This year\u2019s theme, \u201cThe Gallery of Sand,\u201d invites visitors to stroll among 15 unique works, including a centerpiece inspired by Salvador Dal\u00ed.<\/p>\n
TREASURE ISLAND, Fla. \u2014 After last year\u2019s hurricane cancellations, Treasure Island is bouncing back in a big way.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sanding Ovations: The Gallery of Sand opened Friday, transforming the shoreline into an outdoor art exhibit that celebrates resilience and creativity.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt shows that we\u2019re still rebuilding and bringing people back,\u201d Jason Beisel, an event organizer, said. \u201cTo have this back means a lot to the community. It means a lot to our hotels. It means a lot to our businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n
The festival, which runs through Sunday with an encore weekend Nov. 29\u201330, features towering sand sculptures crafted by artists from around the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s theme, \u201cThe Gallery of Sand,\u201d invites visitors to stroll among 15 unique works, including a centerpiece inspired by Salvador Dal\u00ed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year we call it the Gallery of Sand,\u201d event founder Dan Doubleday said. \u201cFifteen personal pieces and a Dal\u00ed centerpiece.\u201d<\/p>\n
Doubleday says the artistry is unmatched.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe import special sand and have the best artists in the world,” he said. “Every piece here is custom\u2014has never been done before.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beyond the art, Sanding Ovations delivers a big boost to local businesses.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHotels were at 25% occupancy,\u201d Doubleday explained. \u201cNow they\u2019re a hundred percent. It\u2019s a really nice shot in the arm for the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
For visitors, the return of Sanding Ovations is more than a festival\u2014it\u2019s a sign of recovery.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt absolutely does,\u201d Janine Woracheck said. \u201cAmazing to see this year after last year\u2019s nightmare.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the sun shines on Treasure Island, the message is clear: resilience can be beautiful.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s vibrant, it\u2019s wonderful, it\u2019s a great sign that things are coming back,\u201d Sylvia Hesse said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This year\u2019s theme, \u201cThe Gallery of Sand,\u201d invites visitors to stroll among 15 unique works, including a centerpiece…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57930,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-57929","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\/57929","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=57929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}