Catalyze 2025: Mark Aeling (Warehouse Arts District Association)

We’re asking thought leaders, business people and creatives to talk about the upcoming new year 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 2025.

There are a couple of important things on Mark Aeling’s mind as the calendar page flips to 2025. One, of course, is the sheer devastation caused by the Florida governor’s decision to cancel all fiscal year arts funding, followed by the wall-to-wall destruction and misery of that rapacious brother-and-sister duo, Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

Yet the acclaimed sculptor, who’s also President of the Warehouse Arts District Association’s Board of Directors, has an angel sitting on one shoulder, the polar opposite of the devil on the other side. And they’re each whispering in an ear.

“The arts are always the first thing that gets cut when money gets tight,” Aeling said. “And now that these two storms have hit us, money is tight all of a sudden.”

However. “The thing I’m optimistic about is the city and council’s willingness to step up and acknowledge the problem. That was very heartening.”

(In an emergency measure, City Councilmembers found $695,000 for artist relief, on top of the annual $500,000+ in arts grants.)

“I think the development of St. Petersburg is not going to stop because we had a couple of storms,” Aeling predicts. “People have a very short memory. From everything I’m seeing in the development community, all plans are moving forward. If we get another storm season like the last one, two years in a row, it may give people pause. So we’ll see what happens.”

On to the other big concern: The further development of WADA’s Arts Xchange campus. In 2024, the board and Markus Gottschlich, executive director of the studio/gallery compound, proposed a “live/work” building on WADA property, with 40 to 60 units. These would be a combination of studios and living spaces for artists.

“We’re relying on city, county and state funds for that – and with the state getting hit, the arts are not the first consideration for these things,” Aeling explained. “Especially when there are other pressing matters.

“I’m hopeful that we can still get that project moving. The need for it is ever-present. We will continue to do our education programming, and our sustainability work, and we have some campus improvements we’re working on, but the live/work component was going to be our big push. And I’m just hopeful that we can get some traction with it.”

The goal for Aeling, Gottschlich and WADA has always been the creation of a sustainable artist community. Early estimates say the project will cost between $13 million and $15 million. “Our first step in this next year is to try to get our renderings and our pitch packet together tight enough to be able to hone in on all that,” Aeling said.

“The best way that this could happen is to find a philanthropic person who wants a legacy project. We’ve got a solid idea. And we’ve got the property, which is a huge portion of it.

“We’ve also got a good track record. WADA has been successful in transitioning from a startup not-for-profit to having a 12-year track record of success. This is ambitious, but it’s desperately needed.”