Audio producer Jessica Tomlinson is also a keyboard instructor at Girls Rock St Pete – and created a vivid sound portrait of this very cool group empowering "women, girls, and gender-expansive folx through fearless expression, artistic experimentation and collaboration to build confidence and leadership skills to transform ourselves and our communi…

“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 viole…

Eugenie Bondurant is film and TV actor, cabaret singer, teacher, director, international runway model – and part of the heart of St. Pete.At an age when many women actors are struggling to find good roles, she was cast in the pivotal role of Tigris in the last Hunger Games film. In 2019, she started work on a DC comics film called The Conjuring: Th…

Dancer, choreographer, professor – and inventor – Merry Lynn Morris talks with Barbara St. Clair about her work exploring dance and disability, and how dance companies and educators are embracing a diversity of dancing bodies in performance. Published in the Creative Pinellas Arts Coast magazine on May 16, 2023 – https://creativepinellas.org/arts-c…

Members of ThinkTank TYA's Young Artists' Ensemble Edwin Noah Perez, Kaylee Tupper Miller and Jadon Milne share their thoughts on how it feels to sing.Published in the Arts Coast magazine feature "Both Sides of the Bay Cabaret" by Creative PInellas 5/12/23.由Creative Pinellas

Cindy Stovall talks with Helen French, Lauren Slone and Alexander Jones about 2023's Beacon dance celebration at St. Pete's Palladium Theater.Featured in "Beacon 2023" published in the Creative PInellas Arts Coast magazine on April 25, 2023 – https://creativepinellas.org/magazine/beacon-2023/由Creative Pinellas

In a potent conversation ranging through his fascinating career, dancer and educator John Parks talks with Barbara St. Clair about his experiences touring the South with the Jose Limón Company during segregation, his inventive teaching philosophy – and how he helped the undervalued dancers in the movie version of The Wiz go on strike for equal pay …

Visual artist and creative activist John Gascot talks with Barbara St. Clair about his exploratory series of self portraits, the powerful human rights installation he created during the pandemic and inventing a Diversity Game to help teach kids that diversity and inclusion matters. He shares the vibrant work of the Pinellas Park arts community and …

Christina Bertsos shares her passion for sculpting in stone and marble with host Barbara St. Clair – and how her work with fabric and hand-crafted couture influences her creations now. She guides us through the physical hands-on craft of sculpting, explains how you find marble in Florida, and how she got started in stone through a class at the Dune…

Bach's "Toccata Et Fugue En Ré Mineur" performed on the University of Tampa's Ars Sonora Bell Tower – the first in the U.S. and the largest in the world. Recorded by Kurt Loft, photo by Kurt Loft. Story published in Arts Coast Online on October 7, 2022 – https://creativepinellas.org/arts-coast-magazine/…

USF Theatre professor Fanni Green talks with USF English professor Gary Lemons about his aim as the June 2022 guest editor of the Arts Coast magazine – Community Healing through Artistic Transformation.Published in https://creativepinellas.org/arts-coast-magazine/.由Creative Pinellas

Public artist Douglas Kornfeld tells the fascinating tale of how he created vibrant public artworks in New Orleans that became symbols of the city, part of parades – and will hopefully save lives if a major storm hits. Kornfeld talks with Barbara St. Clair about what it truly means to be an artist – and what it means to make work on a monumental sc…

Abstract artist Kirk Ke Wang teaches at Eckerd College and his work is known internationally. His boldly abstract creations are colorful and striking – moving through painting, sculpture, photography, video, conceptual, performance and installation art. “Although oscillating between them, I intend to weave a tapestry of my vision of the world, led …

Bestselling suspense novelist Lisa Unger is based here in Pinellas County. Her new book, Last Girl Ghosted, comes out on October 5 and was named one of the Most Anticipated Books of 2021 by Crimereads.Unger’s critically-acclaimed thrillers have sold millions of copies and been translated into 30 languages. Her work has been on “Best Book” lists fro…

