Three shows opening today

By MARY ANN MARGER

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 12, 2000

ARTLINK -- Pair 25 professional artists with 25 developmentally challenged students through three community arts groups based in St. Petersburg, and you have Artlink, an inspired environment for making and viewing art. The results go on view today, 5-7:30 p.m. at Florida Craftsmen, 501 Central Ave., (727) 821-7391, and 7-10 p.m. at the Museum of Fine Arts, 255 Beach Dr. NE, (727) 896-2667. Or you can see the Florida Craftsmen segment during Saturday's Taste of the Arts, and the museum segment Sunday when Barbara Ehrlich White of Tufts University speaks on great artists who met challenges (Renoir, Kahlo, others). Both shows run through June 30 during regular gallery hours. While at the museum, see (or see again) the special show of Croatian naive art, through May 28. Florida Craftsmen is free; the museum charges admission ($8 adults).

ARTS CENTER -- Three shows of exceptional promise open with a reception, 5:30-7:30 tonight at the Arts Center, 719 Central Ave., St. Petersburg. Freelance curator Janis Karam Gallo has assembled works by three young Latin American artists, Demi, Arturo Rodriguez and Victoria Gitman, who each interpret the figure as part of a greater message. Tampa Museum of Art director Emily Kass has selected 43 small works by artists throughout the United States in a show titled "Metal Marvels." And popular area ceramist Russ Gustafson-Hilton shows a new direction in non-functional vessels. The shows run through June 30 during hours 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon-4 p.m. Sunday. Free. 719 Central Ave., St. Petersburg; phone (727) 822-7872.

DIGITAL ART -- The Digital Fine Artists Association, a not-for-profit group promoting digital art, exhibits computer-aided imagery, opening with a reception, 5-7 p.m. today at Selby Gallery at the Ringling School of Art and Design. Also on view are selections from Arline Erdrich's exhibit that previously appeared in Pinellas County at the Gulf Coast Museum of Art. The shows continue through June 9 during hours 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Free. The gallery is on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way, one block east of 2700 N Tamiami Trail, Sarasota; (941) 359-7563.

Fame game

St. Petersburg watercolor artist Jean Grastorf's painting, South on Fifth II, won an award in this year's exhibit of the American Watercolor Society, the nation's most prestigious group of artists using the medium. South Pasadena artist Neil Adamson is also exhibiting. Grastorf, an AWS signature member, was named a director of the AWS in April. ... Tampa wood crafter Fraser Smith was one of only 43 artists to receive a NICHE award at the Philadelphia Buyers Market in February -- and he won two. Judging was from more than 1,000 entries. ... Dunedin artist Brooke Allison's painting, Clouds, won first prize in pastel in the Catherine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club competition at the Broome Street Gallery, New York. The show runs through Sunday.

Opportunity in the arts

Nominations are open to the public for Florida Arts Recognition and Hall of Fame Awards 2001, a recognition by the State of Florida for significant contribution to advancing any discipline of the arts, either through lifetime commitment or recent major achievement. Nominees for Arts Recognition awards may be patrons, educators, elected officials or organizations; past winners from the bay area include James and Ann McKeel Ross and Eleanor and A. Reynolds Morse. Hall of Fame awards are given to living or deceased performing or practicing artists for significant contribution to the arts in Florida. Past winners include James Rosenquist, Clyde Butcher and Zora Neale Hurston. Nominations are reviewed by the Florida Arts Council; recommendations are approved by the secretary of state. For a nomination form, write Florida Arts Recognition Awards or Artists Hall of Fame, Division of Cultural Affairs, Florida Department of State, the Capitol, Tallahassee, FL 32399-0250, or call (850) 487-2980; fax (850) 922-5259; Web site http://www.dos.state.fl.us. Deadline is June 30.

Ongoing and upcoming

Saturday, 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m., and Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. -- Mayfaire by-the-Lake, Lake Morton, Lakeland. Mother's Day weekend show unofficially ends the outdoor show season. (863) 688-7743.