteer Opportunities https://thedali.org/join-and-give/get-involved/become-volunteer/ Dalí Docent Training Program https://thedali.org/jo

Elizabeth A. Baker is a composer, a touring toy piano player, a classical guitarist, an experimental performance artist, a recording engineer, a cellist, a collaborator with dancers and visual artists, a computer programmer, a rarely-heard singer, an educator, sound designer. . . so many things that people forget she’s a concert pianist. Renaissance Artist is the most accurate job description Elizabeth could think of. No one can describe her work better than herself. “Celebrated for her ‘terrifying dynamic range,’ cleanliness of sound, as well as unique sensitivity and ability to sculpt her performance for the acoustics of a space, Elizabeth A. Baker is a dramatic performer with an honest, near psychic connection to music, which resounds with audiences of all ages and musical backgrounds. “An active performer highly sought after for her unique concert presentation methods, which break the fourth wall and draw the audience further into the music by asking them to listen beyond the surface through interact

Amanda Cooper is the longtime Curator of Exhibitions at the Morean Arts Center, the 100+ year mainstay of St. Petersburg’s arts community, with a mission to provide training in the arts for all ages. Amanda talks with Barbara St. Clair about the process of shaping the Morean’s adventurous themed exhibitions. She explains how the gallery focuses on local artists but places their artwork in a national perspective, and shares what she’s looking for in an emerging artist’s work. She details the history of the Center, which now includes the Chihuly Collection and glass-blowing Hot Shop, and the Morean Center for Clay - the largest working pottery in the Southeast. Amanda shares the challenges of keeping on the cutting edge of contemporary art while raising four children, and tells Barbara about the painting she saw as a teenager at the Museum of Fine Arts, that led her toward an arts career. Find out more about the Morean Arts Center’s classes here, with training available in drawing, painting, welding, potter

If you’ve seen theatre or opera in Tampa Bay, you’ve probably seen a production Keith Arsenault helped bring to life. A skilled lighting designer, set designer, theatre tech consultant and arts administrator, Keith is the resident lighting designer of the St Pete Opera, runs HCC Ybor’s beautiful Performing Arts Center, has worked as a voiceover artist, theatrical producer and circus ringmaster, and served on the staff of The Joffrey Ballet, the Opera Company of Boston, Palm Beach Opera and Nacional Ballet de Colombia. His theatrical work has taken him to 45 states and across Canada and Latin America, and he’s the winner of Creative Loafing Best of the Bay Awards for both Lighting and Scenic Design. Keith talks with Barbara St. Clair about growing up in a family rooted in theatre and dance. He shares the imaginative work of lighting design and the fascinating details of Tampa’s participation in the Federal Theatre Project in the 1930s, the one city in the U.S. that had both an English and a Spanish language

Kim Dohrman works in an art studio full of laughter and music. She’s the Executive Director of Creative Clay, St. Pete’s long and much-beloved arts center whose mission is to make the arts accessible for all. Creative Clay helps people with disabilities find their paths as working artists who actively create, market and sell their artwork. Kim shares how much she loves her job, the rich artistic programs Creative Clay offers - and the vibrant, expressive artists who work there. Creative Clay’s big fundraiser, Creative Clay Fest, takes place Sunday, November 11 at 3 Daughters Brewing in St. Pete’s Warehouse Arts District, with visual art, music, food and festivity. You can find the details at creativeclay.org/creative-clay-fest. Find out more about Creative Clay at creativeclay.org. Visit Creative Clay during ArtWalk, when the gallery is open from 5-9 p.m. with live music, every second Saturday. Their pay-what-you-can art Thrift Store is a source for art supplies including paint, paper, cloth, craft mate

