The Emerging Artist Grant aims to support and build meaningful relationships among the outstanding creative artists in Pinellas County and their audiences. It provides a solid foundation to nurture the creative community and elevate Pinellas as an art and cultural destination that draws tourists worldwide.
With this focus in mind, Creative Pinellas provides up to ten grants for artists who are emerging in their artistic practice. Grantees will be assigned an artist mentor to help develop new artwork for the Emerging Artist Exhibition (EAE) in the Spring of 2024.
Meet the Artists
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David McCauley
By David McCauley
David McCauley is an interdisciplinary artist based in St Petersburg, FL. Since 2012, he has founded multiple 501c3 organizations such as the Rise Up Gallery, Laundromat Art Space, Artillery Residency… Read More
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Fran Failla
By Fran Failla
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Fran’s personal artistic journey began at a very early age. Given the opportunity in elementary school to take up painting, she quickly showed a special… Read More
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Thomas Sayers Ellis
By Thomas Sayers Ellis
Poet, photographer, and bandleader Thomas Sayers Ellis is the author of The Maverick Room and Skin, Inc,: Identity Repair Poems, He co-founded The Dark Room Collective and The Dark Room… Read More
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Antonia Lewandowski
By Antonia Lewandowski
Growing up in the multi-lingual Yorkville section of New York City during the Fifties, Antonia Lewandowski had an easy walk to museums and libraries, concerts in Central Park, and East… Read More
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Tyler Gillespie
By Tyler Gillespie
Tyler Gillespie is an award-winning writer and educator. He’s written for Rolling Stone, GQ, The Washington Post, The Nation, Salon, and Playboy. His poetry appears in anthologies such as In… Read More
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Gaby Rosa
By Gabriela Rosa
For the past five years, Gaby Rosa has blazed a trail as a full-time, professional fire and circus performer. Her journey commenced with fire dancing, a mesmerizing art form that… Read More
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Kaitlin Crockett
By Kaitlin Crockett
Kaitlin Crockett is a printmaker, writer, book artist, educator, librarian, and owner of Print St. Pete. Primarily using analog methods like Letterpress and Risograph printmaking, she creates zines, publications, broadsides,… Read More
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Vanessa Cunto
By Vanessa Cunto
Vanessa is a Florida native and local artist here in the city of St. Petersburg. She has always placed creativity at the core of her life, from her formative years… Read More
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Luci Westphal
By Luci Westphal
Luci Westphal is an award-winning filmmaker, photographer, writer, and social artist with a focus on biophilic art to enhance people’s well-being by connecting with the outdoors through art, especially in… Read More
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Harriet Monzon-Aguirre
By Harriet Monzon-Aguirre
Harriet Monzon-Aguirre is an oil painter and aspiring surface pattern designer creating out of Bahia Studios in Safety Harbor. She spent her early childhood and formative years on the Caribbean… Read More
Follow their Story
![](https://creativepinellas.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Beowulf-350x200.jpeg)
Why Poetry?
By Antonia Lewandowski
Why Poetry? A better question might be, why not? The story forms we currently rely on are video games, streaming, and maybe reality shows that package how we live or… Read More
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Making-of Video and Art Talk for “Public Walls and In-Between Spaces” Installation
By Luci Westphal
On June 1st, I hosted an artist talk about my interactive mixed-media installation at the Creative Pinellas Gallery. As much as the opening reception in May was the highlight of… Read More
![](https://creativepinellas.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/fi-1-350x200.png)
Planned Obsolescence
By Vanessa Cunto
Here in St. Petersburg, we are incredibly fortunate to host a museum dedicated to the Arts and Crafts Movement. This museum is a testament to a period that emphasized the… Read More
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A Foot Forward
By Antonia Lewandowski
Putting My Foot Forward Early in February, while most people were thinking about hearts, flowers, and chocolate, I was paying attention to the color gray – specifically the dull gray… Read More
![writing on the public walls and in-between spaces installation at Creative Pinellas](https://creativepinellas.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Walls_Text-LuciWest-0700-350x200.jpg)
Your Thoughts, Feelings, and Actions Inside In-Between Spaces
By Luci Westphal
If you have seen the installation I created for the 2024 Emerging Artists Exhibit, then you probably know it’s a growing, changing, and interactive artwork. There three main dynamic aspects… Read More
Learn more about the Grant
Emerging Artist Grant 24
The Emerging Artist Grant aims to support and build meaningful relationships among the outstanding creative artists in Pinellas County and their audiences. It provides a solid foundation to nurture the creative community and elevate Pinellas as an art and cultural destination that draws tourists worldwide…. Read More
Events
2024 Emerging Artist Exhibition: Opening Reception
Step into the world of creativity at the opening reception of the 2024 Emerging Artist Exhibition at the Gallery at Creative Pinellas happening Thursday, May 9 from 6–8pm…. Read More
2024 Emerging Artist Exhibition
Discover the next wave of artists! Join us for a diverse and innovative exhibition of work showcasing the dynamic creations of our 2024 Emerging Artist grant recipients. This eighth annual… Read More
2024 Emerging Artist Exhibition – Artist Talks
From visual art to poetry to fire dancing, Artist Talks invite you to get to know the 2024 Emerging Artists through performances, readings, lectures, and intimate conversations at The Gallery at Creative Pinellas…. Read More
Archive of Emerging Artists
Emerging Artist Grant 23
Creative Pinellas is excited to announce the Emerging Artist Grantees of 2023!… Read More
Emerging Artist Grant 22
Creative Pinellas proudly congratulates this year’s group of award-winning grantees! Dorian Angello, Adam & Kayte Bush, Jon Ditty, Alex Kaufman, Teresa Mandala, Rachel Ratcliff, Heather Rippert, Ashley Rivers, Ketsy Ruiz,… Read More
Emerging Artist Grant 21
Emerging Artist Grants are designed to assist artists early in their career with the tools to make the leap to their next step as professional artists. Each year Creative Pinellas… Read More