St. Pete’s EDGE District to vibrate with art this weekend

Booker Creek Arts Festival committee members, from left: Alli Arnold, Debbie Reeser, Jenee Priebe, David Grant, Leslie Curran, Chad Mize, Sean Mulligan, Richard Seidel and Nicole Waters. Photo provided. A thousand ideas coalesced into Leslie Curran’s concept for St. Petersburg’s inaugural Booker Creek Arts Festival, which takes place this week (Nov. 12-15) in the EDGE District. In the end, it came down to this: “The City wants to keep saying we’re a City of the Arts,” Curran explains. “And I think we’re on the cusp of something really good. But it doesn’t always have to be the same, if it can just be shown that art is everywhere.” Named for the ever-resilient natural trickle that flows through the area, the Booker Creek Arts Festival delivers a professional, juried art show directly into EDGE businesses, nearly 40 of them including hotels, boutiques, breweries, salons and restaurants large and small. Even the St. Petersburg Police Department. The festival team has installed, or is in the process of installing, 127 original pieces of art for what is, essentially, a self-guided walking tour. Curran politely declined to accept sculpture, because she didn’t want to be hauling heavy pedestals around the city. So everything (2D and 3D) is hanging on walls. “The only place that got away with having easels was the Police Department,” she says. “And sometimes you find it hard to say no to them.” It’s not some fly-by-night display of motel-room landscapes, or Elvis with a black leather background. The artists are competing for up to $50,000 in jury-awarded prizes; visitors will be asked to vote for the People’s Choice Awards. “The idea is, I did a Call to Artists – Florida artist only – and they each submitted three pieces,” Curran continues. “I had a selection panel of five arts professionals and we looked through all of those. Once the top tier was selected, they went back in and chose one piece from each artist. “Then I had to curate the art for each business. Because I didn’t want to just willy-nilly throw anything where it fit – it need to fit and look good with their business. I tried to curate everything so it fit the space that it was in.” Each day is filled with art-related activities from St. Pete creative luminaries. At Green Bench Brewing, Carrie Jadus will paint – while visitors watch – a Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation mural over the course of the festival; Saturday beginning at noon, Duncan McClellan and his team will conduct glass-blowing demonstrations outside 1201 Central; Jenee Priebe and No Good Deeds are hosting a Mural Paint-Off Saturday afternoon outside Intermezzo Coffee & Cocktails; Chad Mize’s latest pop-up art show, Go With the Flow , happens Saturday evening at Green Bench. The NOMAD (interactive Art Bus will be parked at Cappa Law between noon and 5 p.m. Saturday. Thursday, Friday and Saturday (at 7 p.m. each day) there’ll be “a jaw-dropping outdoor illuminated visual display,” watchable from Ferg’s, that was produced by 3D printing company Haddy, the Ringling College of Art and the St. Petersburg Museum of History. “This is going to be spectacular ,” Curran says although she won’t divulge exactly what the project, called An Evening Illuminated , consists of. Curran is the owner of ARTicles Art Gallery & Custom Framing, and its companion business, Leslie Curran Gallery. As a member of St. Petersburg City Council for a whopping 16 years (1989–1997, 2006–2014) Curran was a constant champion for the arts. She was a co-creator of the yearly First Night New Year’s Eve celebration, and has sat on board of the nonprofit EDGE District for nearly three decades (it was initially known as the Dome District). “I believe in art, she says. “I believe in the healing power of it. You may have two people standing in front of a piece, and one person loves it, the other one doesn’t. “I’ve always had a passion for art. I know how it makes me feel when things are not so good – it’s a blessing. And I think we need to show support for artists.” The Booker Creek Arts Festival, pointedly, is all about the EDGE businesses, too. “That’s the whole idea,” Curran explains. “The people who might normally not come to the area will now see how you can form a relationship through art. And art is an economic driver.” Event schedule Thursday through Sunday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Festival artwork displayed (individual venue closing times may vary), district wide 10 a.m.-6 p.m. ArtPhrazeology by John Monteiro – test your skill deciphering the idioms, VIV 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Effloresce Pyramids by Dana Blickendorfer, Moxy Hotel lobby Thursday through Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation mural painting by Carrie Jadus, Green Bench Brewing 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Plein Air Painting Competition, hosted by Richard Seidel (final registration 11 a.m. to noon, Mint House) 7 p.m., “An Evening Illuminated” outdoor illuminated visual display, 1301 Central Ave. (suggestion: watch from Ferg’s) Friday 5-6:30 p.m. Arts Conservatory for Teens live performance, Ferg’s indoor stage Saturday 12-4 p.m. Duncan McClellan glass blowing demonstrations, lot adjacent to 1201 Central 12-5 p.m. Postcard Project with Sarah Norine James (interactive postcard expressions), 1201 Central 12-5 p.m. Color a Creek Critter with Alli Arnold (interactive critter illustrating) 1201 Central 12-5 p.m. NOMAD Art Bus (interactive community canvas), lot at Cappa Law 12-5:30 p.m. Radio St. Pete broadcasting live, Sourdough Co. 3:30-5:30 p.m. Art Battle – mural paint off by No Good Deeds (with audience voting), Intermezzo palm lot 6-10 p.m. Go with the Flow Art Show curated by Chad Mize, Green Bench Brewing 7:15 p.m. Winners announced for juried awards, Green Bench Brewing 8 p.m. People’s Choice Voting ends Sunday 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Global Love Project – interactive chalk drawing, 11th Street and Central 12 p.m. Winners announced for People’s Choice Awards and Plein Air Painting Competition, Green Bench Brewing 12-4 p.m. Postcard Project with Sarah Norine James (interactive postcard expressions), 1201 Central 12-4 p.m. Color a Creek Critter with Alli Arnold (interactive critter illustrating), 1201 Central 1-4 p.m. Radio St. Pete broadcasting live, Sourdough Co. 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