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Art blends with business design

By LENNIE BENNETT
Published December 29, 2005

	[Times photo: Bob Croslin]
	"Monet's London: Artists' Reflections on the Thames" visited the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg from January through April.
	[Courtesy of Alfonso Architects]
	An architectural rendering of the proposed Arts Center complex in St. Petersburg shows the Glass House along Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street, with two residential towers in the background.

Many fine exhibitions opened here in 2005 but the big art news was a tale of two cities. Tampa, the larger, wealthier, more corporately endowed municipality, finds itself a distant second to St. Petersburg, which continues to rack up cultural coups. Right now, it's all about growth potential. Here are the top art stories of 2005:

1. The Tampa Museum of Art

The Tampa Museum has both the greatest need for new space and the toughest time getting it. Even casual observers by now know the saga that has pitted Mayor Pam Iorio against museum leaders, the collapse of plans for a new riverfront facility and the Federal Courthouse fiasco, with great thrashing around and millions spent, all to no apparent purpose.

The fundamental problem is that the mayor and museum leaders do not share a clear vision for a new museum beyond saying they all want one as soon as possible. Iorio wants a quick fix that will validate her as an arts-friendly mayor; the trustees want one, too, so their fundraising momentum won't be diminished. The current favorite solution is to put the museum in downtown space along Ashley Drive that was designed for offices, not artwork, and questions about its cost may kill the idea (and probably should). Veteran museum executive Ken Rollins, pragmatic and politically savvy, is the interim director with the challenge of shepherding the process. He has the ability to get everyone to acknowledge the issues and maybe slow things down. We continue to ask: Can Tampa leaders have the foresight to build a museum worthy of their city? If it takes 10 years instead of two, so be it. Stay tuned.

What started decades ago as a small, community-based educational facility in St. Petersburg gave us some of the best news of the year. Dale Chihuly, the wildly popular studio glass artist, chose the Arts Center as the site for a museum-quality gallery with a permanent collection of his large installations. It will be the only one of its kind in the world. The Dale Chihuly Collection will be part of a major expansion of the Arts Center a block west of its current location on Central Avenue at Seventh Street. The collection is expected to be a major tourist draw on the same scale as the nearby Salvador Dali Museum.

The new $20-million Arts Center will also feature a Hot Shop that will present glass-blowing demonstrations in a 100-seat auditorium, complementing the dramatic Chihuly installations.

The Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg elevated its stature in 2005 with "Monet's London: Artists' Reflections on the Thames," proving that a small, regional museum can organize a prestigious exhibition that is both a local blockbuster and a scholarly exhibition respected by the larger art world. Curator Jennifer Hardin negotiated loans of important art from major institutions worldwide, and she and museum director John Schloder brokered deals to lend the exhibition to other institutions. "Monet's London" brought crowds to the downtown waterfront museum, made a hefty profit and garnered good reviews from national publications.

Every major museum in west-central Florida is growing, following a national trend that has seen dozens of large museums across the country increasing their square footage.

A visitors center, library and new wing are under construction at the John and Mable Ringling Museum in Sarasota, scheduled to open in early 2007. The Tibbles Learning Center at the Ringling's Circus Museum opens in January.

The Museum of Fine Arts is more than halfway to its fundraising goal of $15-million that will pay for more gallery and educational space.

The Salvador Dali Museum is also raising money to move to a larger facility to be built next to the Mahaffey Theater in downtown St. Petersburg.

One exception: The Florida International Museum in St. Petersburg downsized from several hundred thousand square feet in an old downtown department store to about 8,000 square feet around the corner, acknowledging its changed circumstances from a blockbuster presenter to a more modest exhibition hall.

- Lennie Bennett can be reached at 727 893-8293 or lennie@sptimes.com

[Last modified December 28, 2005, 09:18:06]