American Style Magazine bestowed St. Petersburg the title of No. 1 mid-sized art destination in America for the third year in a row in May. The high-budgets of the Salvador Dali museum and Chihuly Collection certainly helped the city earn that distinction, but smaller, less visible art initiatives were also cited.
Two such initiatives are holding fundraisers to keep St. Petersburg’s local talents thriving.
Local music blog St. Pete Beat is attempting to film a documentary about independent art culture in St. Petersburg. The brainchild of filmmaker Ryan Zarra, St. Pete Beat promotes local bands, artists and designers through a combination of video blogs and social networking.
The videos cast private performances with a unique and gritty texture that perfectly captures the vibes of the St. Petersburg music scene. With the documentary medium, Zarra and St. Pete Beat will promote and make a study of the arts and local businesses in the area.
Another aim is to connect the scattered pockets of artists around town. Zarra plans to send the completed documentary to Gasparilla Film Festival, among others. The costs for the project, which amount to $4,000, are being raised through Kickstarter’s all-or-nothing donation platform.
The Venture Compound, a venue and art gallery featured in last week’s issue, is trying to raise $600 to become a non-profit organization.
The Compound’s owners want to continue supporting underground and independent art at low cost to artists and patrons. The $600 would pay the filing fees necessary to become a 501(c)3 nonprofit—allowing the owners to keep down future admission costs and fund more community workshops and projects. A community dark room and a music library number among potential “ventures.”
Referred to as embodying “the energy of St. Pete”, the Compound shows promise as a catalyst for local artistic involvement.
Both groups are offering incentive rewards to contributors. The Kickstarter video for the St. Pete Beat documentary can be found by searching for “St. Pete Beat” on kickstarter.com. Donations for The Venture Compound project can be sent directly to j.thelonious@gmail.com via Paypal. More information is also available on the groups’ Facebook pages.