When Helen Hansen French is onstage, it’s hard to keep your eyes on anybody else. As a dancer, Helen’s every move is purposeful and thoughtful, but seems utterly spontaneous. As a choreographer, she’s an expert at visual storytelling and often collaborates with composers, writers and visual artists. Helen is a St. Pete native with a degree from Julliard, who’s danced around the world. After joining NY’s Buglisi Dance Theatre, performing with Karen Reedy Dance, Nilas Martins’ Dance Company, the Guggenheim Works/Process program and at national and international dance festivals, we’re lucky that she came back to St. Petersburg to live and work and raise a family. Explore Helen Hansen French’s work during her time as a 2016 Creative Pinellas Professional Artist Fellow, including her Motherhood Project film about balancing an artistic career with motherhood. . . rapidreturns.org/helen-hansen-french. And her extensive resume. . . rapidreturns.org/helen-hansen-french/2016/5/30/helen-hansen-french See images fr

Imaginative visual artist Kenny Jensen translates fallen branches, lichen and found objects into paintings, sculpture and strikingly beautiful installations. Trained in the precision of graphic design, Kenny learned to let unpredictable mediums lead him down new artistic paths. A Creative Pinellas Emerging Artist Grantee, Kenny talks with Barbara St. Clair about the gorgeous piece he created after Hurricane Irma, using hundreds of fallen branches from around his house. He describes how he used a wall with an odd-shaped window to construct a view into a starry universe. And he shares his passion for taking what most people would consider trash, and revealing it to viewers as a thing of beauty. Check out Kenny Jensen’s June 30 pop-up exhibition, Solar Flare, made possible by a St. Pete Arts Alliance grant - https://www.facebook.com/events/1994945610817068/ Kenny Jensen details his artistic process on the Creative Pinellas blog - http://creativepinellas.org/kenny-jensen/. Watch a video of the space dio

Xavier Cortada is an artist who tackles climate change, endangered species, poverty, homophobia, Florida’s history and hard science with his artwork. And he’s a funny, engaging, vibrant guy from Miami whose art projects are seen by millions, and get people all over Florida participating. Cortada’s work is featured in school textbooks and publications, on National Geographic TV and the Discovery Channel. Xavier talks with Barbara St. Clair about marking the 500th anniversary of Florida’s colonization by Spain by working with biologists to find 500 native Florida wildflowers that he got 500 Florida artists to paint, while asking historians for 500 people vital to Florida’s history - who weren’t white men - and getting people around the state to plant 500 native wildflower gardens each dedicated to one of those people. Then he put the whole project and research online, where people could read up and share their own photos of natural Florida. Xavier Cortada was commissioned to create beautiful artwork explor

Coralette Damme’s distinctive handcrafted printmaking is inspired by trees, birds and the bees, flowers and butterflies in her backyard. . .  and colored by Halloween, her Midwestern background and her German heritage.  Keep an eye out for Coralette’s work at Florida CraftArt, St Pete’s Saturday Morning Market and Craft events and workshops around Pinellas County. Coralette Damme was chosen as a featured artist at American Stage, with a piece that’s inspired by Andrea Lepcio’s play, Straight of Gibraltar. In her lively conversation with Barbara St. Clair, Coralette shares her hands-on printmaking technique, her hands-on work behind-the-scenes at The Studio@620 - and welcomes you into her magical, imaginative art installations. Explore Coralette’s artwork at craftyhag.com Follow her artwork on Instagram - instagram.com/thecraftyhag @thecraftyhag and Facebook - facebook.com/craftyhag

Greg Byrd is an award-winning poet with a PhD in Literature, living in Clearwater and teaching at St. Pete College. He’s a Fulbright Fellow in poetry and literature, winner of the Yellow Jacket Prize and recipient of a Creative Pinellas Professional Artists Fellowship.   Greg explains that, “My poetry is often connected to placeness and to mythology, but is rooted in concrete things and often in working class life. My poems just as often mention Winslow Homer or Bach as they do dovetail joints or rusted pocket knives.” He talks with Barbara St. Clair about creating poems during cancer treatments and after his father’s death. Greg shares his experiences growing up in the Florida Keys and helping in his family’s appliance store, delivering washers and dryers before becoming the first person in his family to go to college. Greg Byrd teaches at St. Pete College, where he works with many Iraq War veterans. He’s working right now on a novel set during World War I. You can find out more about Greg’s work a

