[Times photo: Stefanie Boyar] Painter Ray Paul, 40, uses space at Artists Unlimited to create his abstract paintings. Toiling from home certainly wouldn't be as inspiring, artists say.

House of style
Artists Unlimited, a former warehouse in the Channel District, provides low-cost studio space as well as a place to create and critique among peers.

Closings on local roads are all the rage
Patience is at a premium these days as overlapping projects to upgrade roads and water pipes leave many motorists idling.

Warehouse space mixes artists, media
A Channelside building provides studio and gallery space to a colorful blend of artists and styles.


Amy Scherzer's Diary
Foundations of love
The couple first met as teenagers, building worship halls. When they met again, marriage soon followed.

Bayshore beautiful
Support growing for condo project
But some Bayshore Boulevard residents voice concerns over the planned tower at a meeting with the developer.

City People
Politics, passion and painting
Persecuted in Cuba, Carlos Manuel Soto and his family fled to the United States - where people, to his astonishment, actually buy his paintings.

Everybody's business
A new building, a familiar menu
Spain reopens in a more urbane setting with an expanded dinner menu that has tapas and Spanish entrees like paella.

Front Porch
Room for palettes, palates
Artist Victoria Pierce Fricot made the corner of her dining room her studio.

Homes
Make his day - just stay away
Driving uninvited onto the heaven the Durrances have nurtured for three decades will earn you a long cold look.

Neighborhood notebook
Extra nightly patrols scaled back in Beach Park
BEACH PARK - Homeowners are keeping their extra security patrol but scaling back a bit.

Obituary
A hush falls on St. Conrad Street
Frank G. "Blackie" Leto's generosity to the things he loved - his family, his music and his community - is his legacy.

Old Hyde Park
Neighbors: Integrity of historic site is at stake
Fears the Leiman House would be compromised might not be enough to scuttle plans for an adjacent lot.

Oscawana
Stretching imaginations
Yogani Studios uses yoga play to help children ages 3 to 12 develop their minds and bodies and find their quiet place.

RSVP Tampa
Museum ignites imaginations
Steve Hodapp and his wife bring their children to Kid City every time they visit his mother in Sun City Center.

What's Brewing
When bad things happen...
Suddenly, the salty cool air along Bayshore Boulevard isn't so soothing.

What's in a name
Cigar maker became early mayor
Rey Park: Peregrino Rey pursued a career in cigars from Havana to Atlanta then to a young West Tampa.