Tampa Bay's cultural stew brims over this weekend with tonight's Black & White Gallery Show opening at Artists Unlimited in Channelside, the two-day Gasparilla Arts Festival in downtown Tampa, the Highwaymen reception at the Safety Harbor Library Saturday afternoon and the Kid City Night In New Orleans dance Saturday night.
Creative Tampa Bay, a group poised to be a force in this area's cultural evolution, now has a weekly newsletter.
The newsletter is chock-full of articles and event information, in keeping with the group's goal of nurturing Tampa Bay's creative and economic vibrancy.
Economist Richard Florida started the movement last April in a speech drawn from his book The Rise of the Creative Class. The theory is that economic development will come not by providing financial incentives to businesses, but by creating an environment that draws a young workforce.
Talk has become action in a relatively short amount of time. Creative Tampa Bay's newsletter already has 800 subscribers, more than 100 people attended its monthly salon Wednesday night at Matthews Art Gallery in Hyde Park and the group has spawned Verve, a networking effort for people ages 25-34.
"I'm not surprised it has caught people's fancy," said Deanne Roberts, past chair of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce and co-founder of Creative Tampa Bay. "I am surprised it has built momentum so quickly. There must have been a lot of pent-up demand."
Roberts believes the success has come in part from Creative Tampa Bay's ability to connect different groups. Theater supporters have partnered with developers, and technology workers have "discovered" fine artists.
Creative Tampa Bay's next salon, Embracing Our Differences: Taking Tampa Bay Beyond Co-Existence, will be held April 7 at the Florida Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg, a clear sign this is a group serious about bridging the bay.
It's also worth noting that diversity is a cornerstone of its mission.
"Tolerance is just the minimum," Roberts said. "We ought to be celebrating diversity and seeing the synergies we get by putting together diverse groups."
Most important, chambers of commerce and other economic leaders have recognized the value of the movement by helping fund a $30,000 study to see how well Tampa Bay attracts young professionals.
The results will come out in April, and I can't wait.
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Part of the creative class movement aims to retain folks coming out of our universities, and it appears we're destined for more brainy brilliance from the University of Tampa.
In the 2004 edition of The Unofficial, Biased Guide to the 328 Most Interesting Colleges you will find Yale, Harvard, Duke, Stanford and UCLA on the book's "Hot and Trendy" list.
You'll also find the University of Tampa, which ranked among the heavyweights in a survey of high school counselors.
"Whether it's the academics, the location, the social scene, or the perfect combination of everything, these schools all have that certain it factor," authors Trent Anderson and Seppy Basili wrote.
The University of Florida and Florida State University were the only other state schools to make the list.
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Tommy Thompson, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, said Wednesday he was thrilled with a McDonald's decision to eliminate super-sized value meals by the end of the year. Though I don't always practice this, I still think being health conscious should start with us.
For example, I'm told by a longtime vegetarian that after inquisitive looks and exclamations of bewilderment, you can actually order a cheeseburger without the meat. Amazing.
