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Mize Gallery presents: NEIGHBORHOOD Featuring 34 artists creating new works inspired by a Tampa Bay neighborhood.
MIZE GALLERY GALLERY HOURS: Saturdays 10AM-5PM & Sundays 10AM-2PM
Contact info@chadmize.com 727.251.8529 for purchase. |
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HISTORIC KENWOOD The first neighborhood I lived in St Pete was Historic Kenwood 2002-2007. Many neighbors whom I met there 19 years ago, are still friends. I did graphic design for the newsletter and Bungalowfest for many years. Opened my home to the home tour and opened grinders, a coffee shop on Central, bordering Kenwood. My neighbors there were Jim and Julie Longstreth, dear friends, porch party hosts, top local realtors and President of the Neighborhood Association, not to mention Pride sponsors and jello shot makers. This is their home, where they lived then and live now. They are core to the neighborhood. This honors their commitment to the advancement of Kenwood and the Grand Central Business District, where their office has been for 20 years. |
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CHANNEL DISTRICT New Life 2.17.21 (Channel District, Tampa) is another part of my series 'New Life' depicting the transformation of our local area through images of old buildings coming down, new buildings going up, and new buildings being built around old ones. |
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CENTRAL OAK PARK The Sandman Motel… iconic motel sign in Central Oak Park district of St Petersburg, FL. Deepening the value of the shadows on this weather-beaten sign gave me the freedom to focus on the graphic nature of what we can see when we are not looking only at the expected figure… emphasizing the negative spaces... and pushing beyond the reproduction of a scene in order to make a tangible object in its own right… NOT just a reproduction of a scene. Drawing always drawing. |
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TAMPA HEIGHTS My neighborhood is Tampa Heights, I have been living in the neighborhood for 11 years and I love it and all the residents. I wanted to showcase some of the animals aka the residents I have seen while living there. I couldn’t represent every animal in this piece, so I chose my favorites. The Hillsborough River runs along the neighborhood, which is full of alligators, manatees and sometimes dolphins. We have a lot of puppies and kitties in the area… I have never actually seen a cat ride a manatee, but I hope to see that one day…. fingers crossed. Even the birds I see in Tampa Heights are so colorful including the pink spoonbill and this little blue bird that lives in my yard. We also have a few nightly critters that come around and cause some trouble like raccoons and opossums. If you come to Tampa Heights say hi to some of its residents. |
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HISTORIC KENWOOD Historic Kenwood is more than just a neighborhood. This varied collection of streets features unique and historic homes, and an Artist Enclave. It connects with and includes the vibrant Grand Central District. This area is often referred to as the Gayborhood. It is a lively and bright testament to the paradise we locals call home. This rainbow array of a painting features elements of history through weathered wood and Augusta block, elements of the lush tropical flora and fauna to be found all over Kenwood, and even some sequins as a nod to the flamboyant entertainment happening each week in Grand Central. |
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HISTORIC UPTOWN In 1900, life in St. Petersburg centered around the immediate downtown. If you lived north of 5th Avenue, in what is now the Uptown neighborhood, you were living out in the country and most likely eking out a living farming or raising cattle. For early residents of Uptown, cowboys would have been a common sight. For better or worse, those early cowboys were pushed aside during St. Pete’s housing boom from 1908 to 1917. But, while Uptown’s cowboy past is virtually unknown to today’s residents, I think their pioneering spirit lives on in St. Pete’s arts community. This piece, “New Uptown Cowboy”, was created to invoke both the past and present day story of the historic Uptown neighborhood. |
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GRAND CENTRAL DISTRICT Unicorn Perspective showcases one of the neighborhood's most unique and memorable storefronts, Artpool Gallery. The surreal perspective is generated by capturing natural reflections in the window’s glass, juxtaposed against the whimsical mannequins within the shop. The Grand Central District caught my eye upon first arriving in St. Petersburg last spring. My individual affinity for both costuming and street photography made Artpool Gallery a natural attraction. |
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TOWN N’ COUNTRY My 1990’s Town n’ Country childhood was a magical time and place. In my backyard at twilight, the hibiscus bushes provided plenty of cover for hide-and-seek games. My brothers and I would run in and out of the flowers that lined my backyard fence over and over, playing until a little after dark. We would of course ignore my mother’s beckoning hollars to come in for supper. It wasn’t until the opossums came out, and scared us with their hissing that we would scurry back inside. Driving through my old neighborhood now, those pretty pink flowers and furry creatures are replaced by section 8 housing, with Bentley’s parked outside. |
