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New directors to move arts forward
The Tampa Gallery of Photographic Arts and Florida Craftsmen Gallery get new leaders.
By LENNIE BENNETT
Published January 18, 2006
Two new arts appointments should add more energy to the area mix. Joanne Milani has been named director of the Tampa Gallery of Photographic Arts, and Maria Emilia (formerly known as Maria Castagliola) will take over the top job at Florida Craftsmen Gallery in St. Petersburg.
Milani was the visual and performing arts critic for the Tampa Tribune for 13 years until her resignation in 2004. Prior to that she was registrar at the Gallery of Modern Art and assistant to the director of the Museum of Contemporary Crafts, both in New York. She holds a degree in art history from Vassar College.
Emilia is a well-known St. Petersburg-based artist with work in the permanent collections of several national museums, including the Smithsonian. She has taught art at the University of South Florida and the Ringling School of Art and Design and organized community-based art awareness programs for Smith & Nephew from 1997 to 2000. She completed a master of fine arts degree at USF in 1987.
Both women say a priority will be space issues, though Milani's will be more challenging. The Tampa Gallery is a small museum that rents a storefront at 1628 Snow Circle in Old Hyde Park Village.
"We need a permanent home," she said. "Either here in Old Hyde Park or downtown Tampa, where all the action is going to be."
Milani is the gallery's first official director; since it opened four years ago, founders Charles Levine and Vincent Sorentino have overseen it.
Florida Craftsmen Gallery, at 501 Central Ave., acquired additional space two years ago for more exhibition galleries. Emilia says she hopes a reconfiguration will allow even more exhibition and retail area.
"We're a statewide organization of several thousand artists," Emilia said. "Our job is to meet their needs."
She succeeds Lisa Marie Confessori, who resigned in May 2005.
[Last modified January 18, 2006, 01:37:50]
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