Arts Alive!: Margaret Murray, Creative Pinellas

Two months have passed since the Pinellas County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to take $1 million in funding away from Creative Pinellas.

Margaret Murray, CEO of the arts support organization, is today’s guest on the Arts Alive! podcast, talking about that warm September evening when the hammer fell – and how Creative Pinellas, which is by no means dead and gone, will push forward.

Murray is a native of St. Petersburg, and a longtime arts professional. The latter, she says, “is so integral to who I am as a person. My personal and professional lives are so intertwined that it made me really think about my value and my worth.”

The coffers, she says, are not completely empty (her requested budget was $1.7 million), and the support for Creative Pinellas, from sponsors, donors and the public – not just the art community – has been overwhelming.

Up next is Arts Annual, the nonprofit organization’s yearly fundraiser (and celebration of local artists and performers). It happens Nov. 21 at the Gallery at Creative Pinellas on Walsingham Road. Find more info at this link.

The celebration will be somewhat bittersweet, as Creative Pinellas will soon after leave the facility that’s been its home for nearly a decade. Because Pinellas County owns the building, it’s pulling the lease.

Murray discusses the plans, come concrete, some tentative, that she and the Board of Directors have cooking. Creative Pinellas will continue.

She chooses her words carefully when queried about the commissioners’ opinion that their money will be better spent by Visit St. Pete-Clearwater.

“I think that there is a disconnect between how Creative Pinellas and the cultural community views themselves, and how the County thinks of the arts,” Murray says.

“It was not a fun time. It was not easy, and I don’t think I’ve fully processed the impact that it had on me as an arts leader, and as a human being. As someone who cares deeply about the arts.

“But I will say, what came out of this was a greater understanding of how the County views the arts. They believe intrinsically in the arts to drive tourism; they’re not as convinced that it is part of a thriving ecosystem for residents.”

Click on the arrow to listen to the conversation.