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YBOR CITY Inspired by the energy of Ybor City as I have experienced her in my years of living in Tampa Bay. She is warm, sleepless, a bit mysterious, and a bit dark. She is deeply steeped in the culture brought by Cuban immigrants - right down to the chickens. The saint herself is inspired by young Adela Hernandez Gonzmart, known as the 'gem of Ybor City.' She was the daughter of Casimiro Hernandez Sr., who founded the famous Columbia restaurant. Adela was a Juilliard graduate pianist, grand hostess of the Columbia restaurant, and co-founder of many community services such as the Latino Scholarship fund at USF, the Tampa Symphony Orchestra, and the Ballet Folkrico of Ybor City. After serving 3 terms as the President of Ybor City's Chamber of Commerce, she has placed herself among one of the most influential women in Florida's history. She passed away in 2001 at a golden age of 81. |
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GREATER PINELLAS POINT I was inspired by the walks I take with my dog Cookie among the beautiful and lush “Pink Streets” in Greater Pinellas Point. In 1925, the year Pinellas Point was annexed into the City of St. Petersburg, Marguerite Cook and her son, George E. Cook, formed Murok Realty Corp. which was responsible for the development of the Pink Streets. Pink dye was added to the concrete mix to create its distinct color. Not only were the streets pink, they were the first ones paved with concrete in Pinellas County. The color palette and imagery for this piece was also inspired by the Princess Hirrihigua Temple Mound (Tocobaga Indian Mound), which is located in this area. I feel that this area was blessed by the Tocobaga Indians. There is a peace and otherworldly magic to this fascinating neighborhood. |
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OLD SOUTHEAST My vision for this piece was to adapt my maximalist mixed media art style to create a minimalist collage that expressed the relaxing quiet carefree environment of Old South East on a Sunday morning. |
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GRAND CENTRAL DISTRICT I walk my dog, Jack, every morning down Central Avenue. We stop at Bandit, order my latte and Jack will see his regular doggy friends there while we wait. Then, coffee in hand, we begin our walk. Most people see Grand Central after 5:00pm on the weekends, when it all hustle and bustle with restaurants, bars, shopping and food trucks but Monday mornings, especially, it’s surprisingly quiet. Very few cars or people and you feel you have the avenue all to yourself. It’s a great time to think about everything and nothing and just breathe and I take a minute every morning to thank the universe and just embrace the peace. |
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HISTORIC UPTOWN “Yeah, I am a real brat.” said the Uptown Alley Cat. |
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FOSSIL PARK If one grew up in north Saint Petersburg with any passing interest in sports, Fossil Park was likely the scene of a skinned knee or two. I remember late, cold nights in the dugout. Sometimes, there were late sweaty nights dancing in the rec center. As I have grown, I have shed the prickly desire to spit sunflower seeds and climb chain link fences. Still, Fossil Park draws me in. The skatepark, with its imposing concrete ramps and metal rails, has never looked so enticing. I chose a whimsical color palette for this fantasy land where figures soar and tumble without a motor in sight. Translucent mediums nod to the graffiti adorning the ramps and walls. From a distance, there is chaos. If one lingers, there is undeniable wonder. |
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DOWNTOWN ST. PETERSBURG An artful placement of tile and oak, you slid into a spot at the long end of the bar where a handful of young people had gathered under its sultry yellow light. Swallowed up by the revelers and other players, more people arrive unaware of the ad-hoc festivities and wander through the proceedings, caught up in the lyric. This piece is an ode to a point in time before the pandemic when everything changed. |
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KENNETH CITY I live in a condo in Kenneth City that was built by Sidney Colon in 1961 - the same year I was born. It was the nation's first condominium complex and there's a tree in the backyard that I like to think was planted in 1961 and that's how big I would be if I was a tree. I printed the map of Kenneth City with a Jessica Simpson shoe for Neighborhood Show. This was inspired by the Eduardo Chillida Show at The Dali Museum. It's the map as an abstract shape decorating a 20x20 square canvas that you may purchase and hang on your wall and cherish for all eternity. The video that captures the process of creation called Plein Air Printmaking is the real art here and you can watch it at www.instagram.com/lucky_leroy_4u and show your friends when they visit as you stand in front of the artifact of creation (the rectangle on your wall). |
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CRESCENT LAKE The borders, soft pavement |
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DOWNTOWN ST. PETERSBURG Saint Pete rising is Saint Pete becoming. |
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DOWNTOWN ST. PETERSBURG I've lived in St Petersburg for the better part of 40 years. Its architecture holds a particular fascination with me. As a photographer, I'm compelled to document its rapidly-fading history. 'TEXTURES' is a celebration of building facades iconic to the downtown space. It is a tribute to a rich and varied architectural past that subtly whispers 'This is the real St. Petersburg.' |
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YBOR CITY “7th” illustrates the current unique dynamic of Ybor City’s Cuban and Latin American history. It takes inspiration from its eateries, vibrant nightlife, and of course—the infamous roosters. The figures represented in this piece encompass the lively and energetic expressions and tireless enthusiasm of this bustling city. |
