What's new at Bloom, the underground art center dubbed by Creative Loafing magazine as St. Pete's "Best New Arts Community"? There are art shows scheduled, many area artists congregate there, and the building continues to dazzle as artists cover every available surface, inside and outside, with colorful murals. More than thirty artists (and still counting) have contributed to the transformation of this 20,000 square foot warehouse, giving freely of their time, supplies and talents to make this an artistic painted landmark for all to enjoy.
Sarah Dees
Since its memorable grand opening in May 2014, Bloom has flourished into a multi-purpose inspirational workspace where artists and performers create, educate, and collaborate. This creative hub and arts incubator is designed to help artists at all levels and genres succeed in their endeavors.
Bloom Art Center has new hours now. Come by between 12 noon and 6 p.m. on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday to see the galleries, take a free mural tour, and get inspired! You never know what you're going to see. FREE Mural Tours are up and running. Grab an info sheet from the box at any time, and follow the instructions for a self-guided tour of our art-covered building.
Artists who have contributed paintings on the walls, both inside and outside, include: James Oleson, Scott Hillis, Derek Donnelly, Von Zombo, Zulu Painter, Andreas Taborda, Jeannette St. Amour, Thirst, AcudAkut, Antonio Del Toro, Jennifer Kosharek, Eleanor Rigby, Mason Schwake, John Suarez, Van der Luc, Stoic, Michael Wayne, Michelle Williams, Allen Leper Hamilton, Ladi Dadi, OWCH, Sebastian Coolidge, Jon Fisher, James Hicks, Aurailieus Artist, Kick Face, Rheannon Cheri, Daniel R5 Barojas, John Lichtenstein, Emily Stone, Suzy Schultz, Kim Stone, Jeff Williams and more.
The Grand Opening of the Muralism project was May 23rd. It rained quite a bit the evening of the opening, but that didn't dampen the spirits a bit, and a nice crowd showed up to admire the colorful building.
Day of the Dead VIDEO shoot at BLOOM
Video shoot on Sunday, July 19, 2015
People will be let in about 3 pm, and video shooting will begin about 4 pm. Come hang out and get a sneak peak of some of the treats Bloom will have in store for you for at Day of the Dead Fest 2015. Bloom is looking for a few hands to come out for face painting/hula hooping/poi spinning, and more. If you're interested, please email stpetedodfest@gmail.com.
"Legendary" Art Show - Opportunity for Artists
Explore what it takes to become legend. Define what legends mean to you. Make a tribute to legendary acts and people.
BLOOM Art Center invites you to examine all this and more at Legendary, a new exhibit opening
Saturday, August 22 from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Oleson Gallery and BLOOM Art Center
910 5th Avenue N., St. Petersburg FL 33705
Admission $ 7
Bloom Web site and Facebook page
For this gallery-focused show, Bloom invites 25 artists to each interpret legends in their own way. The surprising results will be exhibited for sale at the Legendary opening, when guests can enjoy chill DJ vibes, a donation bar, and the Bloom POD shop featuring small art in various mediums.
Throughout the night, Aerial Dragons will float high above you in displays of stunning performance art. View the free self-guided tour of the mural covered building, displaying more than 15,000 square feet of exterior murals created by more than 30 artists.
Legendary is a curated show with space for only 25 artists to exhibit. To be considered, interested artists should send an email with contact information to startbloomin@gmail.com.
ARTIST STUDIOS for rent
Bloom Art Center has a few artists' studios currently available for rent. Each unit offers keyed access and comes with an individual A/C unit. Prices range from $275 - $375 per month depending on size. Monthly utility fee required, includes water, electric, and wireless internet. These are working studios ONLY (non-residential). Please email startbloomin@gmail.com or call Emily at 318-548-1973 to set up a viewing appointment.
Artists at Work
Michael Wayne, of Hostage Denim and Supply, has a studio at Bloom. He creates custom denim clothing and leather women's wear. He started his company in January with partner Andre Medina, of Andre Mi Designs. Andre goes to music festivals around the country, selling their finished pieces and taking orders for custom work. He takes measurements to Michael, who does most of the pattern making. Both partners do the fabrication.
Michael Wayne attended the International Academy of Design and Technology. He graduated with a BFA in Fashion Design and Marketing. He lived on the lower East Side of New York while at college. "It's hard to live up there," said Wayne. "I worked at Helmut Lang and Alexander Wang. I didn't want to work for companies my whole life. I wanted to do my own thing."
"Now I'm at the point where I have orders and I'm backed up. I need an assistant to help sew and help with fabrication so I can spend more time designing. I'm open to a serious intern that knows how to sew," Wayne said. "I love teaching."
