 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Art space
By BABITA PERSAUD © St. Petersburg Times, published June 30, 2001
He said the painting, along with others the government found offensive, got him kicked out of the country about 10 years ago. "They went to my house and cuffed me," he said. He came to Florida, and eventually to Tampa, searching for a place to do his art. Three years ago, he found a new art colony called the West Tampa Art Studio. Word of mouth has led many artists to this 110-year-old building that once housed a cigar factory. Friday, the artists had their first open house. In the rain, dozens came out to the show, where oil paintings of nudes and black-and-white photographs of wig shops hung on white brick walls in the warehouselike, three-story building at Armenia and Cypress, near the interstate. If the story of artists occupying old cigar warehouses sounds familiar, it is because Ybor once was the gathering spot for artists. In the 1970s, Bohemian artists with little money and a lot of talent collected in the spaces along Seventh Avenue. High rents eventually forced them out. The West Tampa space was first settled by painter Alex Espalter-Torres. It was affordable, he said, "where you could drop paint on the floor and no one would care." Known as the Ellis Van Pelt Building, it doesn't look like much on the outside. Windows are boarded up. An iron fence surrounds it. The parking lot is gravel. Other tenants include architects and accountants. Inside, though, the hardwood floors and white brick walls in the long hallways are a perfect backdrop to display vivid, colorful paintings or black and white photography. Dark wooden doors lead to individual studios, which are the size of a large bedroom. So far, there are about a dozen artists that work here, such as abstract painter Oliver Norden, originally from Belgium, and photographer Maida Millan, whose pictures, such as the one featuring cigar smoking domino players, capture West Tampa. The collective space is different than many others in the city because it is occupied by professional painters and photographers. "No Sunday painters," said Torres. Artists like the collective space because they can open their doors, walk out and share ideas. Or they can put up a "Do not disturb' sign and no one will think they are rude. They also like not having to give a gallery a cut when they sell their work. "There is an energy here," Portieles said.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From the Times Sandra Thompson |
