ARTpool: Dive In
Words: Aubrey Bramble
Photo: Marina Williams

Grand Opening:
April 19, 2008
artpoolrules.com

This month I'm going to be a little self-indulgent and take some space to tell you about the brand new gallery/studio/event space in downtown St. Petersburg that I'm opening with local photographer/fashion designer extraordinaire Marina Williams. Myself a filmmaker and Marina an artist, we want to truly create a space that supports local art as opposed to simply promoting or profiting from it. In our opinion, supporting art means cultivating successful artists. And successful artists are those who directly profit from their work; an artist who has to struggle financially to create work because of high gallery commissions cannot achieve an optimum level of success. An artist needs community support and the means to benefit from the fruits of his or her respective labor. With the goal of creating a true community space - one that is a collective effort and not an individual one - the two of us girls (along with a little help from our friends) set out to forge new ground, and thus came up with the idea of ARTpool, which opens its doors officially on Saturday April 19th with the first of what is certain to be many monthly art parties - Speedos welcome!

Our vision is pretty simple; we want to partner with the community to form an organic, evolving cooperative of artists that will work together to build a sustainable and a mutually beneficial artistic environment that promotes creativity, originality, and forward thought. What does that mean exactly? Well, for example, an artist may rent space on our walls for a low monthly fee (to cover utilities/contribute to the operation of the space) and then keep 100 of the profit from any sales he or she may make, with no commission going to ARTpool. In addition to the gallery space, there are three working studios - one for myself, one for Marina, and one for an artist-in-residence. We will be having monthly art/music/fashion events, film nights, art  workshops and much more.

We want everyone to be a part of ARTpool, so get involved! Hang your art on our walls, come to one of our events, or just come hang out. We are located at 919 1st Avenue North, just a stone's throw from the Arts Center and the State Theatre. If you're in the neighborhood, come check out work from local artists Scott Lukacs, Matt Moore, Christopher Costabile, James Douglas, Matt Sunderman and others as artists and works are being displayed daily.

Visit our website at artpoolrules.com for more information about our upcoming Grand Opening, how to get your art on our walls, how to volunteer, and much more. And don't forget to be our friend on MySpace - myspace.com/artpoolrules. ARTpool is gearing up for a swimmingly great season; see you on April 19th!