Unveiled Thursday at 6 p.m. outdoors at the Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg is Yvette Mayorga’s “The Magic Grasshopper,” a 30-foot-long pink-hued kinetic sculpture; Mayorga’s bio says she “fuses confectionary labor with found images to explore the meaning of belonging.” An exhibition of the Illinois sculptor’s politically charged, deceptively whimsical works will debut at the MFA in June. Thursday’s unveiling (on the museum’s west side) will take place at 6 p.m.
“The Magic Grasshopper” (detail) by Yvette Mayorga, outdoor sculpture debuting Thursday at the Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg.
Coming to the MFA April 11: Painting, drawing, printmaking and sculpture by the contemporary artist Ali Banisadr. The Alchemist will be on view through July 12.
It’s Year 10 for the Morean Art Center’s emerging artist exhibition, Fresh Squeezed, bringing together new work from artists who live all across Florida. Although there’s a sneak peek at the Chihuly Collection starting Saturday, the main exhibition, at the main Morean gallery, debuts April 11 with a 5-8 p.m. reception. The gallery is divided into six spaces for Fresh Squeezed, providing each artist a “solo exhibition.”
Native Alaskan culture is explored through the pop-up video game Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna), new at the James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art, and running through June 25. The 10-minute gaming experience, on a console wih massive monitor, is narrated entirely in the spoken Iñupiaq language. It was co-created by the Cook Inlet Tribal Council (CITC), an Alaskan social service organization
April 14 brings soprano Maiya Stevenson and her Afro Opera vocal performance, which debuted last month at the Palladium Side Door Cabaret, to the James Museum. The concert, at 5:30 p.m., is free with registration at this link required.
Untitled (Work in Progress) by Jie Li at Soft Water Gallery, opening Saturday.
On a Knife’s Edge: Florida’s Beauty in Peril opens Saturday at Soft Water Gallery. Artists include Carol Mickett and Robert Stackhouse, Bruce Mars, and Jie Li. The environmentally-themed show begins with a reception from 4 to 6 p.m. A panel discussion including environmental scientists, along with State Representative Lindsay Cross, is planned for mid-April (date and time TBA).
Musicians from The Florida Orchestra will perform in the Dalí Museum’s Raymond James Community Room April 2, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The event, “The Painted Score,” is in conjunction with Alberto Giacometti & Salvador Dalí: Through & Beyond Surrealism. It’s interactive, in that the audience will help “create a live, original composition.” Tickets are available here.
An exhibition of works by watercolor and ink artist Marina Richmond (In Quiet Witness) debuts at Gulfport’s DRV Gallery April 3, during the city’s First Friday event, with a live music reception from 5:30-8:30 p.m. Richmond was the first-place winner of this year’s DRV annual Art for a Cause show and competition.
Saturday is the last day to view The Guilded Guitar at DRV. Rick Schettino turns old musical instruments into bejeweled wall art.
Painter Cedar Kindy is in the spotlight for April at Brenda McMahon Gallery, also in Gulfport. Heaven, Earth, & Gulfport is a showcase of the artist’s nature-inspired watercolor, oil, and plein air paintings. A reception April 3 (5:30-9 p.m.) will feature live music.
Opening April 11 at Wild Space Gallery: (Un)Natural Geographies: The Maps of Ibrahim Miranda and Erin Oliver, a combination of cartography and creativity via Cuban and American maps. A reception is planned for 5-9 p.m.
Six artists have been chosen by Creative Pinellas to (creatively) paint traffic signal control boxes in the Lealman neighborhood: Hanna Eriksson Patry, Paulina Casati, Charli Regel, Chris Dyer and Nia Mitchell. Their designs will be reproduced as vinyl wraps and applied to traffic signal boxes by a professional vendor. Since 2019, Creative Pinellas has managed and installed 65 public art projects across the county.
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