Friend of a Friend S1:E2

Featuring Akiko Kotani & Babs Reingold

A new monthly interview series from Creative Pinellas drawing connections between artists, inspirations, friends and mentors, showcasing the individuals that together make a creative community. Each month an artist interviews another artist in Pinellas County that has been an inspiration to them. The next month the interviewee becomes the interviewer, speaking with a Pinellas artist that has inspired them in turn. In the second of this series, artist Akiko Kotani welcomes her friend and colleague Babs Reingold.

Akiko Kotani born in Waipahu, Hawaii received her BFA in painting from the University of Hawaii and her MFA in textiles from the Tyler School of Art, Elkins Park, PA. Now residing in Gulfport, FL she spent her former years as Professor Emerita of Art at Slippery Rock University, PA and two years at Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey. Her work is in the permanent collection of several private and public museums including the Cleveland Museum of Art, OH and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY. Her work is currently represented by Leslie Curran Gallery, St. Petersburg, FL. Akiko was chosen as the Creative Pinellas Artist Laureate in 2019.

Venezuela-born American artist Babs Reingold creates sculptures, drawings and installations, focusing on the environment, poverty and beauty. Reingold has an extensive showing history with solo and group exhibits in galleries and museums from New York to Los Angeles and internationally. Recent exhibits include Water Over the Bridge: Contemporary Seascapes – Morean Art Center • Planet Ax4+1 – David & Schweitzer Gallery Brooklyn NY • Skyway: A Contemporary Collaboration – St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts. Her installation, The Last Tree a solo exhibit had a six-month run at Burchfield Penney Art Center Buffalo NY. It had debuted earlier at the ISE Cultural Foundation in SOHO NY. Reingold has work in the permanent collections of the Newark Museum, Museum of Fine Arts St Petersburg, countless private collections, including the Savannah College of Art and Design.