{"id":146263,"date":"2026-02-06T17:20:24","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T17:20:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/146263\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T17:20:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T17:20:24","slug":"enjoy-an-annual-art-festival-and-local-exhibits-this-month-in-tampa-bay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/146263\/","title":{"rendered":"Enjoy an annual art festival and local exhibits this month in Tampa Bay"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s February, so love and passion are on my mind, but not in the romantic sense. Instead, I\u2019m highlighting the connections found in Tampa Bay\u2019s local art scene.<\/p>\n

Back in 2023, artist Chad Mize had a show during Pride month at an industrial location he was curating at the St. Petersburg Distillery, which he called SPACE. On display was a sculpture by an artist known by the single moniker Was\u00edl. It was a 7-by-4-foot heart with a head on it and rainbow bands, and it caught the eye of Delia Davidson, owner of Forever Florida Real Estate. According to Was\u00edl, Davidson bought the piece and installed it in her new office on Central Avenue.<\/p>\n

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That serendipitous moment led Was\u00edl to have the first one-person show there, and then to start curating regular shows at Forever Florida. Since October 2023, Was\u00edl has given solo shows to an impressive roster of local artists, including Luke Vest, Andrea Pawlisz, Daniel Barojas, Rhys Meatyard, Matthew Boyle and Luci Westphal. Each exhibition has a closing reception with an artist Q&A and poetry readings. The shows give artists great exposure to clientele they may not have reached otherwise.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m an arbiter of this space for the creative community,\u201d Was\u00edl said, \u201cand these very significant artists and literalists are on board. I\u2019m amazed that there\u2019s such a spirit of wanting to be there and expansion and community and growth and progressive art.\u201d<\/p>\n

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February\u2019s show features David Kafer, an artist, writer and hairdresser who owns Pageboy, a salon-gallery-vintage market hybrid in St. Petersburg. The prolific artist makes vibrant pieces that just make you smile. His show, \u201cDivine Reflection,\u201d is available for the public to view during Winter Pride on Feb. 15 from noon to 5 p.m. as well as during a closing reception on Feb. 22 from 3-7 p.m. at 2629 Central Ave., St. Petersburg.<\/p>\n

One more connection: Was\u00edl\u2019s heart sculptures are on display now in his show, \u201cA Heart for Every Moment,\u201d until March 1 at The Werk Gallery, just a few blocks away at 2210 First Ave. S., St. Petersburg.<\/p>\n

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One of my most beloved art traditions is the Gasparilla Festival of the Arts, returning to Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park in downtown Tampa Feb. 28-March 1. Now in its 56th year, the festival features more than 250 artists from the national festival circuit who were selected by a jury and whose work will be rated and awarded cash prizes by an esteemed judge. It also has an Emerging Artists Program that has seen past participants go on to win the festival\u2019s top prize, and a Local Artists Spotlight Program.<\/p>\n

Artistic kids also have representation, with the Art Collectors in Training tent, featuring art at kid-friendly prices; showcases of youth art and young musicians; and children\u2019s activities from the Tampa Museum of Art. Adults can get in on the fun, too, by checking out Carmada, a fleet of cars being live-painted by artists; hands-on activities at the NOMAD Art Bus (for all ages); and live entertainment from local and national bands all weekend long. There\u2019s much more to experience, so don\u2019t miss out. Free. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Feb. 28, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. March 1. 1001 N. Blvd., Tampa. 813-876-1747. gasparillaarts.com.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s February, so love and passion are on my mind, but not in the romantic sense. Instead, I\u2019m…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":146264,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[70773,70771,70772,14045,70774,4253,199,135,1526,137,136],"class_list":{"0":"post-146263","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa","8":"tag-delia-davidson","9":"tag-forever-florida","10":"tag-gasparilla-festival","11":"tag-local-artists","12":"tag-matthew-boyle","13":"tag-pride-month","14":"tag-st-petersburg","15":"tag-tampa","16":"tag-tampa-bay","17":"tag-tampa-headlines","18":"tag-tampa-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146263\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}