St. Pete Holiday Gift Guide: Local Arts and Experiences

Dec 8

The Gala Life here, bringing you the second installment of my Visit St. Petersburg/Clearwater exploration of the local arts and culture in our community — this month we’re focused on gift giving through an artistic and experiential lens.

I’m a lover of receiving out-of-the-box and eccentric gifts, to match my personality, like art works and unique local finds, or even those that you can’t wrap up — like an amazing experience that you can gift or share with a loved one.

For this episode of exploration, I got to check out the Morean Arts Center, the Morean Glass Studio, the Sketchbook Project, and Pete’s General Store to explore unique gift giving, with one of a kind, locally crafted items and experiences only found in St. petersburg/Clearwater.

I wanted to learn more about the Morean Arts Center and all that it has to offer. With its campus based in Downtown St. Pete, the Arts Center includes Florida’s oldest contemporary art gallery, the Morean Center for Clay, the Chihuly Collection, and Morean Glass Studio. The mission of the Morean Arts Center is to connect people with art through innovative, community-oriented art and art education and to contribute to the economic development of the region.

The story of the Morean Arts Center dates back to 1917, which finally found its home at an old, vacant furniture store on the 700 block of Central Avenue in the early 90s. They were essentially two hotels and 3 smaller buildings on Central that made up the store. A generous gift from the Morean’s benefactor, Beth Morean, made it possible to connect all under one building and one façade.

In 2010, Morean Board Members worked together to bring the Chihuly Collection to St. Petersburg. In the first 5 months, the Chihuly Collection welcomed more than 250,000 visitors. This new interest in glass art prompted the opening of the Morean Glass Studio. Through daily glass demonstrations, local glass artists show visitors how glass art is made, thereby enhancing the visitor experience.

Part of Morean Arts is the Morean Glass Studio, where you can get behind the scenes and observe resident glass artists creating unique works of art. All of the pieces created are for sale in the adjacent glass shop. Get inspired and take a glass art class or book a one-time hands-on glass experience!

After exploring, it was time to get hands on at a private glass blowing class at the Morean Glass Studio.

TODAY, the Morean, through its four venues, continues to be a driving force within the St. Petersburg arts community. It provides a place for creativity, innovation, and exploration. Throughout its history the Morean has honed into its mission to provide accessible art experiences to all people regardless of identity, age, and opportunity, to promote equal access and to ensure a welcoming and friendly atmosphere that inspires ALL visitors.

To top off my St. Petersburg/Clearwater arts gift hunt, I visited the Sketchbook Project, as well as Pete’s Bagel and General Store, both which are owned by Steven Peterman and his wife — who founded the Brooklyn Art Library, a 501c3 nonprofit organization that has been completely funded by participation since 2006. The Sketchbook Project is home to the world’s largest collection of artist’s sketchbooks.

By buying a sketchbook, you are helping to ensure the mission of encouraging creative storytelling within a global community. The way the process works, is that you start by choosing a type of book, fill it up, and send it back to us to be a part of the world’s largest collection of artist sketchbooks! Every participant is sent the same 5”x7'' blank custom sketchbook. Each book will be given a unique seven-digit barcode so we can easily catalog it into Brooklyn Art Library's system.

You can view the Digital Library HERE.