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<\/p>\nIt doesn\u2019t cost anything to be kind and considerate to others.<\/p>\n
That, in a nutshell, is the message from the Sarasota County nonprofit Embracing Our Differences, Inc., which spreads it through art and education, and art-in-education, through a variety of specialized programs.<\/p>\n
This is the organization\u2019s third footprint-expanding year in St. Petersburg. Starting this weekend, Poynter Park, 1000 3rd Street S., will be home to Embracing Our Differences\u2019 third consecutive outdoor art exhibition.<\/p>\n
This consists of a walk-through open-air gallery of 50 billboard-sized enlargements of artworks, and written comments, expressing the power of positivity.<\/p>\n
The 2026 gallery opens with a free public festival, Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. Planned are community partner booths, family and children\u2019s activities, food trucks and live music.<\/p>\n
The star of the show, of course, is the oversized art exhibit. Nearly 15,000 submissions for this year were received from 125 countries, 48 American states, 574 schools and a cross-section of young people and adults, amateur and professional artists and writers.<\/p>\n
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\u201cGenerations\u201d by Mae Bouchard, 10th Grade, East Lake High School, Tarpon Springs.<\/p>\n
According to President and CEO Sarah Wertheimer, 60 percent of the student submissions came from Sarasota, Manatee and Pinellas counties. The gallery will remain in Poynter Park through April 12.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor us,\u201d she said, \u201cthe main reason we do it is to really try to promote these values, kindness, respect and inclusion. And to try to give artists and writers a voice to be able to express themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd in return, have the viewer be able to see themselves in someone else. And also be exposed to someone else\u2019s point of view or perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n
That can make the world seem a lot less big and a lot less scary, Education Director Patrick A. Jackson suggested. \u201cFrom an educational standpoint, there are so many students that are experiencing bullying for whatever reason \u2013 their color, their creed, because they like to play basketball instead of football, whatever it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schoolchildren will go on field trips for docent-led tours of the Poyner Park billboards.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd so to have a platform like the exhibition, as well as some of our other in-the-schools programs, students can see themselves and have conversations with their peers about this artwork. They continue to realize that they are not alone in their existence.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u201cPortraits of Friends\u201d by Anna Wang, San Diego, California.<\/p>\n
Today, March 3, representatives from Embracing Our Differences are reading in six elementary schools in south Pinellas County.<\/p>\n
Come November, the organization\u2019s successful \u201cBucket Fillers Reading Day\u201d (\u201cwhat are you doing to fill someone\u2019s bucket with kindness?\u201d), featuring guest readers, will come to St. Petersburg schools for the first time.<\/p>\n
Now in its eighth year in Sarasota and Manatee counties, this program teaches children how to \u201cfill buckets\u201d through everyday acts of kindness, love and appreciation.<\/p>\n
Making the world a better place may be more complicated than singing \u201call you need is love,\u201d but that\u2019s a good first step. With its Poynter Park outdoor exhibition, the Embracing Our Differences staff wants to focus and emphasize that message, and display evidence that human beings, no matter who they are or where they live, are pretty much the same.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think [the exhibit] is inspirational, and also thought-provoking,\u201d Wertheimer said. \u201cIt will make you think not only about your own life experiences, but those of your friends, your family, your neighbors.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really opens up people\u2019s eyes to all of our unique talents and attributes, but also all that we have in common with one another.\u201d<\/p>\n
Poynter Park, 2.1 acres, is adjacent to the University of South Florida Bayboro campus.<\/p>\n
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