Kathy White is the Deputy Director of The Salvador Dalí Museum. Peter Tush is the Curator of Education. They met and married at the Dalí and have seen the museum from its early days to its glorious signature home on downtown St. Pete’s waterfront. You might think that a museum focused on a single artist would only be worth one visit. But the Dalí’s ever-changing offerings range from paintings to sculpture, fashion, photography, mathematics and filmmaking. Along with an array of film, theatre, music, dance, workshops and wide-ranging conversations, The Dalí is not just a destination for international visitors, but a compelling reason for repeat visits by Bay area residents. Kathy and Peter share the imaginative work behind the scenes at the Dalí, the importance of the volunteer docents and audio tours that invite visitors to deeply explore the exhibits, and the museum’s constant outreach to the local arts community, to local artists and to young creatives. Find out more about The Salvador Dalí Museum at

Pat Blocher is an adventurous artist who uses photography as a jumping-off point for experiments and explorations in the digital and physical worlds. An MFA candidate at the University of South Florida, Pat was one of the youngest artists featured in last summer’s Skyway exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg. Pat talks with Barbara St. Clair about building thoughtful portraits of a night shared by two people, making art by making software and hardware “misbehave” - and creating cutting-edge photographic art by mixing vintage processes with new digital techniques. Find out more about Pat Blocher’s work at - http://patblocher.com on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/patblocher/

Bob Barancik is an adventurous abstract artist who roams through a range of mediums, from painting and collage to printmaking, digital images, video, and three-dimensional boxes and books full of art. Bob talks with Barbara St. Clair about working on art inspired by current events, that viewers often aren’t ready for until years later. He’s created gorgeous artwork sparked by climate change, 9/11 and the Deep Water Horizon tragedy, exhibited around the country and has over 100 original works in the Florida Holocaust Museum’s permanent collection. Bob’s lived and worked in an array of creative communities. . . Portland in the 1970s, Palo Alto as the Silicon Valley boom was just beginning, New York City, Chicago, Maine and Philadelphia. He explains why he chose to live in downtown St. Petersburg, and why this creative community is one of the best. Explore Bob Barancik’s artwork at http://www.creativeshare.com/exhibits/. Find out more about his Art Not Hate project at http://www.artnothate.com. View Bob

Renee Piechocki Longtime leader of the Pittsburgh Office of Public Art, Renee Piechocki helped create a city full of vibrant and imaginative, exciting and interactive public art. Renee talks about the need for temporary public art installations, where artists can make bold and more experimental work that serves a range of changing audiences. She details projects that break new ground - and ways that artists can help neighborhoods find creative ways to tackle community needs. Take a listen to this conversation full of energy and wonderful ideas, and get inspired by new, exciting possibilities for public art. Find out more about Renee Piechocki http://reneepiechocki.com Trappings: What Do Women Wear That Makes You Feel Powerful? and Taking Stock: What Do Men Do That Makes You Feel Valuable? - http://www.twogirlsworking.com Explore Vibrant Public Art. . . Market Square Public Art - http://www.marketsquarepublicart.com/info Pittsburgh Art Places - http://pittsburghartplaces.org Conflict Kitchen - h

Marlene Rose is a glass artist who doesn’t make vases. Instead, she creates large sculptural works using the technique of sand casting. Developed in the 1980s, the process involves hours spent carefully carving a mold in sand, then pouring in molten glass heated to 2000 degrees. It takes a week in an oven to cool the finished piece down to room temperature. Sand casting is a physical and dangerous process, expertly carried out by Marlene and her team. The work she creates is unexpected, and you might not always think it’s glass - until you see the light hit it. Marlene talks with Barbara St. Clair about the surprises and challenges of practicing a technique so new that there’s no reference manual, and you’re figuring out how to do it as you do it. But, it’s so new nobody can tell you what’s impossible. Find out more about Marlene Rose’s work at - marlenerose.com. Explore St. Petersburg’s new Imagine Museum - imaginemuseum.com.

