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Arts talkBy Times staff© St. Petersburg Times published September 22, 2002 Florida Craftsmen celebrates 50th The Florida Craftsmen organization has come a long way since its grass-roots beginnings 50 years ago in Deland. It was formed by a group of Stetson University professors whose intention was to validate the work of artists creating fine crafts. It acquired an official headquarters in 1986 when Michele Teugel, the group's president and a Clearwater artist, opened a small gallery in downtown St. Petersburg in space owned by a Florida Power affiliate that gave the group a break on the rent. "All our money was in a shoe box," Teugel recalls, "and I wondered if we could do this." Today, the headquarters and gallery are in a handsome facility at 501 Central Ave., St. Petersburg, that the group purchased in September, and Florida Craftsmen has a membership of 1,100 throughout the state. To celebrate the group's five decades, an exhibition titled "Past Perfect/Present Tense" opened at the gallery on Friday. It showcases the work of winners of the group's statewide exhibitions. Fourteen people have been chosen to receive Lifetime Achievement Awards at a ceremony March 21 in Deland. Being honored for their commitment to contemporary craft art are Diane Arthur of Gulfport, Millie Brown of St. Petersburg, Mary Crowe Dorst of Boca Raton, Shirley Edidin of Jacksonville, Ray Ferguson of Melrose, Helen Howell of Deland, Diane Borden-Jones of Oldsmar, Judith Powers-Jones of St. Petersburg, Nancy Karnavicius of St. Petersburg, Jack King of Tampa, Betty Kjelson of Coral Gables, Mary Klein of St. Pete Beach, Eric Lang Peterson of St. Petersburg and Lois Rector of Palm Harbor. Arts peopleKenneth Mitchell, former artistic director of American Stage in St. Petersburg, recently moved to Minneapolis-St. Paul to teach acting in a theater program jointly run by the Guthrie Theater and the University of Minnesota. . . . A. Paul Kohnson was elected president of the Tampa Bay Composers Forum. . . . Singer and radio announcer Roberto Ferrer will receive Tampa's Hispanic Celebration Award in the arts in October. . . . Florida Studio Theatre named Rhonda Coullet winner of the 2002 Barbara Anton Playwriting Award, which includes a residency at the Sarasota theater and $1,000. New season in SarasotaFlorida Studio Theatre's 2002-03 season opens with Olympus on My Mind by Barry Harman and Grant Sturiale, from Oct. 8 to Dec. 7. The season continues with Proof by David Auburn (Dec. 17-Feb. 8), Dirty Blonde by Claudia Shear (Feb. 18-April 12) and The Next Marilyn by Lynne Kaufman (April 15-June 7). The theater's cabaret lineup includes My One and Only Gershwin (Nov. 15-Jan. 11), Guitar Girls (Jan. 14-March 22) and Who's on First? (March 25-May 31). For information, call (941) 366-9000. -- LENNIE BENNETT, Times Art Critic; JOHN FLEMING, Times Performing Arts Critic
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