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Art

Prized art of Gasparilla

More than $90,000 in prize money and artwork has been awarded to various artists at the festival downtown.

By EMILY NIPPS and STEPHANIE HAYES
Published March 5, 2006

TAMPA - You could say Kim Radatz fared pretty well at her first art festival. She walked away with a $15,000 prize.

Radatz, a full-time Valrico studio artist, took top honors at Saturday's 36th Annual Gasparilla Festival of the Arts. Juror Neil Watson named her mixed media piece, The Scarlet Letter, best of show.

The winning selection was a three-dimensional piece - a child's dress made from sewing patterns, hanging on a large red board over painted eggshells - priced at $500. Radatz said her work uses the metaphor of "clothes as a home for the body."

It was Radatz's first foray into the competitive art scene. She has been developing her collection since 2004. Recently, she decided to apply for Gasparilla.

"I belong to a group of women artists," she said. "Last spring, I told them, "This is going to be the year.' "

The festival, which continues today, drew thousands of people who strolled through downtown Tampa, browsing and purchasing art that ranged from stark and whimsical to blunt and ambiguous. Some artists expressed themselves with metal or chalk or string, while others chose more profitable works such as purses made out of vinyl records or puppets that looked like the Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia or Mohandas Gandhi.

But few artists evoked such a varied and passionate response as Steve Shepard, whose large anti-Republican colored pencil drawings were inscribed with messages such as, "100 percent of all racists who vote vote Republican" and "Saddam Hussein tortures prisoners; Bush tortures prisoners."

Some onlookers walked by and praised Shepard's work. Some cursed him loudly and repeatedly. Shepard didn't mind either response.

"People can't ignore it," he said.

The Mississippi artist said he used to do "anti-real estate developer" art, which was always a hit because "most people hate real estate developers." But then he came to the conclusion that "all real estate developers are Republican," so why not just do anti-Republican art?

Other artists stuck with less controversial and more salable pieces, such as wooden jewelry boxes, glass vases and photographs of Florida scenes. One of the more popular attractions was Mary Proctor's folk art, made up of large wooden doors or boards painted with colorful dancing figures and scribbled with grandmother-inspired phrases and words.

It was the Tallahassee artist's sixth visit to the festival and her 10th year as an artist. She said she was inspired to begin painting after her grandmother was killed in a house fire in 1995.

More than $90,000 in prize money and artwork was awarded to various artists selected by Watson, the festival's juror and a former curator of the Tampa Museum of Art. Prize money was donated by sponsors, including Raymond James Financial, Target and the city of Tampa.

The festival also had a children's activity, where kids stood under a shady tent and pounded and prodded blobs of red clay. There was a young artists showcase, filled with paintings, sculptures and photography created by art students at local schools.

But the biggest crowds were at the food and beer tents. People lined up in the hot sun to buy butterfly fries, kettle corn, corn dogs and lemonade, then found shady spots to sit and eat.

The festival continues today, 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., at Lykes Gaslight Square Park. View juried selections ins the TECO building, 702 N Franklin St., from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m.

[Last modified March 5, 2006, 00:52:12]