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GULFPORT My pieces represent Gulfport, my hometown of six years, because it’s a quirky little dog-loving town. There’s a sense of community here that I’ve never experienced anywhere else that I’ve lived. One end of the downtown area is the beach and the casino, which is a dancehall, and the other end of the downtown is the library and a sculpture park. In between are funky little stores, restaurants, bars, and coffee shops. You never know what you’ll see in Gulfport—a person riding a bike while playing an accordion, a man in a tutu, a woman with light up wings. It’s always a welcome surprise, sometimes surreal, and always fabulous. |
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SULPHER SPRINGS The Sulphur Springs Water Tower is an iconic and historic Tampa landmark built in 1927. The Tower serves as a beacon of curiosity and a symbol of inspiration in my life as a Tampa resident, artist and educator. The dark purple ink in this work was created by pokeweed berries I ethically foraged from the park surrounding the Tower. The fabric in this work is repurposed muslin donated from The Sewist Society, a textile recycling and education non-profit. All artist proceeds from this work will be donated to The Battleground Sulphur Springs, a grassroots community group dedicated to improving literacy and reducing violence among youth in Sulphur Springs, Tampa. The Battleground was founded by Tampa poet Yuki Jackson and their goal is to empower youth through engagement in poetry, visual arts and martial arts. |
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EDGE DISTRICT I spend a large majority of my time working and going out in the EDGE district. No matter how many times we hang out in the same spots I never seem to tire of the neighborhood and it’s what I first think of if you were to say St. Pete. I had the idea for this piece after my friends and I coined the term “Bluemuda Triangle” for when the night disappears from your memory after going back and forth from Green Bench, Blue (Wayward) Goose, and the Bends. I had the idea of a spinning Twister board that would help you decide which of the spots to start at and then my practical side decided on a clock with other EDGE faves! |
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HYDE PARK As a Tampa native, I have lived here my whole life excluding the four years I went away to college. A younger version of myself would be distraught at the idea of this: never branching out from the place I was born. But the longer I live here and the older I get, the more I delight in the layered memories of everyday locations. I can literally see the moments of my past stacking on top of each other one by one, year after year, in this beautiful montage of a life. At the park, the grocery store, the local pool. I can see myself evolving. And there are few places in Tampa more dear to me than Hyde Park Village. So with this piece, I wanted to take that cherished location, and stack some of my most prominent memories from there. It’s a lot of little moments: at the fountain, the movies, the park, the eateries. It's a lot of little moments that stack to make a life. |
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ALLENDALE I love my Allendale Park neighborhood. Real palm trees during the day and neon palm trees at night - what’s not to love? Being an imaginative person, I’m often fascinated more by what I can’t see than what I can, so a night-time tour of my neighborhood can become a magical reality event. Wilson’s has been an iconic fixture in St. Pete for many years, and the fellow in the red golf cart has been driving up and down my street for as long as I’ve lived here. Together they were the perfect inspiration for my tribute to my neighborhood and all the mysterious stories it holds. |
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SKYLAND My piece, Skyland, references a compass rose symbol like the ones found on old nautical maps of the ocean used by sailors. It is decorative in nature, showing the cardinal direction points on a compass, North, South, East and West with Latitude and Longitude in an etching style printed font. Using watercolor and ink on cold press paper, I am hoping to achieve a traditional and historic look. Skyland is located in the center of St. Petersburg Florida. It is halfway between the beach and downtown. It is the highest elevation on the peninsula and Highway 19 runs through the heart of the neighborhood. Being in the center of the city, it would typically be a bustling destination, but in this case it's just the opposite. It was lost in the middle, in the no man’s land between the beach and downtown. Skyland lost it's original identity, initially developed around a Methodist church; the area declined as the church lost its followers. This has lowered the price of housing, but now has allowed a new and interesting cross section of people to move into the area. The diversity of homeowners here is refreshing and unique. All types of cultures and all types of families coexist here now in relative harmony. It really represents the center of our city in a wonderful way. |
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PINELLAS PARK Long-overshadowed by its sister cities St. Pete and Tampa, P-Park is shedding its old reputations and growing up fast. A collective of diverse artists have spent the past 6 years polishing this once diamond in the rough into the hidden treasure it is today. At the Pinellas Arts Village you’ll find 11 art studios inside Studios @ 5663, Pompei Monster Factory, Swartz Gallery and Cove studio and gallery. On the 4th Saturday of every month these creatives throw a hell of a Block pARTy, adding music, vendors, and food trucks to the mix. This year the Arts Village hosted the first-ever Pride celebration in the city of Pinellas Park and won CL Tampa Critic’s Choice award for “Best New Art Scene”. |