Brandie Dziegiel (pronounced “Diesel”) is a young artist embracing the age-old craft of printmaking. She tells Barbara St. Clair about choosing to get an art degree after serving in the Coast Guard. Brandie shares her passion for the physical craft of cutting away to reveal an image, and how she uses her artwork to process her experiences as a vete…

Cora Marshall can express herself in almost any medium. That’s thanks to teaching high school art for many years, where she had to show students how to do everything from drawing to throwing pots on a wheel. In this thoughtful conversation with Barbara St. Clair, Marshall explains how different concepts lend themselves to different artistic mediums…

Muralist, painter, designer and all-over creative Daniel Barojas talks with Barbara St. Clair about the art of graffiti, the inspiration he draws from indigenous communities and his own Mexican heritage, experiments with Op Art-style patterns and illusions. . . and the stories behind two murals in St. Pete that are helping keep the city safe. You c…

St. Petersburg Poet Laureate Helen Pruitt Wallace reads her narrative poem "Pink Streets" and shares her memories of this offbeat neighborhood.由Creative Pinellas

St. Petersburg Poet Laureate Helen Pruitt Wallace talks with Barbara St. Clair about growing up in St. Pete’s “Pink Streets” neighborhood and shares poems inspired by her rollicking childhood, the joys and grief of family, and her mother’s struggle with Alzheimer’s.With laughter and enthusiasm, she talks about her passion for the sounds of poems, t…

Tenea Johnson is a writer of speculative fiction, a poet and musician. In this conversation with Barbara St. Clair she talks about her imaginative stories and novels, and how her childhood in Kentucky shaped her views of life. Tenea shares enticing details from her stories, and how she’s built a sustainable full-time career as a writer. She’s curre…

Suzanne Pomerantzeff - or Ms. P, as she’s known to generations of dancers in St. Pete - shares her love of dance with movers of every ability. For 50 years, dancers of all ages have learned and flourished with Ms. P, sparked by her passion for all of the arts. Many who’ve studied with her at the Academy of Ballet or the Pinellas County Center for t…

Saumitra Chandratreya is an adventurous visual artist whose work is political, but beautiful - and often created from unexpected materials. In this conversation with Barbara St. Clair, he talks about identity, immigration and the inspiration he takes from objects other people overlook or throw away. As he explains, “If I don’t make challenging work…

Arts In: Don GialanellaDon Gialanella can make a cow out of children’s toys, that’s the size of a cow. He made the giant twirly moustache in front of The Dalí Museum.Don creates huge and beautiful sculptures that have personality and humor. From a life-sized metal man tenderly opening his chest to reveal his glowing heart, to a diver arcing exubera…

Award-winning filmmaker and screenwriter Victoria Johnson creates both narrative and documentary films. In this conversation with Barbara St. Clair, she tells us surprising and humorous tales of learning the craft of analog filmmaking in the adventurous artistic atmosphere of the University of South Florida in the late 1970s. She explains how her s…

Bahia Ramos recently spoke at the Art of Marketing and Branding Summit hosted by Creative Pinellas. She serves as Director of Arts at New York City’s Wallace Foundation, and leads the team responsible for the foundation’s work funding research by arts organizations around the country, as they explore a larger question that affects the entire arts c…

Mark Feinman is the drummer for the eclectic jazz trio, La Lucha - and an inventive composer. Mark tells La Lucha’s origin story of how he and pianist John O’Leary and bassist Alejandro Arenas began their long-term collaboration. And he shares his own journey in jazz, with stops at St Pete’s Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School …

Carrie Jadus made a name for herself as a professional artist, after giving up a career as a skilled radio frequency engineer. Her distinctive, soft and subtly subversive style is seen in paintings, on murals, posters and notecards around St. Petersburg. Working at Soft Water Studios, she’s a mainstay of the Warehouse Arts District and longtime ill…

Jason Hackenwerth is an adventurous abstract sculptor who’s medium is thousands of latex balloons. His enormous sculptural inventions can fill a towering museum atrium, or mall. His sculptures are enormous, and the vivid pictures on his website are only an echo of the overwhelming power of experiencing them up close. Jason Hackenwerth teaches at St…

