The Raymond James Festival of the Arts is one of the top, outdoor juried fine arts shows in the country. But there’s more to see than exceptional art in booths. Our Interactive Experiences program lets you connect with art and artists in a variety of ways. We encourage you to engage your senses, and even get your hands dirty!
As part of our efforts to further showcase homegrown artistic talent, the Raymond James Gasparilla Festival of the Arts invites five artists to set up a “remote studio” at the festival. These artists open up their creative process and invite festival guests to watch as they practice their craft. Guests are encouraged to engage with these artists and ask questions about how they take an idea and transform it into a finished piece of art. Artists may sell the art that they complete during the two days of the festival, giving guests the rare opportunity to own a piece of art that was created before their eyes.
Allen Pettigrew
Riverview, Florida | Acrylic and Oil
Marvin Vega
Tampa, Florida | Acrylic Fine Art
Tricia Sham
Tampa, Florida | Mixed Media Paintings
Yorlett Tovar
Tampa Florida | Art Pop
Marie-Ange Pollonais
Tampa, Florida | Mixed Media
2023
Kumpa Tawornprom, Brian Morris, Chris Monaghan, Laura Thomas, Bridget Lyons, Hilary Frambes
2022
Douglas Wright, Laura Thomas, Bridget Lyons, Michelle Myers, Tim Ritter Kumpa Tawornprom
2021
Bridget Lyons, Kumpa Tawornprom
2020
Bridget BK Lyons, Matt McAllister, Damon Meri, Tim Ritter, Rob Sardella, Kumpa Tawornprom, Shaelyn Walters, Douglas Wright
2019
Desiree D’Alessandro, Holland King, Bridget Lyons, Tim Ritter, Nicholas Tangredi, Kumpa Tawornprom, Cass Womack, Douglas Wright, Dani Grazziano-Greif
Tampa Bay Businesses for Culture & the Arts and Raymond James Gasparilla Festival of the Arts are thrilled to co-sponsor TBBCA Chalk Walk. Come see specially commissioned Chalk Artists bring their amazing 8’x8’ chalk drawings to life in this interactive live-art experience as part of the Raymond James Gasparilla Festival of the Arts. TBBCA Chalk Walks have been enjoyed by people of all ages and levels of art appreciation annually since 2010.
TBBCA is a non-profit that for over 28 years has been uniting businesses to champion arts and culture for a prosperous community. TBBCA provides advocacy and funding for artists, arts and cultural organizations, and arts education, including The Charlie Hounchell Art Stars Scholarships, helping talented Tampa Bay area high school students fund higher education in the arts. For more information about TBBCA, CHASS, TBBCA Chalk Walk and to get involved supporting arts and culture in our community, visit www.tbbca.org or call 813-221-2787.
CARMADA returns with NEW artists painting live and NEW hands-on projects led by local creatives! See colorful hand-painted cars on display and explore art on wheels with a variety of family-friendly FREE activities.
Watch artists as they transform cars LIVE all weekend… then grab your brush and paint the NOMAD Rolling Studio (@nomadstudio_org), or sit down and doodle on your own pocket-sized car canvas! Whichever direction you choose, there are so many ways to ignite your creativity at CARMADA this year. Special thanks to Presenting Sponsor Honest 1 Auto Care and sponsor Tampa Hybrids. Visit CARMADA online.
Duncan McClellan will bring his “glass art” experience, demonstrating the incredible glassblowing process in front of your very eyes. Learn more about the DMG Mobile Glass Blowing Unit on their website.
An interactive structural element created by the Center for Architecture & Design (CA+D) and the AIA Tampa Bay (American Institute of Architects) and affiliated organizations. Special thanks to our Patron Sponsor, Shutts & Bowen.
The NOMADstudio Art Bus invites visitors to add to their giant mobile mural. Learn more about the Art Bus on their website.
The Raymond James Gasparilla Festival of the Arts is one of the top outdoor, juried fine arts shows in the United States, showcasing a wide variety of art mediums and price points. We invite you to discover why this festival has been a must-see event for art lovers for more than 50 years.
Gasparilla Festival
of the Arts
PO Box 10591
Tampa, FL 33679
Website by Sky Lake Design, LLC.
Website photography by Marc Dahl of 5 Studios, Will Staples, Jimena Lopez & Tara Knauss-Wilga.
