Arts Happenings March/April 2024

Embracing Outdoor Art Exhibit

One of the country’s most celebrated traveling outdoor art exhibits — Embracing Our Differences  — has been installed in St. Petersburg’s Poynter Park from March 2-31. The international juried art show consisting of 50 billboardsized works of art, each accompanied by an inspirational quote, got its start in Sarasota in 2004 through the nonprofit organization Embracing Our Differences, with the mission to use the power of art and prose to promote inclusion, kindness and respect.

“Exhibiting in St. Pete has been on our wish list for the last few years and to see it come to fruition is a dream come the Warehouse Arts District Association, the Florida Holocaust Museum, and many dedicated individuals who have helped us make this happen.”

Artists from around the world contribute to the show annually. Werthimer says that this year’s response to the call for artwork and inspirational quotations was strong with 16,604 entries pouring in from 125 countries and 44 states. Students from 584 schools around the world submitted artwork or quotations to the juried exhibit.

While the exhibit is open to the public and free, guided tours are held on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays in March for $15. To RSVP, go to embracingourdifferences.org/guided-tours Poynter Park is on Bayboro Harbor at 3rd Street and 9th Ave. S. along the southern portion of the USF St. Pete campus.

Learn more about the exhibit at embracingourdifferences.org.

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Visit the colorful Fairgrounds St. Pete, take a peek at the new Wild Space Gallery at the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation, enjoy live jazz by The Young Lions and a performance by the St. Pete Academy Prep Choir, indulge in gourmet appetizers and bid in a silent auction, all while supporting the environment at an Art & Music FUNraiser on Thursday, March 21, 6 to 8:30 pm at The Factory St. Pete, 2606 Fairfield Ave. S. The fundraiser is organized by the Suncoast Sierra Club; tickets are $100 and include one free drink. Go to tinyurl. com/SuncoastSierraFundraiser for more information and tickets.

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The new Nature Pix exhibit at The Gallery at Creative Pinellas is an innovative exhibition created and curated by the talented computational artist and designer Mikhail Mansion. Mansion’s avant-garde approach employs a harmonious blend of code and custom-designed electronics to amplify nature’s voice. His works has been exhibited at de Young Museum, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, Ringling Museum, Miraikan –National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, Biomuseo, LEXUS INTERSECTTOKYO, Pyongyang Winter Olympics, among others. Each artwork uses live sensor data from nearby nature to harness technology, forging a dialogue between the organic and the digital realms. The Gallery, 12211 Walsingham Rd. in Largo, is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm. Go to creativepinellas.org for more information.