Culture

Public art in the Tampa Bay area is not limited to Sarasota, Tampa or St. Petersburg. Heading east to Lakeland, there's an entire organization dedicated to showcasing local artists and bringing art to nontraditional spaces.  Platform Art,  for the last 12 years, has sponsored everything from public monuments to community gardens.

When you think of St. Petersburg, what’s the first image that comes to mind? Time once was that answer was likely to be the Pier or the city’s  famous green benches.

Now, that answer might be murals. In the past few years more than 100 murals have been created and more are arriving all the time.

WUSF recently launched an occasional series called “Art Populi,” an occasional series that is focusing on public art.

From city murals to street sculptures and free art, we're hoping to shed a new light on the Tampa Bay's art scene.

For our second story, we follow two artists as they abandon their creations in Pinellas and Pasco Counties.

The remembrances of Maestro Paul Wolfe have been pouring in since news of his death became public this week.

Wolfe was the co-founder of the Sarasota Music Festival, the longtime Artistic Director of the Sarasota Orchestra, and established and nurtured four chamber ensembles while serving in the latter capacity. 

Wolfe attended the High School of Music and Art in New York, Queens College, the Juilliard School and Columbia University. He went on to work with the likes of Paul Whiteman and Frank Sinatra in New York.

A folk trio played outside of the ARTicles art gallery along Central Avenue in St. Petersburg. 

Inside the gallery, St. Pete-based artist Eva Avenue drew portraits of people who stopped in. She said the portraits, which she uses acrylic, colored pencils and pastels, is her own - something she calls "a mixture between realism and feelism". 

WUSF is infusing a little fun in our news with an occasional series called “Art Populi.” The aim is to shine a light on Tampa Bay's rich cultural landscape-- and offer a perhaps welcome diversion from the political stories that can dominate during election season.

Our debut collection of stories will focus on public art.  We’ll be reporting on city murals, abandoned art, public art galleries and more.

For our first story-- we traveled to a place in Pinellas County known as "Whimzeyland."

Classical music to some people conjurs up images of large music ensembles in ornate concerts halls. The Florida Orchestra is trying to change that perception by performing in the community. 

If you've noticed people wearing maroon or white fezzes walking around downtown Tampa this week, that's because the Shriners are back in town.

For the third time in six years, the Ancient Egyptian Arabic Order Noble Mystic Shrine - also known as Prince Hall Shriners - is holding its Imperial Session in Tampa. An estimated 25,000 members of the primarily African-American order, along with members of their women's auxiliary, known as the Daughters of Isis (or Imperial Court), are visiting the area.

The State of Florida is holding a “garage sale” of sorts this Saturday in Tampa. Diamonds, rubies and pearls are among the more than 70,000 items that will be up for bid.

It’s the annual Unclaimed Property Auction and will include featured items like an 18-karat gold Rolex-brand watch, rare coins, vintage jewelry and collectibles like sports trading cards featuring Hank Aaron, Dan Marino and Larry Bird.

The 8th annual Sarasota Improv Fest gets underway Thursday night at Florida Studio Theatre. Comedy troupes from across the U.S. and world are returning to Sarasota to perform and hold workshops.

Sunken Gardens is a lush, colorful and fragrant tropical oasis in the middle of St. Petersburg.

It's one of Florida’s original roadside attractions; WUSF's Florida Matters is taking a look at several classic attractions this week. 

Located about an hour north of Tampa at the crossroads of U.S. 19 and State Road 50, Weeki Wachee is more than just a mark on a road map. The state park is one of Florida’s oldest roadside attractions, and features a spring-fed water park, wildlife show, a river boat cruise and more. 

One of the oldest continuously operated attractions in Florida is an 11-acre oasis just minutes away from a busy strip mall.

At Sarasota Jungle Gardens, visitors can feed flamingos, stroll under a canopy of lush foliage and even see the occasional unicycle-riding cockatoo.

The Tampa Bay Lightning’s season ended prematurely with no Stanley Cup in hand. On Monday, a former Lightning captain was dealt a similar disappointing blow. After toiling for 23 years in the National Hockey League, Dave Andreychuk has been passed over, again, by the Hockey Hall of Fame.

It's been a little over a week since a gunman entered the Pulse nightclub in Orlando and killed 49 people. It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. And in just a few days, the Tampa Bay area plays host to St. Pete Pride - Florida's biggest celebration for the LGBT community. 

What if you could head down to your local public library and check-out a sewing machine or a stand mixer?

The City of Temple Terrace is trying to make that a reality with donations from the community.

This Sunday (May 15), The Ringling Museum will open its new Center for Asian Art.

David Berry is the Ringling's Assistant Director for Academic Affairs and is one of the project managers for the Center. He said the time is right to open a new home for a permanent collection of traditional, modern and contemporary art from Japan, Korea, China, India and Southeast Asia.

A national tour of men dressed as women is coming to Ybor City this weekend.

“RuPaul’s Drag Race” is a reality television competition to crown "America's next drag superstar." The show is in its 8th season and is a popular download on iTunes.

As a former Tampa Bay crime reporter, Ace Atkins has seen the best in people and also, the worst. He folded that knowledge into his fifth Robert B. Parker novel, "Slow Burn," about the Private Investigator Spenser, which revolves around the Boston Fire Department.

MIT Electrical Engineering professor Harold Edgerton was trained in photography by his uncle. That uncle taught him how to take pictures and how to develop them. 

Edgerton's photographs ultimately stretched the limits of human vision by capturing images never before seen. That tick when a bullet hits an apple, that moment of impact before that apple disintegrates into a million little pieces. That Edgerton photograph is called "Bullet Through Apple."

 The Seminole Heights neighborhood, once dotted with car repair shops, has become a key player in the growth of Tampa's culinary and craft beer scene.

Greg Baker has been at the forefront of the transformation in the now-trendy historic neighborhood. And he recently brought an additional boost of national attention to the area by receiving his fifth nomination for a James Beard Award, the Grammys of the food business.

Garrison Keillor leaves Lake Wobegon for good this summer.

After 40 plus years, the long time host of public radio's "Prairie Home Companion" is in his final season.

Javier Burgos, General Manager of Habana Compas Dance, says you can't take the music out of Cuba.

It's as natural as a beating heart.

When’s the last time you received a personal, handwritten or typed letter in the mail – snail-mail that is? There’s a concern that emails have turned letter writing into a lost art and is going the way of typewriters.

Paula Poundstone has been finding the humor in everyday life at least since kindergarten. That's when her teacher Mrs. Bump noted in a summary letter sent home to her parents, in lieu of a report card: "I have enjoyed Paula's humorous comments about our activities." 

A copy of that letter lived near the doorway Poundstone would walk through to get to the set of her short-lived TV show.