Meet the Grantees

By Emily Stehle

2020: NOT THE BEST YEAR Blog #1, Nov. 4, 2020 I have to admit, 2020 has not been a stellar year for most of us. But it is the year… Read More

By Lea Umberger

By Lea Umberger You may have heard/ read in my previous blog that Listen Up Film Series hit it 2nd Anniversary and we are celebrating by teaming with Oscilloscope Laboratories… Read More

By Tatiana Baccari

By Tatiana Baccari   How long does it take to write a play? For some, they write a play in 24 hours. For others, it can take weeks, months, even… Read More

By Takeya Trayer

A Petrified Forest   The trunks and branches bare no leaves The trees still made sound The wicked wind from the West huffed and puffed The roots held tight to… Read More

By Yuly Restrepo

Emerging Artists Paint a Vivid Picture of the 2021 Emerging Artists Exhibition When I walked into the Creative Pinellas Gallery on Wednesday, July 14 for the opening of the 2021… Read More

By Chelsea Catherine

Emerging Artists Paint a Vivid Picture of the 2021 Emerging Artists Exhibition Writing has always been a solitary pursuit for me. I’m an only child of much older parents and… Read More

By Emily Lee Stehle

We were done with Blog #25, so I thought. But some things have happened since then that will complete Part 1 of my Emerging Artist journey. My story, my work… Read More

By Marie Cummings

The Art show at Creative Pinellas is over. The paintings I created for the show are down and neatly packed into my small studio. Now I’m pondering the question, “Where… Read More

By Marie Cummings

A month after it was delivered I received a facebook message from CalNY asking me if  the painting “Huey Tiatoani” was still available for purchase.  I confess I do not… Read More

By Heather Rippert

What can I say about my Dad? I could speak for hours and hours about him and about our relationship. I’ll do my best to give a deep glimpse into… Read More

By Heather Rippert

Ricks & Rippert, a friendship steeped in forever… Kellie Ricks and I met in art school at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in 1989. Kellie’s roommate, Tracy, was in… Read More

By Kayte and Adam Bush

When my words flood out onto the page, someone’s paint splatters across a canvas or melodic tunes drift by on a whisper of the wind only the musician can hear…… Read More

By Jenipher Chandley

As the Emerging Artist 2023 exhibition draws to a close, I find myself eagerly looking forward to what lies ahead in my artistic journey. This transformative experience has provided me… Read More

By Jenipher Chandley

As an artist who has walked the path of emergence, I understand the excitement, passion, and uncertainty that comes with beginning a career in the art world. Many newer artists… Read More

By Jenipher Chandley

As I reflect on my journey as an emerging artist in 2023, I can’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of excitement and gratitude upon receiving the prestigious grant. This… Read More

By Jenipher Chandley

As a young girl, my journey as a visual artist began with a profound fascination for the Romanticism period of art. The use of symbolism and metaphors in the masterpieces… Read More

By Marie Cummings

I believe that every person is creative. We are born that way. Art comes from our souls; it is sacred and therefore there are no “mistakes.” I encourage my students… Read More

By Antonia Lewandowski

The Push in the Pushcart Prize We who submit work to publishers, agents, magazines and literary journals know the odds. Nearly everything comes back with – generally – a polite… Read More

By Antonia Lewandowski

Not Just a Decoration The comma, that is. Commas, and punctuation in general, confuse many people. Maybe that’s why students and some writers avoid using them. I’ve been seeing more… Read More

By Luci Westphal

As our 2024 Emerging Artist Grant Cycle comes to a close (this is the last week, you can see our group exhibit), I want to highlight and celebrate one of… Read More

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

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

By Creative Pinellas

New Funding Opportunity for Pinellas Arts Organizations and Professional Artists.
Get ready to apply to Creative Pinellas’ Pinellas Recovers grants funded through the National Endowment for the Arts. 
Creative Pinellas is excited to announce applications for Pinellas Recovers grants will open online on February 1 at 3PM…. Read More

By Sheila Cowley

July 20. . . Reading and Revising This week I get a new version of Dancing together, thanks to feedback from the teacher and students of the PlayPenn New Play… Read More

