Fairgrounds announces first round of participating artists

More than 65 artists, including many from the Tampa Bay area, have been contracted to provide creative work for Fairgrounds, the immersive art and technology “experience” scheduled to open in the spring.

Fairgrounds’ website describes it as a “choose-your-own-adventure immersive experience celebrating weird, wacky and wonderful Florida” through “story-driven installations.”

Fairgrounds CEO and co-founder Liz Dimmitt announced the artists in a prepared statement Tuesday, referring to the 15,000-square-foot former warehouse as “a place for exhibiting new ideas and recognizing talent.”

A point of pride, Dimmitt added, was that the Fairgrounds team commissioned the art during the Covid-19 pandemic, when many artists were badly in need of work.

The Call to Artists was issued in April 2020.

Among those who’ll be contributing to the project: Chad Mize, Jabari (iBOMS) Reed, Nick “NDArtLife” Davis, Macy Higgs and Emilio Settecasi, Cecelia Lueza, Carlton Ward, Zulu Painter, Laura Spencer, Nathan Beard, Iona Parris, Alex Kaufman, KX2, Savannah Magnolia, Sabrina Verhage, Bec Conrad, Francesco Lo Castro, Matthew Campbell and Chris Parks (aka Palehorse).

View the complete list here.

Fairgrounds is part of the Factory St. Pete, a 6.5 acre “arts center” currently under renovation and construction in the Warehouse Arts District. According to Fairgrounds co-founder Mikhail Mansion, the walk-through artistic experience will be fully augmented by technology.

“Creative coding is how Fairgrounds brings stories and artwork to life by orchestrating an ecosystem of lights, projection, sound, games and interactive electronics,” Mansion said. “By working closely with some of our exhibiting artists we are able to expand their practice and seamlessly blend traditional modes of expression with technology.”

Additional information is available here.