Chon Mosley has a studio space at Bloom too. He opened his door and shared his paintings with the visitors during the Grand Opening of Muralism.
Mural Art Continues
Artist James Oleson, discussing the Muralism project at Bloom, stated, "What I am trying to show people with Muralism is that they can transform what they already have into public art. A lot of times, people put in landscaping and trees, but they dont realize that they can consider using the walls to bring positive attention to a business. Hiring an artist to paint your walls shows that you care about the city and St. Petersburgs art community. We just want to put it out there for everyone to enjoy."
"Art has the ability to unify and strengthen, and brings this great vibration to the city. I want the whole thing to grow. Murals are almost like flowers. They are beautiful things. I want Bloom to plant seeds."
"People that have walls, I want them to pick up this idea and run with it," Oleson said. "You can be proud to contribute to the city and say, 'Look, I did this for everyone to enjoy.' Its a good thing!"
"I would love for the artists to get more opportunities based on somebody seeing the work that they did here," Oleson said. "They did their part. I am helping the artistic landscape. Hopefully, other people will see it and want artists to paint their businesses and homes."
The mural idea is spreading in the city. Artist Sarah Dees and her daughter, Cari Robaldo, who is in her third year at Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, have donated their time this summer to paint a large mural on the East facing wall of Old Key West Bar and Grill in the Grand Central District. The business owners covered the cost of supplies and paint, while the artists donated their work to the City of St. Petersburg and the Grand Central District. The artists plan to paint the front and back of the building as well, to cover the entire building in Florida Keys themed art.
Since it was too hot to paint during the day, the mural was painted during the night hours, using lanterns and headlights. Dees and Robaldo worked hard to finish the first big wall by the PRIDE festival weekend.
Shine: St. Petersburg Mural Festival
Diane Shelly, executive director of Florida Craft Art, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts, three mural artists, and members of the city government are all working together to create a mural festival in September, called "Shine: St. Petersburg Mural Festival", curated by nationally renowned muralist Leon Bedore, a Tampa Bay area resident who is known to the art and graphic design world as Tes One. He is the lead voice of the committee.
Tes One and his friend Chris Parks, known as Pale Horse, painted one of the best and best-known murals in St. Petersburg on the alley wall of the State Theatre on Central Avenue.
The mural festival will be a days-long event that will draw national, and maybe international, mural stars to the city to paint new works. The festival is still in the beginning of the planning stage, but Shelly says it will be a world class event. There is now a Facebook page and Web site for the festival.
Its the best committee I have ever worked on, said Shelly. Everyone is so excited. Nothing like this has been done before in Tampa Bay so the committee is free to experiment with new ideas. Shelly is open to having the community paint one of the murals.
"We are identifying some large walls at this point and will be ready to announce the national mural artists who are coming into town starting September 1st," said Shelly. "They will be painting through the first two weeks of September. There will be a preview party on Sept. 12, and the opening reception of Leave a Message 2 on Saturday, September 13 at the Morean Art Center. The exhibition is curated by Tes One, and it features work by many of the mural artists both local and national."
"We are currently looking for sponsors, both cash and in-kind," Shelly said. "Think lifts, scaffolding, paint, hotel rooms, etc. Lots of work to do in the next few weeks!" she said.
Wayne Atherholt, the city's director of cultural affairs, said $37,000 has been allocated for the festival and for mural commissions. "The group organizing the mural festival is identifying walls and are hoping to bring in some big names," he said. He's also hoping to get state permission to paint murals on some of the interstate overpasses that loom over city streets.
The grassroots movements is growing. It would be amazing to see more artists find opportunities to decorate the city as more murals are planned, and even better to find compensation for the local artists so they could be paid for their hard work. It would be great to see local artists, who have already invested so much time and energy, included in the festival and compensated, not just paying the big name artists brought in.
More people see and enjoy the public murals painted on buildings than artwork in galleries, as it is available at all times for everyone to see. Mural art is by the people, for the people.
Contact info:
James Oleson - Oleson Gallery and Bloom Art Center (352) 777-3723, startbloomin@gmail.com
Tes One - info@tesone.net
Diane L. Shelly, Executive Director, Florida CraftArt
727-821-7391, diane.shelly@floridacraftart.org
Wayne David Atherholt - Director of Cultural Affairs & International Relations at City of St. Petersburg - Office of Cultural Affairs 727-551-3250, Facebook
http://www.examiner.com/article/art-shows-video-shoot-and-murals-grow-at-oleson-gallery-and-bloom-art-center