Erin Blankenship is the Curator of Exhibitions & Collections at the Florida Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg. The Museum is more special than most people realize - it’s a historical museum that maintains a vital collection of contemporary art.Erin’s seen first-hand how visual art offers another path to understanding the challenging reality of gen…

Katherine Pill is the Curator of Contemporary Art at the Museum of Fine Arts in downtown St. Petersburg.In this conversation with Barbara St. Clair, Katherine shares her duties as curator of the growing collection of contemporary art at this classic museum - from exploring cutting-edge new digital works to collaborating with public artists Carol Mi…

Desiree Moore is a multidisciplinary artist working in video and film, art installations and a unique take on interactive public art. She shares her creative process, with plenty of action in the editing room, in this conversation with Barbara St. Clair. Along with her engaging collaborative effort, The Barter Boat, traveling the country to trade p…

Carrie Boucher’s artistic practice is driving a traveling art classroom, providing opportunities for children and adults to create art. The much-beloved Nomad Art Bus visits art festivals and foster homes, domestic abuse shelters, juvenile detention centers and parks, recreation centers and youth programs in areas of poverty throughout Tampa Bay. C…

Susana Weymouth is the Executive Director - and sole employee - of Tampa Bay Businesses for Culture and the Arts. The TBBCA is one of 11 national Business Committees for the Arts, connecting business people with artists and art. Their work brings business folk to galleries and theatres, and connects artists with offices looking for art. The relatio…

Painter Nathan Beard found his way to both realistic and abstract new work in the only time he had - when his newborn daughter was napping.Nathan talks with Barbara St. Clair about creating visual artwork that’s inspired by his other passion, environmental science and endangered species. Nathan shares his path and ongoing goals as a professional ar…

As Keep St Pete Lit brings this year’s Writer in Residence to town, we share a conversation with last year’s award-winning author, Ladee Hubbard. Ladee talks with Barbara St. Clair about her rollicking, imaginative novel, The Talented Ribkins, about a family of African Americans living in the South who have odd and unique superpowers. . . like draw…

You might think that Sheryl Oring’s work is about old-fashioned manual typewriters. But her compelling style of public art is about memory, and stories. Sheryl Oring’s powerful body of work gives voice to writers who were silenced, and helps people share stories and make their voices heard. In this vibrant conversation, she explains how she develop…

You’ve seen Herb Snitzer’s photographs - on album covers, CD covers and almost every major magazine and newspaper. His images of Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, Miles Davis and Nina Simone are legendary, a few of the many classic jazz musicians he knew well and loved. His photographs are striking, and they always tell a story. Herb Snitzer’s candid…

Dancer, choreographer and USF professor Andee Scott says dance is public art as much as performance art. In her work on Our Town, she turned a walking tour of downtown St. Pete into an exploration of site-specific dance performances. For Our Trail, she brought dance to locations along the Pinellas Trail. Andee talks with Barbara St. Clair about her…

Jake Troyli is a young artist working with classical oil painting techniques, and making them his own. With humor, and inspiration from both Rubens and Richard Pryor, his work explores race, identity and politics, and invites constant conversation. Jake talks with Barbara St. Clair about his focus on perfecting his technique and why he chooses repr…

Dolores Coe leads guided drawing sessions with students, caregivers and clinicians - and people who’ve lost language due to strokes or injury. And everyone communicates by making art. Dolores is the Curator of the University of South Florida’s Art in Health Programs, a creative lab aimed at training health care professionals to carefully observe an…

Roxanne Fay brings fascinating characters to life onstage. You might see her as Mary Magdalene, or a battered housewife who is suddenly set free. She’s played a wounded grandmother, a young girl hiding in a tree, Coco Chanel - and even wielded stormclouds in The Tempest. As an actor and a playwright, Roxanne Fay crafted a life in professional theat…

Gloria Muñoz thinks about the details she observes in life. Details, feelings, shades of meaning that she observes as closely as a scientist. Gloria explores the environment and nature in her work, the prospect of extinction, the complexities of family and the compression of sound. Gloria Muñoz is a poet - examining the world and investigating huma…

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 t…

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. Renaissanc…

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 l…

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 arti…

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…

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 Jullia…

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 S…

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 publicatio…