A Conversation with Rob Davidson, of Davidson Fine Art Gallery about the St. Pete Arts Scene Part 4

To get some perspective about the St. Pete Arts scene, earlier in the month I sat down with Rob

Davidson and his staff of Davidson's Fine Art Gallery to get the view of a long time member of the St. Petersburg Arts scene.

This is the fourth of a 5 Post series where Rob Davidson talks about his Gallery, the Arts in St. Pete and how he sees the future of the arts in St. Petersburg. 

My Questions are in Bold

"Have the "art walks" been successful for you?" I began.

"You know, we used to be on the Trolley stop and it never really did anything for us. We had nights where there would be two or three people all night long so we dropped off of that. I am considering getting back into it since it looks like they are putting a little more effort into the program."

What do you think it will take to move the St. Pete arts district to the next level?

"I think you have got to stay with the grass roots thing," Rob replied.

 "I don't think we should try to become Miami or something. I think what the City needs to do is to do more projects with artists, taking buildings that the City owns and turning them into communal artist spaces. I know there is already doing something like this but they need to do more of that."

"Then instead of gentrifying a neighborhood by moving the art scene in and then jacking the rents up like they did in the 600 block. That place is going to get hollowed out because they jacked up the

A Conversation with Rob Davidson, of Davidson Fine Art Gallery about St. Pete Arts Scene Part 3

To get some perspective about the St. Pete Arts scene, earlier in the month I sat down with Rob Davidson and his staff of Davidson's Fine Art Gallery to get the view of a long time member of the St. Petersburg Arts scene.

This is the third of a 5 Post series where Rob Davidson talks about his Gallery, the Arts in St. Pete and how he sees the future of the arts in St. Petersburg. 

My Questions are in Bold

"Let's talk about the St. Pete art scene. From your perspective, how are things going in the arts district." I asked?

Rob begins, "I think it's great. I think it is a real grass roots kind of thing it's happening on its own. It's not like the City is saying, let's start a bunch of galleries up and down Central Avenue, it's just kind of happening."

"I think the City kind of likes to attach to that, but it's happening on its own. I don't think the City is driving the arts scene, the arts scene is driving the City."

"I am getting people through the doors that come in for the art supplies that say I was living in California and I just like St. Pete and I moved here for the art."

Rob continues, "I think there is this kind of grass roots thing that is happening with all of these artists coming together combined with a low cost of living and nice weather, along with everything else this area has going for it.  So you can be a new artist and come here and it's not like going to Manhattan or something and stepping off the bus and saying ok whose going to show my work?"

"Here you will find someone to show your work. There are enough small galleries here that if you

A Conversation with Rob Davidson, of Davidson Fine Art Gallery, and his staff about the St. Pete Arts Scene Part 2

Opinion by: E. Eugene Webb

To get some perspective about the St. Pete Arts scene, earlier in the month I sat down with Rob Davidson and his staff of Davidson's Fine Art Gallery to get the view of a long time member of the St. Petersburg Arts scene.

This is the second of a 5 Post series where Rob Davidson talks about his Gallery, the Arts in St. Pete and how he sees the future of the arts in St. Petersburg. 

My Questions are in Bold

"I was very impressed by the Gallery first time I was in, how long has the Gallery been functioning," I began?

 "We have been here a little over a year now", Rob replied. "We had a Gallery in the other location but this Gallery took a little while to get set up and functioning. We have done a couple of shows, we did a show last summer. Now we are just starting to get to the point where we have figured out how we are going to use the display space. We going to revamp the gallery space and change some of the displays to make it a little more obvious we have a gallery and make it a little more inviting for our customers." 

I asked Erin O'Malley, Gallery Manager, "Who is currently on exhibit and what is coming in the near future?"

The current artist on display is Laura Monroe-Duprey," Erin replied. She is an artist that works in pastels and as you can see she does a lot of work with children and animals. These are enigmatic narratives that have a little mystery to them because you can look into them and keep looking and questioning. They are not as immediate as they might seem at first which is what draws people to her work."

"Which is why we named the show The Second Story," Rob Added.

