One is a visual artist who has been drawing since he was a toddler decorating the walls of his family home. The other is a rapper who finds inspiration at every turn in life, jotting down ideas and lines on an ever-present notepad.
Will Kuncz and Hagan Lee are not exactly kindred spirits, but both were featured in November at an event called “Bridging the Gap” at Sly Bar at 2061 Central Ave. in St. Petersburg’s Midtown district.
The event is the brainchild of Tiffany Taylor, 26, an event planner who works to bring together visual and performance artists from both sides of the Howard Frankland Bridge.
“I’ve never seen someone try to unite artists from different areas together,” she said. “I think it’s very important in St. Pete because we try to keep everything local, we try to keep artists working together.”
Taylor calls her endeavor Rose Gold Creations, so named because her grandmother’s favorite flowers were roses and she loves rose gold. At first, Rose Gold Creations was a name to showcase photography and other creative projects, but it turned into something much larger when she decided she wanted to shine light on the growing area of Midtown.
Kuncz, 30, a visual artist from Largo who now lives in St. Pete, said his fascination with art started early when his mom would allow him to draw on the walls of their home as a toddler. Being an introverted child led to drawing as a serious hobby, but he realized it was something to really pursue in his early 20s.
Kuncz, who said he gets his inspiration to create art from people, uses marker, ink pen and acrylic on everything from wood fencing to aluminum foil.
“Finding a style is hard and easy at the same time,” he said. “You start by battling yourself and experimenting with a set goal of trying to find a new way of doing things. Once you stop pressuring yourself and start to let go, I found that it just started to flow.”
Lee, 31, is part of a rap group called Mickey Spixx. He said writing is something he feels he can do anywhere, from being in the comfort of his home, to the workplace # but the best place to write is in the studio where he can bounce ideas off people.
“Sometimes the moment will strike (and) I’ll get certain lines or ideas and concepts and I’ll write those down. There’s just a bunch of sporadic things I have on my notepad.”
If you go:
The next “Bridging the Gap” will be at Sly Bar, 2061 Central Ave., on Jan. 26. It will feature hip-hop artists, spoken-word performers, jewelry artisans, painters and live graffiti art.
