Cement isn’t supposed to be beautiful. It holds up parking garages. It lines the bottom of swimming pools. It is, by all reasonable accounts, the most aggressively unromantic material on the planet. And yet, Scottsdale-based artist Kathleen Hope has spent years proving that assumption completely, stubbornly wrong, and on Thursday, September 17, she’s bringing that proof to Tampa for one night only.

The event runs from 5 to 8 p.m. at Drew Marc Gallery in South Tampa (2409 S. MacDill Ave., Suite 400), with an artist talk from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. where Hope will speak about her background, creative process, unconventional materials, and evolution as an artist. The event is free, but RSVPs are strongly encouraged, and you can register HERE.

No, really. Art made out of cement that can only be described as organic, raw, industrial and unpredictable.

Before becoming a fine artist, Hope worked in interior design, and that background fundamentally changed the way she thinks about her materials. When she picks up cement, she’s not just thinking about texture. She’s thinking about scale, surface, composition, and how a finished piece will interact with the space it inhabits. Wood panels provide the structural foundation. Layers of cement, pigment, paint, and markings build up on top, creating surfaces that are tactile, complex, and quietly gorgeous. Up close, you’ll find details that weren’t visible from across the room. The work truly rewards attention.

And the cement itself? This is where Hope turns the whole premise on its head. A material we otherwise associate with overpasses and driveways becomes something expressive and surprisingly sophisticated under her hand. Its natural imperfections, the rawness, the texture, the way it holds a mark, all of it becomes part of each composition’s visual language. Hope doesn’t smooth those qualities away. She builds with them.

That design background also explains why her work tends to sit so well in contemporary interiors. She thinks about how scale, material, and texture can reshape the environment around a piece. The result is work with a spatial intelligence baked right in. If you’ve ever felt a room shift slightly in the presence of a great work of art, you know exactly what that means.

Here’s where you come in

The September 17 reception gives Tampa collectors, interior designers, and anyone who has ever looked at a concrete wall and suspected there was something more there, a rare opportunity. You’ll get to see the work up close and in person, which matters enormously with pieces this textural. But you’ll also get direct access to the artist herself during the 6:30 p.m. talk, where Hope will walk through her artistic journey, the evolution of her cement-based practice, and the ideas behind her most recent work. That kind of access is uncommon, and it’s worth showing up for.

Drew Marc Gallery has made something of a habit of delivering exactly these kinds of evenings. Founded by gallery director Andrew Trujillo, the South Tampa gallery has built its reputation by bringing artists like Hunt Slonem to Tampa and taking the gallery to Art Expo New York in Manhattan, where it walked away with two prestigious awards. It’s a gallery that takes its mission seriously: museum-quality contemporary art, right here in our backyard.

Kathleen Hope is here for one night. One single night. The artist talk runs from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. After 8 p.m., she heads back to Scottsdale, and this particular evening doesn’t come around again. Plan your Thursday accordingly.

Kathleen Hope at Drew Marc Gallery takes place Thursday, September 17, from 5 to 8 p.m., with the artist talk from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Drew Marc Gallery is located at 2409 S. MacDill Ave., Suite 400. RSVPs are encouraged. Register here and check out pieces in the exhibition.