"Coming up I have been talking to Emily Ayres an artist in art administration over at Eckerd College. She's been making art for many years and does really interesting printmaking, mixed media work that deals with identity in sort of surreal way." Erin continued.

"We have also made a commitment to do a show with Charles Axt who is another long time local artist. He previously worked in sculpture and now does very interesting contemporary collage works which will be the feature of the upcoming show."

"We also put out a Bay Area wide call to artists and are accepting submissions from artists who would like to show their work in our gallery. I am really interested in showing work that isn't typical to what you would normally see in a St. Pete Gallery."

"I am looking for something striking that really gets to people and would cause them to talk about it; pieces that would give the Davidson Fine Art Gallery a reputation for having interesting work. I

Beer we go again

It's that time of year again.  The state legislature is ramping up for the 2015 session, and for the 3rd year in a row, big bland beer wants to use their power, money and clout to squash the craft brewers from selling a better product.

We covered the attempts of big bland beer distributors to hamper the local craft brewers over the last couple of years in Crony Beer and Tears for Beer.

Last month, we were getting some reports that were cautiously optimistic.

The head of the trade group for Florida’s Anheuser-Busch beer distributors announced support Monday for a repeal of the state ban on 64-ounce growlers, the refillable jugs used to take home craft beer on tap.

Recall over the last two years the instigation of these recurring battles is the craft brewers desire to sell "growlers", a 64 ounce jug of beer for customers to purchase fresh beer and enjoy at home. Florida allows 32 and 128 ounce jugs, but inexplicably cannot allow for 64 ounce jugs.

Big bland beer then jumped in to strike a deal with the politicians, apparently feeling threatened by the small brewery on the corner creating a better product. Big bland beer would "support" growlers, but the craft brewers must "distribute" their beer through the distributors. This meant if you enjoyed a fresh brew from the back of the store, the distributor would get a 30% vig and would never have touched a thing.

Our state legislatures came perilously close to making this law in 2014.

This is our government at work.

Is it really just about a Growler?

If craft brewers want to expand their distribution, then they can seek the value that a distributor brings, and this, in fact, is already happening:

[Mitch Rubin, executive director of the Florida Beer Wholesalers Association] members, however, also are distributing more craft beer. For example, Tampa’s Pepin Distributing Co. ships for more than a dozen craft breweries, according to its website, including Tampa Bay Brewing Co.

Of course, be careful with the fine print yet to be written.

Now, Rubin said, his group won’t object to a bill next session if it creates a new section of law just for growlers, including setting labeling and sanitary standards.

“We hope lawmakers will consider such a bill quickly and as a stand-alone product to avoid the larger, more complex issues surrounding the manufacturing, distribution and sale of beer and other malt beverages,” he said.

And now

Florida liquor stores and beer distributors are challenging the way the state issues licenses allowing craft breweries to sell their products in tasting rooms, a move that brewers say could put dozens of breweries out of business or, at the very least, halt rapid growth in the industry.

The Florida Retail Federation is suing the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, and the associations that represent Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors distributors have asked to intervene in support of the suit. Separately, the Florida Independent Spirits Association filed a challenge with the agency. The association includes ABC Fine Wine & Spirits chain, which is the state’s largest liquor store chain.

Rather than wait for the legislature, where thankfully big bland beer failed in their squeeze play the last two years, they are now taking it directly to the courts.

They're after the same outcome -- shutdown the craft brewers tasting rooms, a serendipitous accident in the law to allow the Busch Gardens tasting room back in the day, which has enabled the growth of craft brewers in Florida.

Dana Young of Tampa, has been a consistent voice in support of the craft brewers.

Republican Rep. Dana Young of Tampa, who has pushed for legalization of the half-gallon growlers, was upset by the lawsuit.

“This lawsuit seems to be aimed at shutting down the tasting rooms that consumers love and I think it begs the question: What good is a 64-ounce growler if the brewery tasting room does not exist to sell it?” Young asked. “It puts the brakes on a booming industry in Florida.”

I've talked to Rep. Young, and found her position on this matter be genuine.  And there are others equally supportive.

