Members of Tampa's art community have plenty of advice for Wendy Ceccherelli, the city's new arts and cultural affairs director.
From the broad: Spark interest in art collecting among locals.
To the narrow: Add some flair to your drab, city-issued business cards.
Ceccherelli became the city's arts guru at the end of March. Her mission is to create a "great city of the arts," centered on the future Tampa Museum of Art.
SHE HAD HER FIRST formal speaking event May 5 during a Creative TampaBay gathering at the Brad Cooper Gallery in Ybor City. She offered her fresh impressions and asked members what the city might do to help.
A self-described native of nowhere, Ceccherelli comes to Tampa from Seattle, where she oversaw the city's arts community and programs. Before that she led arts councils in Sacramento, Calif., and Savannah, Ga.
You might recognize her driving around. Her car still has ski racks.
Ceccherelli reluctantly left Seattle, drawn by Tampa's snowballing artistic energy. She liked the idea of working for a young, female mayor who shares her passion for the arts. She reports to Mark Huey, Tampa's economic development administrator, a sign that the city believes arts and business go hand in hand.
"There is an air in Tampa of possibilities," she says. "A lot of a people are willing and working to make it happen."
A MONTH ON THE JOB, Ceccherelli, 48, has been making the rounds in Tampa's art world. She took part in the recent Dragon Boat Races, watched flamenco dancers at the Columbia Restaurant and brainstormed with organizers of the new amphitheater.
So far, so good, she says. Tampa is welcoming, full of surprises and bubbling with artistic juices. "People are coming to town and saying, "I can do that.' "
And unlike Seattle, you can schedule an outdoor event and it won't rain, at least not all day.
Top on her to-do list is the new museum. How do we draw more people to the museum to sustain the expanded space? How do we make downtown more livable?
Challenges abound. Tampa relies way too much on cars, she says. There's no single place to go for an arts experience. You don't stumble upon a grouping of galleries. You have to drive to a destination.
"Tampa's downtown is really not good," she told the group of about 30 artists and business people from Tampa, St. Petersburg and even Lakeland.
The key is expanding the cultural pie to attract a large, broad mix of people, she says. In Seattle, theater groups took a bold step by agreeing to share mailing lists. It worked. Ticket sales soared.
The audience urged Ceccherelli to beef up the city's marketing of the arts. Study what other cities have done and copy it. Change the ugly street directional signs. And, please, think about parking and traffic when planning events.
In coming months, Ceccherelli said, the city plans to look into increasing funding for public arts projects. Her staff, which includes Paul Wilborn, the creative-industries manager, is considering renting houses in the planned East Village of the Arts to visiting artists and galleries.
It turns out the weather could actually hurt Tampa's artistic quest. In Seattle, it's so rainy and cold, she says, that people will do anything to get out of the house and interact with others.
That's good for arts events. (And Starbucks, which brewed its first cup there.)
No worries. Along with coffee fans, we have plenty of art lovers here.
THE LAST DROP: The countdown is on for gathering ideas to redevelop and preserve the old federal courthouse on Florida Avenue. Developers have until June 9 to submit a plan. The top pick will be named this fall.
