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Everybody's business

Wall Art Gallery offers 3-D twist

The gallery, which features sculptural pieces that hang on walls, has moved into the first floor of the Park Tower Building.

By MICHAEL CANNING
Published September 2, 2005

The new National Wall Art Gallery downtown has 5,000 square feet of gallery space. "And we don't have one painting in here," said co-owner Hal Leek. No posters or prints either.

Surprised? Part of the gallery's mission is to remedy that. Wall art actually refers to sculptural, three-dimensional pieces that hang from a wall, not the usual two-dimensional stuff.

Free-standing pieces, such as sculptures, also are on display.

The gallery opened Aug. 15 on Ashley Drive and Kennedy Boulevard, on the ground floor of the Park Tower building. It used to be the site of Beaker Gallery.

"It seems that wall art is a small niche around here," Leek said.

Not surprising, considering that the average price of a piece from National Wall Art is $5,000.

One of the featured displays is a series of 50-million-year-old stone fossil murals harvested from the bed of the Green River in Wyoming. Another is the Sentinels, a 7-foot-tall miniature sculpture of a concept that was considered for the Ground Zero Memorial in New York City.

St. Petersburg artist T.W. Curtis is represented at the gallery, as is Montana's Toby Mercer and his unique "paper stratagraphics" works - or slabs of layered cardboard cut and beveled into various reliefs.

The National Wall Art Gallery was previously located in the Decorative Arts Center of Florida in North Hyde Park and dealt only with interior designers. Leek said the new location will add walk-in customers. "I don't think there's a better spot in Tampa," he said.

Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays. A grand opening is scheduled to run Thursday through Sept. 10.

DOWNTOWN DOGS HAS NEW HOUSE: Rene Neff knew her online business, Downtown Dogs, was unique. So when she decided to open a retail spot for her inventory of dog accessories, she wanted a location that was suitably unique.

She didn't have to look long. Three weeks ago, Downtown Dogs opened as a mini boutique inside Nicholson House, an eclectic decor and gift shop in Old Hyde Park Village, where Neff was already a part-time employee.

Neff specializes in exclusive dog accessories that can make dog owners say, "I've got to have that," or the dogless say, "Oh, brother." Some of the items that come to mind: rhinestone tiaras, doggie hiking boots, high-heel shoe plush toys (with spoofed designer names like Jimmy Chew, Dolce Grrrbana and Bark Jacobs) and dehydrated dog snacks that look like sushi.

She also stocks the Pawsitively Posh Flower Bee bed that Jessica Simpson bought for her pampered pooch, Daisy.

If you haven't been to Nicholson House in a while, remember that it moved across the street into the former Baby Gap space in February.

COFFEE RETURNING TO VILLAGE: Patrons of Old Hyde Park Village likely won't have to go long without a coffee shop.

Just a month after the Blackhawk Coffee Cafe closed, Indigo Coffee chain co-owner Joe Timberlake says he's "real close" to signing a lease with the village. This would be the fifth location for the Tampa company, which started out as drive-through-only stands but now is branching into indoor cafes.

Timberlake was reluctant to provide details before the lease is signed but said the proposed Indigo Coffee would occupy an 1,100-square-foot space on the ground floor near the village's outdoor escalator. There would be indoor and outdoor seating and two parking spots for curbside service in lieu of a drive-through.

The cafe would have a bigger menu than the drive-through Indigos and include pastries, desserts and wraps.

Timberlake wouldn't comment on when the cafe might open.

Indigo has drive-through locations at Interstate 275 and Howard Avenue, Interstate 275 and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, and Waters Avenue and Sheldon Road. It also has a cafe at St. Joseph's Women's Hospital.

Do you know something that should be everybody's business? Call 226-3394, or e-mail mikecanning@hotmail.com

[Last modified September 1, 2005, 08:26:09]