However, there are plenty of other legislators that are heavily influenced by big bland beer, with significant campaign donations to serve at big bland beer's beck and call.

Here's an interview from 2014 with a local craft brewer Six Ten Brewing and owner/brewmaster Chris Johnson.



Get ready for a similar battle in 2015.

Beer we go again.

A Conversation with Rob Davidson of Davidson Fine Art Gallery about the St. Pete Arts Scene

The St. Petersburg Arts community is in a bit of turmoil there days what with the Kriseman administration's decision to replace long time City Arts director Elizabeth Brincklow with former Morean Arts Director Wayne Atherholt.

Also in play are several requests for City funding the upcoming 2016 City budget and a large upcoming project in the Warehouse Arts District.

To get some perspective, earlier in the month I sat down with Rob Davidson of Davidson's Fine Art Gallery to get the view of a long time member of the St. Petersburg Arts scene.

This is the first of a 5 Post series where Rob Davidson and his staff talk about his Gallery, the arts in St. Pete and how he sees the future of the arts in St. Petersburg. 

My Questions are in Bold

Tell me a bit about your backgrounds and how Davidson Fine Art got started," I asked.

"My name is Rob Davidson and I have had a framing shop and gallery here in St. Petersburg this will be our 20th year. We have been doing giclee printing for five or six years and art supplies for about 2 and a half years. We added the printing and art supplies to make an art resource center."

"My name is Erin O'Malley and I have been here for about 4 months managing the Gallery."

"My Name is Amada Cramer and I have been with the business almost since its inception."

"What services do you provide," I asked?

"Let's start with art supplies', Rob answered."The whole reason I wanted art supplies in here was to really bring artists through the door. The art supply is really a loss leader; we do it as a service for the local artists. The framing, gallery and the printing are the business mainstays. We've been doing the framing for 20 years so we are well established in that and we are starting to get a foothold in the printing end of things now."

"So that's the general idea to have art supplies at a fair lower than retail cost and local artists come to a brick and motor store and pick their supplies up. Combining the convenience and lower than retail price and customers will find our other services, framing and printing, while they are in the gallery."

"Tell me about the printing."

"Ok, it's giclee printing, a fancy, made-up French word for high quality inkjet printing and we do the printing on a large format 44 inch Canon IPF 8400 printer, which to me is the state of the art in giclee printing especially in terms of color,: Rob replied. " This particular printer is designed to work with both CMYK and RGB files and does so using 12 colors. We bought this printer about two years ago and it is still state of the art as far as I am concerned."

"What material can you print on," I asked.

"We currently have 6 different archival media in stock." Rob replied. "We have two different types of photo paper; Luster and Metallic. We also have two different types of canvas; Matte and Metallic. We also have a Velvet rag paper which is a cotton paper very similar to watercolor paper and we just got a new substrate. It is plastic polyester that is translucent so it transmits light and allows us to now make light boxes using prints of artist's two dimensional creations. That is the latest offering here in the Gallery and we are seeing a lot of interest in the light boxes."

"You also offer artist's supplies," I continued.

"We offer a basic range of artist supplies", Rob replied. "There are stores that have more inventory than we have, We are really more focused on the acrylic painters with acrylic paints, canvas and brushes, but we also have pads, drawing materials and smattering of water colors and oil paints. Plans are under way to expand the supplies inventory and offer more choices but for now we are focused on the acrylic painter."

My Conversation with Rob Davidson and his staff continue in the next Post as they talk about the Davidson Gallery.

The Davidson Fine Art Gallery us located at 2036 Central Avenue, St. Petersburg, FL 33712, the Phone Number is 727-827-1888. Right across the Street from Haslems Book Store.

E-mail Doc at: mailto:dr.webbsmail@gmail.com or send me a Facebook (Gene Webb) Friend request. Twitter@DOCONTHEBAY. Please comment below, and be sure to share on Facebook and Twitter.

Sunday January 18, 2015 Getting Around in Pinellas County

The US Highway 19 improvements while not done are open for traffic. 

