Daily Loaf

The Native Music Rocks! Tour — starring Micki Free and American Horse, Crystal Shawanda, Casper, Martha Redbone and more — is a national Florida-born initiative to promote all varieties of Native American music as performed by modern Native American musicians. Highlights include the blues-infused rock of American Horse, which features tattooed Cherokee-Comanche Micki Free on electric guitar and lead vocals, afro fantastic drummer Cindy Blackman (Pictured: remember her from her days pounding skins for Lenny Kravitz?), and bassist David Santos (Joe Cocker, CSNY); the sweet-soulful country music of full-blooded Ojibway Indian and Canada native singer Crystal Shawanda; the hope-filled Native-roots-meets-dub reggae of Hopi / Dine singer Casper Lomayesva; and a fusion of soul, R&B, and funky bump by Native and African-American singer-soulwriter Martha Redbone. Tues., Sept. 1, 7 p.m., Floyd’s at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, 5224 N. Orient Dr., Tampa, free, seminolehardrocktampa.com. Read the rest of this entry »

If the typical trappings of visual art — white-box exhibitions, snooty gallery assistants and mind-boggling price tags — strike you as absurdly pretentious, take heart in mail art. The fiercely anti-commercial genre most often takes the form of postcards, illustrated envelopes and custom paper creations (though the odd three-dimensional object makes for a welcome surprise), traded among practitioners for the modest cost of a postage stamp. The Studio@620 presents Chromatophore, the multidisciplinary space’s second annual mail art exhibition, curated by St. Petersburg artist Jennifer Zoellner. Many of the more-than-300 mail art works on display engage the concept of the chromatophore (a pigment-bearing cell that enables creatures to change color in response to their surroundings) as a theme. Roll up your sleeves for hands-on mail art activities and soak in the sounds of singer-songwriter Rebecca Zapen at the exhibit’s multi-sensory opening reception. (Pictured: Me and Mona Go for a Boat Ride, by Katherine Michael) Chromatophore: a Mail Art Exhibit, Aug. 27-Sept. 5 with an opening reception Thurs., Aug. 27, 6:30-9:30 p.m., Studio@620, 620 First Ave. S., St. Petersburg, 727-895-6620, studio620.org. – Megan Voeller Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to On the Radar, where we preview up-and-coming arts events to mark your calendar for. Today’s edition includes a slew of cool new exhibits at [5]art, where they don’t let the sticky summer heat stop them from putting on a kickass autumn art debut this Friday.

The air is getting crisp, the leaves as starting to fall, and everywhere you go, the smell of autumn is in the air…oh, no? Wait, we live in Florida, so our sad excuse for a pre-winter season won’t be here for a few months, but that’s not stopping the [5]art folks from debuting a fantastic new fall collection of exhibits, including Fresno G25, which features original works – paintings ranging from abstract to graphic, organic sculpture, wall art and more — by a dozen resident artists of Gallery 25 in California. Next up is a, um, revealing exhibit by Keith Thomas called Haven’t I Seen You Online? It includes large-scale paintings and drawings that explore his “life as a gay boy in the sprawling suburbs of Tampa,” and was inspired by the wide world of internet sex and dating sites. The final exhibit is a one-night-only affair in honor of the opening reception, and includes works by April Childers, whose small-scale sculptures have graced previous [5]art exhibits; photo art by Rion Sabean, and more. DJ Oblivion puts dancers in a trance at the reception, catered by Cigar City Brewing – providing a welcome break from the humdrum of house wines with a selection of microbrews, including Jai Alai IPA and Maduro Oatmeal Brown Ale. (Pictured: a work from Keith Thomas’ Haven’t I Seen You Online? exhibit) Opening reception, Fri., Aug. 28, 7-10 p.m., Fresno G25 and Haven’t I Seen You Online? on display through Sept. 18, West Tampa Center for the Arts, 1906 N. Armenia Ave., #211, Tampa, free, 813-245-1034, five-art.com. – Franki Weddington

Welcome to On the Radar, where we preview up-and-coming arts events to mark your calendar for. Today’s edition is art for the people, by the people — and you can ship it across the country for just 42 cents a pop.

If the typical trappings of visual art — white-box exhibitions, snooty gallery assistants and mind-boggling price tags — strike you as absurdly pretentious, take heart in mail art. The fiercely anti-commercial genre most often takes the form of postcards, illustrated envelopes and custom paper creations (though the odd three-dimensional object makes for a welcome surprise), traded among practitioners for the modest cost of a postage stamp. Next Thursday, the Studio@620 presents Chromatophore, the multidisciplinary space’s second annual mail art exhibition, curated by St. Petersburg artist Jennifer Zoellner. Many of the more-than-300 mail art works on display engage the concept of the chromatophore (a pigment-bearing cell that enables creatures to change color in response to their surroundings) as a theme. Roll up your sleeves for hands-on mail art activities and soak in the sounds of singer-songwriter Rebecca Zapen at the exhibit’s multi-sensory opening reception. (Pictured: an example of the work on display at Chromatophore: a Mail Art Exhibit) Aug. 27-Sept. 5 with an opening reception Thurs., Aug. 27, 6:30-9:30 p.m., Studio@620, 620 First Ave. S., St. Petersburg, 727-895-6620, studio620.org.  — Megan Voeller