Catalyze 2023: Alex Harris

We’re asking thought leaders, business people and creatives to talk about 2023 and give us catalyzing ideas for making St. Pete a better place to live. What should our city look like? What are their hopes, their plans, their problem-solving ideas? This is Catalyze 2023.

In November, Alex Harris’ single “Falling For You” reached No. 1 on the IB Alliance’s Indie Soul Chart, a spot of recognition not only for St. Petersburg’s premiere singing/songwriting rhythm ‘n’ blues artist, but – to Harris’ way of thinking – for the city itself.

“What I’m doing is using my growing global platform to bring attention to our community,” says the co-founder and CEO of the Arts Conservatory For Teens, who manages to maintain a recording and performing career at the same time. “That’s my focus. It’s two-pronged, but it’s all one thing.”

Harris, one of eight children born to a Georgia pastor and his schoolteacher wife, has a Master’s in Theology and Social Work from Boston University, and a Ph.D. from Florida’s Nova Southeastern University.

In 2013, he and business partner Herbert Murphy founded ACT, a not-for-profit after-school enrichment program that focus on music, dance, theater and arts technology as a way to keep young people engaged.

In June, Harris began producing a series of concerts at the Floridian Social Club. Live on Central has introduced an impressive roster of soul and jazz artists to St. Pete, including Gregory Porter, Algebra Blessett, Res and the group Moonchild.

Harris sees this as the opening brushstroke of a bigger picture.

“The intention,” he declares, “is to not just bring in these amazing national talents that you may or may not have heard of. It’s to start raising the culture so that it becomes a norm. Where you can walk out of your condo, leave your neighborhood, walk downtown, get a nice dinner or whatever – then come to a great show.”

For 2023, he and his producing partners are planning more shows, bigger shows, and intend to add mor “amazing” local performers as well as additional disciplines including dance, visual arts and multi-media.

“We want to give Austin City Limits a run for its money,” he laughs. “The reality is, we have an opportunity to create something very special that’s our own.”

Harris is fully invested in his career as an artist (he’s been the opening act on all the concert bills thus far), and on the continued success rate of his ACT students, and also on the future, culturally, of his adopted hometown. The gears of his mind are always turning.

“We’re very strong with visual arts – however, I think there’s a great opportunity to continue to expand our live music culture,” he explains. “And with both, it will help to strengthen our infrastructure that’s already in place, but growing it into a thriving cultural place that not only has great visual arts, with murals and museums, but also where you can go and catch a great concert.

“My interest is to create more of a place in alignment with what Visit St. Pete/Clearwater is already doing. They play on the word ‘Discoveries’ – and I see St. Petersburg as becoming not just a place of discovering great visual art, with art and murals where you’d never expect to see it, but of discovering the great musical talent that’s here.”