Hyde Park Village Art Fair Includes Juried Show With Original Works
Photo courtesy of Marisa Meier
Wesley Chapel Artist Marisa Meier somehow manages to paint while holding her youngest child.
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Published: September 24, 2008
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TAMPA - A popular art and craft show is returning to South Tampa for the 19th year, and you can stroll around the Hyde Park Village Art Fair for free from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
The juried show will fill Snow Avenue and Snow Circle with original art by 150 local, national and international artists. Prices range from $25 for hand-fashioned earrings to $20,000 for an original metal sculpture.
Wesley Chapel artist Marisa Meier is one of the featured artists. Her painting "Reflections of Beauty" was selected by the festival's promoter, Howard Alan Events, to be its advertising poster for the season.
The painting shows a woman wearing sunglasses that reflect the tents and people of an art festival.
"They'll use it as their backdrop picture for all their shows in the upcoming season in the Florida area and maybe elsewhere," Meier said.
Best known for her large, vibrant floral paintings, Meier now is trying to create paintings that make a statement or tell a story.
"I want to make an impression and do something that is one of a kind, something that would stick in people's minds," she said.
Take, for instance, her painting "Death by Chocolate."
"It resonates with a lot of women because it's a metaphor that everybody knows," Meier said. "People come up and look at the painting and chuckle."
The mother of three young children, Meier recently started teaching art classes for ages 2 to 12 in an after-school program. She will bring her children to the Hyde Park show.
"I love having them with me, and a lot of people like to see a working mom at work," she said. "And the kids like it. They love art, and my daughter is starting to draw and get into art."
To learn more about Meier's art and teaching, go to www.operadarteweb.com.
Another featured artist is Sherry Fennessy of Dunedin, who imports glass from Murano, Italy, to make glass beads in a process called lamp working.
"I make it in the same tradition as people have been making it for centuries, although my torch is a little more updated," she said.
This will be her third or fourth time in the Hyde Park festival. She's not sure.
"When you use a torch every day, you feel like you're frying your brains," she joked.
To learn more about Fennessy, go to www.sherry fennessy.com.
For details on the art show, go to www.artfestival.com.
'Deep Carnivale' Celebrates Words
For the second year in a row, the Artists and Writers Group presents "Deep Carnivale," a festival celebrating Florida authors and the written word in its many forms, including poetry, fiction and songwriting. There's also some visual art in the mix.
From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, the free event will take place at several Ybor City locations, including the Ybor City campus of Hillsborough Community College and the Cuban Club, 2010 Avenida República de Cuba, and along 14th Street.
There will be six stages for readings and music by local songwriters. Literacy and art activities will be available for children and adults. Some workshops require a fee.
The art is provided by students and artists from Tampa and St. Petersburg.
"We're using the ballroom of the Cuban Club to create a 'sculpture garden,' a number of free-standing pieces," said David Audet, event director and a participating artist. "Bradley Arthur is going to do some shadow art and Christopher Weeks is doing some flat art that is word- and page-oriented. All the art is referencing books or words or letters of the alphabet."
The exact nature of the visual art is not settled yet.
"It's the usual, 'Let's see what happens when we put it up,'" Audet said. "I think I'm doing something with Barbie dolls and books. It should be interesting."
The other participating artists are Doreen Horn, Lisa Harasiuk, Eric Lawson, Charlotte Lee, Elio Lopez, Carolyn Kossar, Laura Mendez and Tracy Midulla-Reller.
For details, go to www.deepcarnivale.com
Partnership Nets New Art Classes
A new affiliation between the Tampa Museum of Art and the Life Enrichment Center will result in art classes for adults.
The museum is providing the space, and the center is providing instructors and handling the registration process, said Dawn Johnson, the museum's curator of education. "It's really a benefit to us because it brings a new audience to the museum," she said.
The museum previously has offered classes for children.
Starting in October, the first adult class will be on watercolors, taught by Frank Bolock. Plans include classes in writing, drawing and acrylics. All skill levels will be welcome.
For information or to register, call the center at (813) 932-0241 or visit www.lifeenrichmenttampa.org.
Correspondent Esther Hammer can be reached at (813) 259-7662 or ehammer@tampatrib.com.
