Tyrone Mall artist studios holding Open House

Four months ago, a South Florida company called Zero Empty Spaces announced it was turning a vacant Tyrone Square Mall storefront into affordable artist studios – a commodity that’s in short supply in the bay area.

In a massive, glass-fronted room that used to be the home of an FYE store, among others, there are now 12 brightly-lit artist spaces of different sizes, separated by white wooden partitions.

Saturday between 5 and 8 p.m., the public is invited to tour the studio/galleries, meet the six currently-in-residence artists and see what they’re working on, and talk with reps from Zero Empty Spaces about the available spots.

It’s in what’s known as the “Dillard’s Corridor,” at the west end of the mall.

“I’ve been looking for a long time in Tampa, actually,” said artist Monica Swartley, who graduated from the University of Tampa in 2019, and still lives on that side of the bay. “I really didn’t find anything that was even available, in terms of open space for an artist.”

Swartley’s degree is in Biology, but she studied painting, drawing and ceramics, and paints the natural world with the precise attention to detail of a scientist.

Barely two weeks ago, Zero Empty Spaces’ public offer got her attention: $2.50 per square foot, including power and water, on a month-to-month renewable lease.

She now works in one of the largest Tyrone spaces, 160 square feet. For $400 per month.

Swartley goes there often – she prefers the isolation of the studio environment to painting at home, with all its distractions.

Since shoppers, and the curious, stroll in and out of the Zero Empty Spaces storefront all day, every day, she sometimes gets “surprised” while standing at her easel. “It’s really new for me to be in a public setting while I’m working,” Swartley says.

Because they work when they want to, on their own schedules, the six resident artists don’t actually see one another that often.

St. Pete artist Debra Yabczanka.

Swartley’s on a first-name basis with Debra Yabczanka, a St. Pete artist who was one of the first to heed the call from Zero Empty Spaces, in April.

“I don’t mind working in my house,” said Yabczanka, “but this is nice because if I work out of my house no one ever sees any of this.” In the Tyrone studio, she’s surrounded by her acrylics, her clay work and her collages. “People see it when they come in here.”

Yabczanka pays $200 per month for an 80-square-foot space – and it’s the first one visitors see when they enter.

Sometimes they look, sometimes they buy, sometimes they just want  to chat.

“There’s a lot of people that come through and are just excited that there’s something going on here,” she said.