By Sheila Cowley

April 20. . . Trio, Duck, Perception Shift Sending scripts out to development and production opportunities this week, like every week, and working on rewrites of The Burlesque Astronomy Play…. Read More

By Sheila Cowley

March 16. . .  GASP!   When David Warner asked Helen Hansen French and I last fall to come up with an outdoor dance-theatre piece for  Creative Loafing’s GASP! Festival,… Read More

By Sarah Emery

pc: Sorcha Augustine I have been teaching dance for 20+ years. When the pandemic happened, like many others, I took time to assess what I wanted for my life and… Read More

By JasonHackenwerth

The symbols happen spontaneously but are edited with consideration. Many of the marks I make even in the form of numbers, letters, or words happen spontaneously. There is often an… Read More

By JasonHackenwerth

Making Huge Paintings Is Exciting But The Challenges Are Just As Big An important component of my DARKMATTER exhibition are the four extra-large paintings. When guests walk in to the… Read More

By Courtney Elvira

After a very active summer full of self-tape auditions and successful bookings (I booked a SAG film, but I’ll get to that in a future post), I figured I should… Read More

By Paula Kramer

September 8, 2020 BLOG #7 HAPPY NEW YEAR a Sparks Collaborative Film By PAULA KRAMER . . . Well, our interdisciplinary project has Sparked a wild, loop-the-loop ride through time… Read More

By Tenea Johnson

Well that went quickly. Already it’s time for the last blog post. The last 5 months have been packed with events both personal and professional. I’ve appreciated the opportunity to… Read More

By Don Gialanella

By Don Gialanella Too Modest? An anti–artist‘s statement for my last blog entry! Self deprecating and satirical, from the point of an artist with impostor syndrome. Donald was born on a dark… Read More

By Tenea Johnson

Writing speculative fiction acquaints one with liminal spaces: where things come to be, areas of transition. Luckily that’s one of my favorite places to be.  Again I find myself in… Read More

By Tenea Johnson

August 2021 | By Tenea D. Johnson   An artistic career demands many decisions that enable one to create before you can even get to the decisions in the creative… Read More

By Kaitlin Murphy-Knudsen

August 2021 | By Kaitlin Murphy-Knudsen Looking Outward – Seeing Creativity in the People Around You   One of the best things about teaching and coaching writers is witnessing that… Read More

By Jake-ann Jones

The year of my fellowship is almost ending, if it hasn’t already. But the experience has been absolutely stellar for me. I delved deeper into incredible and impactful Tampa Bay… Read More

By Courtney Elvira

September marks the beginning of the opera audition season! Let the singing begin! So, I’ve touched upon opera auditions briefly before in past blogs, but I figured I’d break down… Read More

By Courtney Elvira

Broadway Bound was a MASSIVE success. Now that we finished our final show on Sunday (back-to-back performances, I might add), I’ve had time to relax and reflect on this amazing… Read More

By Tamia Iman Kennedy

Earlier this year, I had the privilege of visiting the National Museum of African American History & Culture and it was honestly the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in… Read More

By Roxanne Fay

Most of us will recognize the romanticized image of the tortured artist, suffering for their creative life. Artists have famously struggled with their mental health- Vincent van Gogh. Kurt Cobain…. Read More

By Elizabeth Barenis

As the grant period draws to a close, I look back at the past five months in gratitude to Creative Pinellas for their continued support of my journey as a… Read More

By Elizabeth Barenis

There’s nothing quite like the threat of losing everything to shake up one’s life. My first major hurricane experience came in 2017, when Irma was headed straight for us as… Read More

By Andee Scott

First of all, thank you. Thank you to Creative Pinellas for the incredible support you provide for artists in Pinellas County. Thank you in particular to Charlene Harrison. Charlene, please… Read More

By Andee Scott

Video: The Shape of Memory (excerpt) I created this piece for my mother in the spring of 2023. I am so grateful that I have a place to put all… Read More

By Andee Scott

Another project I have on the horizon is the commission of a new duet from renowned San Francisco-based choreographer, Robert Moses, for Bliss Kohlmyer and myself. We applied for and… Read More