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By Melody Jameson
mj@observernews.net
Come this autumn, South Hillsborough, like many parts of the country, will show off its colors.
But here it won’t have much to do with turning leaves or shedding trees.
Rather, it will be the bright shades of artists’ palettes, applied to a prominent building’s exterior, to a public building’s interior and to untold numbers of canvases as South County residents let loose their creative imaginations.
Because of two grants, the SouthShore Arts Council has $35,000 with which to further the practice and appreciation of artistic expression in the South Hillsborough area, according to Bruce Marsh, a council board member. And it is doing so enthusiastically, beginning with a 2009 Big Draw project following on the heels of the highly successful Big Draw initiated last year as part of Ruskin’s centennial observance.
Ruskin’s Big Draw is patterned on the annual event held throughout Great Britain, which is based, in turn, on a precept emphasized by John Ruskin,19th century English social critic and the local community’s namesake. Ruskin encouraged all of his countrymen to let their imaginations soar in freehand drawing and they long have been doing just that one day a year.
Last year’s Big Draw here produced the colorful mural featuring the visage of John Ruskin on the south end of the former Clark’s Furniture Store in the heart of the downtown district.
This year, the council’s largest project is being financed with about $15,000 of a $25,000 grant from the John and Elizabeth Crawford Fund in the Sun City Center Community Foundation. The funds are earmarked for a public mural encircling one of the area’s most architecturally unusual buildings, the rounded dome structure on East Shell Point Road.
The building, constructed by the late Evan Mixon as headquarters for the Observer newspapers, now is part of the Mary Martha House network of facilities for women and children in need. It was suggested as a mural site by Pete Smith, current council president and an artistic woodworker who participated in restoration of the historic Tampa Theater.
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| This distinctive downtown landmark is slated to become the next public art site in Ruskin. The dome-shaped structure on East Shell Point Road, part of the Mary Martha House network of facilities, is to be the "canvas" on which a community mural is painted during the upcoming Big Draw Ruskin event. The new mural location is within sight of the first community public art featuring namesake John Ruskin which was completed last fall as part of the community's centennial observances. SouthShore Arts Council board members currently are seeking applications from public art muralists interested in leading the 2009 effort.
Jeff Fruth Photo |
A call for artists familiar with producing works of public art has been issued throughout the Central Gulf Coast region, to other arts organizations, to colleges and universities with arts programs, as well as to museums, Marsh said. Information also is included on the council’s website, www.BigDrawRuskin.org. The council expects to review applications by the end of June, narrowing the field to the two or three most likely candidates for personal interviews and then make a final selection of the muralist by July 15, he added.
This schedule would give him or her just about 75 days to bring together the 2009 group of community artists to be involved in the mural painting, practice with them the principles of large outdoor art projects, develop a new mural design, conduct any necessary research and then bring that design to life on the domed building, Marsh indicated. Target date for completion of the new mural is October 1, he added.
During that timeframe, the selected muralist literally will be an artist-in-residence, Marsh noted. He or she will be able to live at no charge in the dome’s second-floor apartment.
In anticipation of the forthcoming work on the building, its exterior surface has been pressure washed, caulked, and primer painted. The Sherwin-Williams Paint Company is on tap to donate the paint products needed for the mural itself, Marsh added. The average lifespan of an outdoor mural in the sub-tropical climate is five to 10 years, he said, although they can be freshened with new paint if the fading mural is valued by the community.
The remaining $10,000 of the Crawford Fund grant is being split between three more arts projects for the community, Marsh said. About a third of it is to be used to reward young artists at the high school level, another third to underwrite art workshops for adults, and yet another portion for multi-discipline programs in the arts staged by the council.
When school resumes at five South and East County high schools – East Bay, Lennard, Riverview, Spoto and Newsome - talented students there will be invited to enter a juried show for their age group. Their works will be hung in the SouthShore Regional Library during November and December, said Suzanne Prach, the library’s arts coordinator. Their show will open with a reception on November 3, she added, and the judging panel’s top choices in several categories, including drawing, painting and photography, will receive cash awards.
And, as part of the local Big Draw 2009, a series of classes and workshops for adults is being planned, Marsh said. It is anticipated that again this year, these classes will be held in donated space in the Ruskin plaza, he noted. A portion of the grant has been earmarked for the adult series.
Then, too, some new programs are being organized, beyond the Big Draw schedule. These will focus on music, dance, theater and literature – all forms of artistic expression – and likely will involve demonstrations as well as speaking engagements by outstanding practitioners through the year, Marsh said. Monies have been apportioned to support these offerings, he added.
The council also has been given a $10,000 grant from the former Renaissance Group in Tampa, another arts-oriented organization which has ceased operations, Marsh said. This funding has been set aside solely for children’s arts programs still in the planning stages, he added.
In addition to coordinating the many aspects of an annual Big Draw, as well as planning other community arts efforts, Marsh and his wife, Dolores Coe, often conduct classes. Both are teaching artists. He is professor emeritus, College of Fine Art, University of South Florida, where he taught for 35 years, and she directed the core program as well as taught at the Ringling School of Art in Sarasota for 15 years.
But, there is method to the occasional madness, Marsh noted. Hopefully, he concluded, “we’re building momentum for a regional arts and cultural center” for all of South Hillsborough County.
© 2009 Melody Jameson
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