Brand Tampa Tour of the Arts II: SATURDAY JAN 10 - LIGHTS ON TAMPA!

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Permalink Reply by Julia Gorzka on January 5, 2009 at 10:29pm

Very cool! For all who let me know they couldn't attend the first tour and to keep the invites coming - you don't want to miss this one. I love a good field trip and I must say our 1st Brand Tampa Tour of the Arts rocked. Each venue offered a completely unique and different experience. The first stop was at a cigar factory I can't recall the name of (Hampton please help me out with this one). Huge open space where they host various exhibits and at the time of our visit they were getting ready to showcase the USF Architecture Master's students thesis projects. They had a furniture making studio downstairs - the smell of which was divine from all the woodcutting & shavings. Beautiful things. But my fave part was when we went down in the basement which was filled with artifacts left by previous owners including the original blackboard where someone would mark off how many cigars of each type had been rolled that day. I couldn't believe it was still there. It was so cool looking I wanted to take it home & hang it on my wall but it wouldn't fit in my condo. In the tobacco storage rooms there were old sewing commercial sewing machines from a time when a clothing manufacturer had occupied the factory and when they left, they abandoned the equipment. It was my first experience in Tampa where I felt like I was getting my hands dirty exploring history, because 100 years+ of stuff was just lying around and we literally got to crawl through it.

Next stop was the historic Santaella Cigar Factory building, now home to the West Tampa Center for the Arts. Very different from the first space which was expansive. This factory had been divided into studio & gallery spaces. Lots to explore & look at. Of particular interest to me was the lector stand which they believe to be the only remaining one in the city.

Last stop was Bleu Acier where master printmaker Erika Schneider gave us an extensive tour of her gallery/studio/home. Yeah, one of the world’s most important printmakers lives and works right here in Tampa. I was in awe of the variety of presses she works with and the wide spectrum of work she creates.

The evening ended with several of us having drinks at The Hub and enjoying great conversation about the state of the arts here in Tampa and what we can get more people involved in collecting local artists works and appreciating the scene here beyond the cocktail party openings.

If you want to see and learn more about what is happening art-wise in the city, meet new interesting people and enjoy talking about the local scene, don't miss this tour!

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Permalink Reply by Michael on January 7, 2009 at 5:27pm

Have you thought of of posting the tour on the events page?

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Permalink Reply by Clark Brooks on January 7, 2009 at 9:38pm

Done!
Looking forward to it.

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Permalink Reply by Sally Bosco on January 8, 2009 at 3:27pm

This sounds great! Thanks!!! Sally

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Permalink Reply by Lynne Hansen on January 9, 2009 at 7:33pm

I'm going to try to come. Depends on how much writing I get done between now and then, but it sounds super!

--Lynne

Julia Gorzka said:

Very cool! For all who let me know they couldn't attend the first tour and to keep the invites coming - you don't want to miss this one. I love a good field trip and I must say our 1st Brand Tampa Tour of the Arts rocked. Each venue offered a completely unique and different experience. The first stop was at a cigar factory I can't recall the name of (Hampton please help me out with this one). Huge open space where they host various exhibits and at the time of our visit they were getting ready to showcase the USF Architecture Master's students thesis projects. They had a furniture making studio downstairs - the smell of which was divine from all the woodcutting & shavings. Beautiful things. But my fave part was when we went down in the basement which was filled with artifacts left by previous owners including the original blackboard where someone would mark off how many cigars of each type had been rolled that day. I couldn't believe it was still there. It was so cool looking I wanted to take it home & hang it on my wall but it wouldn't fit in my condo. In the tobacco storage rooms there were old sewing commercial sewing machines from a time when a clothing manufacturer had occupied the factory and when they left, they abandoned the equipment. It was my first experience in Tampa where I felt like I was getting my hands dirty exploring history, because 100 years+ of stuff was just lying around and we literally got to crawl through it.

Next stop was the historic Santaella Cigar Factory building, now home to the West Tampa Center for the Arts. Very different from the first space which was expansive. This factory had been divided into studio & gallery spaces. Lots to explore & look at. Of particular interest to me was the lector stand which they believe to be the only remaining one in the city.

Last stop was Bleu Acier where master printmaker Erika Schneider gave us an extensive tour of her gallery/studio/home. Yeah, one of the world’s most important printmakers lives and works right here in Tampa. I was in awe of the variety of presses she works with and the wide spectrum of work she creates.

The evening ended with several of us having drinks at The Hub and enjoying great conversation about the state of the arts here in Tampa and what we can get more people involved in collecting local artists works and appreciating the scene here beyond the cocktail party openings.

If you want to see and learn more about what is happening art-wise in the city, meet new interesting people and enjoy talking about the local scene, don't miss this tour!

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