ST. PETERSBURG, FL \u2014 A new paint-and-sip lounge and art studio is preparing to open in St. Petersburg\u2019s Edge District, with owner Julianne Gioscio aiming for a June debut at 909 Central Ave.<\/p>\n
Gioscio, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who moved to St. Petersburg in 2023, described Sunshine City Paint<\/a> as a locally built concept that combines guided classes with a more casual drop-in experience for all ages. <\/p>\n And it all ties in with her childhood dreams.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first thing that I said when I wanted to grow up to be when I was, like, five was an artist,\u201d she told Patch. \u201cSo this is kind of bringing it full circle.\u201d<\/p>\n Until now, though, her career has taken a very different path. <\/p>\n Gioscio served five years in the military as an aircraft mechanic, and as a civilian, she continued in that direction, working as an avionics technician for companies like Honeywell. <\/p>\n Eventually, she picked up art again as an adult, but as a hobby at first. Painting was the medium she returned to most easily. <\/p>\n \u201cIt was like muscle memory,\u201d Gioscio said. <\/p>\n When the military brought her and her then-husband to the Tampa Bay area, she was excited to discover St. Petersburg, a city known for its arts community. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a really cute place, and I wouldn\u2019t want to be anywhere else,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n She\u2019s long dreamed of one day opening her own business, either in the culinary field or the arts.<\/p>\n Thanks to \u201csome luck and strategy\u201d in the stock market, Gioscio can open her first business, Sunshine City Paint, sooner than planned.<\/p>\n She felt connected with the energy of downtown St. Pete and knew that Central Avenue in the Edge District was the right home for her new business.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the perfect fit, because there\u2019s just a little bit for everyone. There\u2019s tourists and locals. I feel like this is where they both kind of combine,\u201d Gioscio said.<\/p>\n Sunshine City Paint will offer family-focused programming in the morning and adult-oriented classes later in the day, she said.<\/p>\n The studio\u2019s daytime hours will offer children and their caregivers a creative indoor space, and she plans to keep it affordable enough for repeat visits.<\/p>\n \u201cI want it to be consistent for their schedules, which I think is really important for kids of all ages,\u201d Gioscio said. \u201cMy nephew, he has autism, and so consistency is really important for him. So, that\u2019s something I want to offer all families.\u201d<\/p>\n For adults, the business is expected to include guided painting classes, open-canvas time and a small bar area.<\/p>\n She\u2019s spent the past year developing the business, registering it with the state last summer, well before leasing her Edge District space in April.<\/p>\n Gioscio introduced the concept at local markets, connecting with potential customers in person well before she had a brick-and-mortar location.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve gotten a lot of excitement, which is really encouraging to me,\u201d she said. \u201cI feel like whenever you put yourself out there for anything, you just don\u2019t know how everyone\u2019s gonna react, and sometimes, people are just intimidated by something like this. They\u2019re like, \u2018I\u2019m not an artist\u2019 or \u2018I don\u2019t know how to paint.\u2019 But that\u2019s not the point, and I\u2019ve seen even when I\u2019m set up at a booth, that people might be anxious when they first sit down with me, but after, they sit back and see what they\u2019ve made, and they have a whole different reaction, a whole different sense of confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n The studio\u2019s opening timeline depends on city permitting, she said. Those interested in learning more about the business and its opening date should follow Sunshine City Paint on social media<\/a>.<\/p>\n Are you a local business owner? Post a business listing<\/a> on Patch! It\u2019s an easy way to reach a local audience and connect with customers close to home. Go here<\/a> to get started today.<\/p>\n See Also: <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ST. PETERSBURG, FL \u2014 A new paint-and-sip lounge and art studio is preparing to open in St. Petersburg\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":302801,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-302800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302800","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=302800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/302801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}