Create
Shuffleboard and art mix at Saturday event
At 559 Mirror Lake Drive, the St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club – the oldest in the country – isn’t on the map for the Second Saturday ArtWalk, which takes place Saturday in more southern areas of town – Warehouse Arts District, Grand Central etcetera.
Art, as a rule, isn’t generally part of the package at St. Pete Shuffle, which has a staggering 2,700 members. A percentage of them take to the courts during the week and on Sunday mornings. Then there’s the popular Friday Night Shuffle event, where aficionados, fans, hipsters and the curious come together to slide circular black discs down a clay court with painted scoring numbers. With beer and wine on the menu.
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When the club celebrated its 100th birthday in January, director Christine Page and club manager Amy Marshall brainstormed a series of events that would continue through the year.
Saturday’s event is called 100 Years & 100 Discs – and it’s got an art theme.
Bay area artists – close to 100 of them – were given the six-inch hard resin discs and told: Go forth and create. Paint, festoon, do what you will.
One hundred discs will be on display Saturday at the clubhouse. They’re all for sale, with proceeds to benefit the club’s Historic Preservation Fund. Hours are 5 to 9 p.m.
The evening will include a live DJ, beer and wine sales, and – naturally – shuffleboard play.
“We want to raise awareness for the club, and we want everybody in St. Pete to celebrate our centennial year with us – however they want,” Page explained. “So if they love art, they should come to this show.”
Participating artists include Emily Lee Stehle, Todd Bates, Mary Klein, Pamela Joy Trow, Hanna Vogeler, Patricia Toscano, Jen Keane, Judith Durling, Brian Morris, Kristi Capone, Luke , Stephanie Parr, Erin H. Nelson, Chad Mize, Andrea Pawlisz, Marianne Farkas, Tara Dalton, Marisa Dalle Valle, Terry Scopelliti, Knicki Knowlton, Christopher Tompkins, Chris Sellen, Michelle Parasole, Emily M., Jo Gurka, Barb McCormick, Marquise Russ, Luke Heath, Mark Williams, Cory Robinson, James E. Hartzell, Sydney Ray, Jovan “Bato” Ijacic, Gianne Pergamo, Warren Kenny, Kris Meenan, Laurie Humpel and more.