                              

Once you are on US 19 at Gandy Boulevard, you can now get from Pinellas Park to Countryside mall  with only three stop lights and an average speed of about 45 miles per hour. Chances are you will catch at least one of the lights so it is a really quick trip.

Go over the fly over at Countryside mall; take the 580 exit, turn  right and you are at a mall entrance.

If you live in south St. Pete, you can make the same trip once you're on I 275 with only two additional stoplights and your average speed should be about 55 miles per hour. You can probably be at the Countryside mall quicker than you can get to the Tyrone mall in west St. Pete.

 If you need fuel there is convenient WAWA right on the way.

Work continues on several of the flyovers, and some exits are a bit complicated due to the construction, but for those who remember the old US19 this is a really fun ride.

Off rush hour is the best time to go, be even at rush hour the traffic flow is pretty good.

Once this whole project is complete, moving around Pinellas County will be significantly easier. There should be ample lane space to accommodate express buses and bus rapid transit (BRT).

For those of you who have avoided US 19 for years, check it out, and when you get to Countryside mall, take a look at the new Whole Foods Market. It's right there at the end of the mall.

It just may be you can go to Whole Foods at Countryside and find a place to park quicker than you can fight 4th street for a trip to Trader Joes.

The price tag for this effort was really high, exceeding $150 Million, but the results, so far, seem pretty spectacular.

E-mail Doc at: mailto:dr.webbsmail@gmail.com or send me a Facebook (Gene Webb) Friend request. Twitter@DOCONTHEBAY. Please comment below, and be sure to share on Facebook and Twitter.

The Arts or the arts business - Which should the City support?

Opinion by: E. Eugene Webb PhD

Last week a mini arts crisis developed as Deborah Kelly past Chairwoman of the Arts Advisory Council and Angela Bond a board member chose to resign in very public way during City Council meeting.

Taking issue with Mayor Kriseman's decision to fire Elizabeth Brincklow and replacing her with former Morean Arts Center Director Wayne ,Wayne Atherholt both resigned in what could be called a bit of a huff. 

To call it a crisis might be a bit of a stretch, but with all of the hype the Mayor seems to give the “Art Destination” moniker, you would think he would be a bit more concerned. Perhaps the Mayor is starting to realize that “Arts Destination” is something a lot of Cities toss around in their promotion, for example Tampa to our North and Sarasota to our South.

Tiffs among artists and their supporters are not that uncommon, but the arts in St. Pete have been teetering on the edge of a major blow up for some time. As the City cut funding during the lean years, the struggle to keep the arts going has been difficult to say the least.

The constant stream of people from the arts community coming to City Council for a handout has started to wear thin. It is easy to start an artist colony and a new a bevy of starving artists, just toss a few bucks up in the air and magically an artist colony appears and a new “Arts Destination” is created.

“Arts Destination is a form of political speak the arts folks have created to convince politicians that throwing money at the arts is a good idea. Being against your community becoming an “Arts Destination” is a bit like being against motherhood, apple pie….you know.

It looks like the Mayor may be moving to a less altruistic approach for the arts community and more toward supporting the business of the arts. Time will tell.

For now it is time to get the City budget for arts support on a sound footing. There needs to be a significantly large line item in the Budget to support both the arts from a practical standpoint and the arts business with promotion.

To think or try to prove that Arts Warehouse will be anything close to self sustaining is fool hardy, and asking them to come up with self sustaining scenarios is essentially asking them to fabricate a lie. The Arts Warehouse will need City support as long as it exists, even if it should be so fortunate as to acquire an endowment.

The Arts Council or some other artist oriented organization that represents artists and the art business in St. Pete should put together a real budget with real facts, and the City should fund some significant portion of that budget. When the City funds it, the arts community should stick to the budget and not keep coming back with their hand out.

The City should also assist in finding other forms of art support revenue from the community. After all if being an “Arts Destination” is really that important and brings in all that tourist money some of the really big players in the community should step up in a big way.

E-mail Doc at: mailto:dr.webbsmail@gmail.com or send me a Facebook (Gene Webb) Friend request. Twitter@DOCONTHEBAY. Please comment below, and be sure to share on Facebook and Twitter.