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News from the art world: Second Saturday and more
The Jason Hackenwerth Studio opens We Animal Friday (and will be open and receiving during the Second Saturday ArtWalk). The multidisciplinary artist’s latest exhibit includes more than 30 paintings and a large sculpture made of latex balloons, through which visitors will enter the show.
Although Hackenwerth, who moved to St. Petersburg in 2017, is famous for his abstract balloon sculptures, he is first and foremost a painter. In the summer of 2022, Creative Pinellas, which had awarded him a Professional Artist grant, put the spotlight on his whimsical balloon work and abstract paintings with a solo exhibition titled Darkmatter.
Hackenwerth’s studio and gallery opened in January.
In a Catalyst interview, the artist explained his process. “I always said that the process of making those sculptures would eventually make me a better painter,” he said, “and I said that when I returned to painting I’ll use what they taught me.
“The biggest part of that is knowing that the process is the portal, and not to worry as much about what we’re making but more about how we’re making it, and enjoying that process. And the same is true for those paintings.”
The Studio is at 2526 Terminal Drive S., near The Factory St. Pete.
“World of Make Believe,” triptych by Steph Gimson, at Soft Water Gallery.
Second Saturday ArtWalk
Sunday’s scheduled Warehouse Arts District Association concert by jazz trumpeter Bria Skonberg (playing the “Instrument of Hope”) has been postponed until the fall, although WADA’s Arts Xchange campus will still be a major stop on May’s Second Saturday ArtWalk.
On the campus (515 22nd Street S): Soft Water Gallery is featuring Abstract Visions, mixed-media paintings by Steph Gimson; the Tully-Levine Gallery has The Art of the Puzzle, original artwork by students in the ESE program; the Burka Lounge is opening the member show Human Form.
Of course, visitors during the ArtWalk (5 to 9 p.m. Saturday) can visit, tour and hang around the working studios of Mark Aeling, Carrie Jadus, Tammy Berk, Robert Sutherland and others.
There’s also an outdoor art marketplace, for you Mother’s Day gift-purchasing pleasure.
The ArtWalk trolley makes continuous loops starting at 5 p.m., making stops at or near The Factory St. Pete (there’s a Second Saturday ArtWalk market there too), Craftsman House Gallery, Zen Glass and Charlie Parker Pottery, the Carter G. Woodson African American Museum, the Morean Center for Clay, Five Deuces Galleria, Creative Clay and the Mirella Cimato Gallery, ArtLofts and Florida CraftArt, Morean Arts Center, Woodfield Fine Art and St. Pete Art Works.
The Downtown Looper trolley will deliver visitors to several deeply-downtown venues. Find all trolley stops, with details and a walking/driving map, here.
Clearwater musician Kristopher James is among those captured by photographer Donna Green for her DRV Gallery exhibit “Art in Harmony.”
In other news
The nonprofit Saint Petersburg Month of Photography will name its “St. Petersburg Photography Laureate” during a 7 p.m. reception Saturday at the Morean Arts Center. The winner will “create an historical document of events, people and places of Tampa Bay for the next twelve months,” to be featured in a solo exhibition in 2024.
Works by Tampa photographer Donna Green go on exhibit Thursday at Gulfport’s DRV Gallery. The Art in Harmony exhibit features 15 area musicians representing different genres and performance styles.
Thursday’s 6 to 8 p.m. reception will include performances from four of the depicted players: Tampa’s Jennifer Real and George Pennnigton, Clearwater’s Kristopher James and Ybor City’s Chris Cava.
Art in Harmony will be on view through May 27.
The Pinellas Diaspora Arts Project (PDAP) hosts the inaugural Tampa Bay Chalk Festival at the Deuces Saturday (May 13). Between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., professional chalk artists, as well as beginners, will create on the 22nd Street sidewalks between 7th Avenue and 9th Avenue South.
Creative Clay has a new show, The Performing Arts, opening in the Good Folk Gallery during the Second Saturday Art Walk. On that day, Saturday Charlie Parker Pottery will donate all proceeds to Creative Clay. Kerry Kriseman, from Creative Clay, is Friday’s guest on the Arts Alive! podcast.
Opening Saturday at the Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg, Tom Jones: Here We Stand is an exhibition of works by Native American photographer White Eagle (aka Tom Jones), depicting his 20-year mission to chronicle the life and culture of the Wisconsin Ho-Chunk people. More on this exhibition Saturday in the Catalyst.