Fanni Green is an actor, director, playwright, poet and theatre professor. Gary Lemons is a writer, painter, musician and professor of African American literature and womanist studies. In this lively conversation, Fanni and Gary delve into the passion and activism at the heart of all their work and the joys of a marrying a fellow artist. They share stories of growing up with parents who weren’t able to go to college - and weren’t convinced that art or acting was a good career choice. And they explore the spirituality that informs their lives and their creative work. Fanni Green is a versatile actor, the heart of a terrific production of A Raisin in the Sun at American Stage and many of their August Wilson plays. A native of St. Petersburg and graduate of USF and NYU, Fanni is everyone’s favorite professor at the USF School of Theatre and Dance and has taught on the voice faculties of The Actor's Center in NY, the Yale School of Drama and the Juilliard School. Her professional work includes Mule Bone (Bro

Jim Rolston Jim Rolston’s abstract paintings are ferociously gorgeous explorations of color and form, while his deceptively simple statues are gentle and profound. Jim was a passionate artist and an energetic leader in St. Petersburg’s arts community. He created art throughout his life, while working a demanding job and raising a family. When Jim approached retirement, he went back to school and earned a degree in Visual Art from Eckerd College, to prepare himself to be a full-time artist. He was a prolific artist working at his peak and constantly exploring. In this conversation, recorded a few months before Jim Rolston unexpectedly passed away, he shares his thoughts on the energy of abstract art and the opposing tensions balanced in his work. He explains how deeply his artwork is influenced by the concept of yin and yang, and the Tao de Ching. Jim served on the board of the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance and was co-President of the Professional Association of Visual Artists, a group that Creative Pine

Fight director Dan Granke is a master of physical storytelling and a professional expert on violence. Dan teaches at the University of South Florida and choreographs stage combat for a range of Bay area and Sarasota theatres, and even the St Pete Opera. He’s also a Shakespeare expert who helped to found the Tampa Shakespeare Festival’s free outdoor performances. In a conversation full of laughter and surprising details, Dan explains the art of stage violence, the storytelling skills behind it and how to safely make it look like you just stabbed somebody in the neck. Dan takes us through the final fight scene in Macbeth - and makes Barbara St. Clair’s day when he analyzes the glorious swordplay in The Princess Bride. Society of American Fight Directors http://www.safd.org/MemberProfile/Details/31084 University of South Florida School of Theatre and Dance http://theatreanddance.arts.usf.edu/content/templates/?z=0&a=3858 Dan Granke’s theatrical work https://www.jobsitetheater.org/portfolio-item/gra

While in St. Petersburg to direct the acclaimed production of A Raisin in The Sun at American Stage, the Artistic Director of the African-American Shakespeare Company talks with Barbara St. Clair about the teachers who guided him to a career in the arts and the relevance of Raisin right now. He shares an insightful analysis of the play, and of last year’s production of August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone. From Peter Callender’s studies at New York’s High School for Performing Arts (honored in the movie, Fame) and Juilliard, a career as a classical actor led him to San Francisco’s African-American Shakespeare Company, where actors of color have the chance to perform works from A Streetcar Named Desire to Richard III. And he’s playing Richard III this year. As Peter explains, the works of August Wilson and Tennessee Williams aren’t “black” plays or “white” plays - these are American plays. Find out more about L. Peter Callender’s work at - http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0130458/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

“I’m a nice guy, really!” laughs Gregory Green. The artist and pacifist teaches at The University of South Florida and is internationally known for his 3D installations of realistic bomb-making workshops and nuclear missiles. It’s art with a political edge and educational aim, seeking to spur conversations about violence - and alternatives to violence - and exploring how information and technology are tools of social change. Gregory Green shares the theatricality behind his work, which includes more than a dozen fully-functional pirate radio and TV stations in the US and Europe, his “Gregnik” re-creation of the first Earth satellite and a three-stage booster rocket that’s ready to launch if you’ve got the rocket fuel. Green tells of wrangling with the bomb squad, designing an installation for filmmaker John Waters’ home, and how he was rated one of the Top 100 Artists in the World before 9/11, and how after 9/11 artwork about violence suddenly became much harder. Green’s work is included in major publ