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GULFPORT Gulfport is a vibrant, colorful, ‘old Florida’ fishing village full of; local eateries, activities, arts, commerce, and a wide variety of personalities. There is a memorable experience waiting there for everyone, and everyone is truly welcome to drink it all in. I chose to create a simple parody of the 1990s era Gatorade logo featuring the tag line “Thirst Quencher” which I find extremely applicable to the Neighborhood! The piece is hand painted on a 12x12 wood panel using oil & aqua acrylic paint. To me, Gulfport is the epitome of a thirst quencher. Whether you’re thirsty for; nature, nightlife, local food & drink, acceptance, friendly faces, diversity, personal reflection, and more…The many flavors of Gulfport, Florida is the ideal neighborhood to quench it. |
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OLD SEMINOLE HEIGHTS An illustration of an iconic convenience store on Florida Ave. Inspired by a rainy day photo, this is the place Old Seminole Heights residents can turn to for a little brightness when they really need it - be it in the form of cheap booze, a pint of Ben & Jerry’s, or just to say hello to the friendly characters who run the place. |
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SEMINOLE HEIGHTS Off Nebraska Ave, I pulled off to the side of the road to Pink diner in my new neighborhood called “Martha’s place”. It seemed a little dingy, but I didn’t mind the cracks in the side of the building or the dirt on the floor. Sat down and ordered a coffee. The cream was already on the table and the sugar still in the container. I was 24 and life seemed to stop for a moment. As I drink my coffee, around me I feel so alone at that time, but in the same moment I felt hugged and welcomed. Martha, an ode to you and the coffee stain that is still on my shirt. |
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CRESCENT LAKE This piece reflects my continued interest in textiles, particularly patchwork as metaphors for communities and relationships. This art quilt began its journey in a place I often take refuge in - Crescent Lake. I’ve spent many evenings watching the sun slowly lower itself through the beautiful boughs of this wonderful park as it kisses the roofs of the surrounding neighborhood. The Water Tower features prominently as it serves as the park’s sturdy sentinel, standing guard among its busy charges. Each turn around the lake reveals a different pace of the place, interesting snippets of lives intersecting, a patchwork of activity and reflection. My process involves a marriage of digital and analog techniques. This piece combines personal photographs overlaid with images of physical marks myself and my elementary students have created printed on cloth. Peering deeper you’ll find hand-dyed fabric set against digitally-drawn botanical elements and painted patterns referencing the hexagonal walks sprinkled throughout historical communities such as this. This juxtaposition continues with the inclusion of both meditative hand stitches and machine embroidery, linking fragmented views/moments to the larger whole. |
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SNELL ISLE My mixed media collages focus on taking the disparate elements in scraps of vintage paper then assembling them into a new, coherent whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. Much of my work is often satirical or humorously unsettling. This particular piece takes scraps of antique ephemera (scribbled notes, letters, ledgers, etc) from one of the first four houses built on Snell Isle; it was a large home facing the golf course and, before its demolition, was a fascinating picture of luxurious decay and the remnants of old family secrets hidden behind sparkling golf memorabilia, tattered tapestries, dusty closets, and wilting couches. |
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LUTZ If I were to explain Lutz to someone who may have not been there before, I would say that it is the quintessential basic suburban neighborhood. When entering the area, you are confronted by a surplus of manufactured gated communities, white picket fences, and McMansions. Typically, a haven for yuppies looking to settle down and retirees, it is ultimately full of people with money looking for a ‘safe’ place to live. As a child that grew up in a lower-middle-class family that strangely lived in this area, I often tend to find the qualities of Lutz a bit ridiculous. It is these qualities and satirical elements of Lutz that are represented in this piece. Held together by an organic shape that replicates the form of Lutz’s ever so common retention ponds, this work combines a multitude of symbols that portray Lutz. An assessment of suburban life, the gold chain represents not only how most people in Lutz are wealthy, but also how the people who live here are often attached to having the 'ideal' residential life. This chain is accompanied by a house hanging from it, as it is a critique of the houses in Lutz that are very 'cookie cutter.’ From the absurd community newsletters to the turf of the luxury golf courses, cracked sidewalks, and the judgmental eyes of neighbors; this work exposes the elements of life in Lutz that are not seen with the naked eye. |
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HISTORIC OLD NORTHEAST Sunken Gardens is one of the many historical landmarks located within St. Pete’s Historical Old Northeast neighborhood. I created this photograph of Sunken Gardens purposely on acrylic because, like the neighborhood, it’s whimsical and eclectic, yet beautifully different. The evolution and growth of Sunken Gardens reflects the maturity of the Old Northeast neighborhood. |
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