2022 Professional Artist Conversation

I am a career nurse, manager and corporate educator turned journalist. In nursing, my particular expertise was in the areas of critical care, pediatrics and post anesthesia care. I have worked for several large medical companies as a sales representative and educator. I won The Daisy Award, a national nursing excellence award, in 2011 and again in 2013. I have been a business owner and entrepreneur in downtown, St Petersburg and a member of the Beach Drive and Downtown Business…… Read More

Jake-ann Jones began her career as an actress and performance artist at The New York Shakespeare Festival, Ohio Theatre, Soho Rep, Aaron Davis Hall, Dixon Place, Company One, and Penumbra Theatre.  She performed the lead role in Bridgett Davis’ award-winning independent feature film Naked Acts. Jones’ writing for stage includes Portrait of The Artist as A Soul Man Dead (Penumbra Theater, St. Paul), Under Frank Observation (New York Theater Workshop), and Magic Kingdom (New Georges/Hourglass Theater Company), and Black Bitches…… Read More

Courtney Elvira is a Mexican-American, mezzo-soprano with her hometown roots in Pinellas County, FL. Courtney began her  career as an opera singer, singing for Dayton Opera; Brava! Opera Theater; Opera Ithaca; Des Moines Metro Opera; Opera Saratoga; Kentucky Opera; Opera Ithaca; St. Petersburg Opera; Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and Savannah Voice Festival. Her awards and honors include winning the West Tennessee District (2020) and Connecticut District Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (2018), and an Encouragement Award from the Iowa…… Read More

(pc: Jeff Cravotta) Sarah Emery is a choreographer, dancer and instructor living in St. Petersburg, FL. New to the area, she has roots in Charlotte, NC and Atlanta, GA. Her work has been set on various companies including Canton Ballet, Delaware Dance Company, Georgia Ballet (in collaboration with Dance Canvas), Open Door Studios and Moving Poets Charlotte. Sarah was the project tier recipient of the Choreography Connection Award through Regional Dance America’s Choreographer Intensive 2017. She has had the privilege…… Read More

Roxanne Fay is an actor, playwright, Artistic Director of Circle in The Water. As playwright, Roxanne has been awarded residency by the Hosking House Trust, Stratford Upon Avon, UK, to complete work on her Shakespeare inspired play, The Deeds Of Mercy. Roxanne was named a 2016 Hawthornden Writers’ Fellow (in residence, Hawthornden Castle, Scotland). Her play, Thrice To Mine (created at Hawthornden) premiered at Bridge Street Theatre (New York) in 2019. She regularly creates new works for the Dali Museum…… Read More

Arts Coast Galleries Artist Since 2005, Jason Hackenwerth has explored the phenomena of temporality and joy through the transformation of ordinary … Read More

Shan Leah’s debut thriller, Thieves, Beasts & Men, was a Finalist for the 2021 American Fiction Awards, a Finalist for the 2021 Shelf Unbound Awards for Best New Fiction and is currently longlisted for the Somerset Prize for Literary and Contemporary Fiction 2021, a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards. She’s also a fine artist and freelance photographer, and her work has been published in numerous books and magazines, including Black & White Magazine, Black+White Photography Magazine, Studio Visit…… Read More

Tamia Iman Kennedy is an up-and-coming filmmaker, focusing on writing, producing and acting. Childhood visits at Blockbuster, Redbox, and local theater’s, is where Kennedy recalls finding her joy in filmmaking. It was also during those times, where she craved to see more stories that resonated with her and the life that she was living. Therefore, her desire to help control the narrative of black people in film and television came as no surprise. After graduating from Florida State University, Kennedy…… Read More

Eileen Marquez recently relocated to the area from Brooklyn, New York. After graduating with a BFA from Florida International University she exhibited her art for over 20 years throughout the New York area and the United States. She was also a docent at the Brooklyn Museum for 10 years where she developed interactive tours of internationally famous artists’ artwork. Eileen is a studio artist and specializes in oil paintings in which she adds elements of collage to her compositions by…… Read More

Rachel Stewart received a BFA in sculpture from Boston University College of Fine Arts and a MA from Union Institute and University. She lived and worked in Jamaica making it her home for twenty years. She taught at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts and exhibited her sculptures in various galleries including the National Gallery of Jamaica. Her collaborative public art murals can be seen in the Springs Plaza in Kingston, Life of Jamaica, and New…… Read More

Frederick Woods (Rootman) is a Florida native who grew up in the small North Florida town of Hampton. From an early age he loved to draw and taught himself by studying the technique of the Old Masters’ paintings. Over time, his own unique approach to art emerged—one that combines many different styles with a modern twist. He considers himself a master storyteller on canvas. Using vibrant colors and bold subjects, Rootman’s art explores the journey of self-discovery, the beauty of…… Read More