Ajeva is a funk/rock band from St. Petersburg, FL. The band started in 2013 and features Reed Skahill (vocals), Taylor Gilchrist (bass), Mike Nivens (guitar), and Lyndon Thacker (keys). They’ve carved out a sound of their own with epic melodies and distinctive vocals that pair perfectly with their deep grooves. Each Ajeva show is a one of a kind experience with the band taking their songs to different places and new heights every night.
Light the Wire makes heartfelt, indie-folk rock that with powerful vocal harmonies, thoughtful lyrics, and powered by driving bass and drums. The quintet is based out of Tampa, FL, and released its self-produced, debut EP – “Someday Is Coming” on all streaming platforms on November 1, 2023.
Biggest influences are church, his mother, Coheed & Cambria, Acceptance, James Morrison, Bombay Bicycle Club, Disturbed, Arctic Monkeys, Young The Giant, Chevelle, Rusko, Chief and Matt Corby. Most of the music he listens to has a darker sound to it so he in turn makes darker, melodic music.
A multi-hyphenate, genre-bending artist, Shevonne Philidor is a singer-songwriter, producer, and actress who epitomizes her dynamic background in music and performing arts. A military brat born in Philadelphia, PA, she experienced living in multiple cities – including a stint in Italy – before landing in Tampa, Fl, where she nurtured her musical ability throughout her childhood. She’s a scion of a musical family stemming from her half-Haitian descent and taught herself to play the guitar at an early age, inspired by the likes of Prince, Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Lauryn Hill, Bob Marley, and M83. In 2003, she made her first TV debut on America’s Most Talented Kids, and in 2010, she made an appearance on America’s Got Talent Wild Card. A recipient of the prestigious NFAA scholarship, she also made American Idol’s top 40 twice in 2016 and 2019, the same year she performed at Austin City Limits with five-time Grammy award-winning artist Gary Clark jr. In 2021, she performed alongside CeeLo Green at a Superbowl party for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and was tapped to sing for ABC’s Juneteenth celebration with T.I. and Domani. Working with Grand Hustle Records, she’s a Luna Guitar-endorsed artist who was also selected to perform in Just Blaze’s SXSW showcase in 2022. A theatre kid at heart, she’s flexed her acting skills on a national tour for Todrick Hall’s musical, Oz The Musical, and she was also recently casted in Life’s Rewards, an upcoming Amazon Prime TV show.
Though he’s lived in the Sunshine State, for most of his life, Kristopher’s talent for melody and song (now) extend far past the state’s line. Like his influencers Otis Redding, Amos Lee, and Roberta Flack, Kristopher’s voice is clear, controlled, and full of all-the-feels. As with all artists, Kristopher’s sound has ebbed and flowed, evolving yet remaining instantly recognizable. With the growth he’s experienced as an artist, Kristopher felt it was time to capture his songs, in their fully-imagined sound!
With his debut album “Kindness Never Quits”, featuring members of Scary Pockets, Kristopher caught the attention of Relix & Glide Magazine, Spotify Playlist curators and continued praise, such as “vocals are so powerful and as the song progresses, he showcases why he is one of the best singers out there. All that soul in one artist is just unbelievable” from Reignland Magazine.
Continuing through the COVID years, Kristopher partnered with musicians to keep the music and community alive. Along with composer and keys player Mike Hicks of Rascal Flatts, The War & Treaty’s Max Brown on guitar, as well as talented artists Kyshona Armstrong, Jonathan Huber, DeMarco Johnson, Kristopher released 3 acclaimed singles: “Never Had to Find Our Way”, “Feelings” and “I Can Only Love You in a Song”
Three piece Rock n Roll band hailing from St. Petersburg, FL.
From Tampa Florida, SydLive was born to write and sing songs that touch the world. As her mother recalls, her climb to stardom began with getting on top of restaurant tables to sing at the age of two.
By the time she was eleven, she acquired her first guitar and began to teach herself to play by learning Beatles songs. Within four years she found her way to the stage singing in a Carpenters tribute band. Since this time, Syd has amassed over a decade of experience as a professional singer/songwriter and recording/performance artist. Within the industry, she names Aretha Franklin as her idol.
The first sound you hear on Durry’s rambunctious and poignant debut album, Suburban Legend, is an old-school Internet dial-up tone. To songwriter Austin Durry, the sound is instantly familiar but his bandmate and sister, Taryn, hadn’t heard it before. The Burnsville, Minnesota-based duo might identify with different age groups — with seven years between them, Austin is a millennial and Taryn is Gen Z — but by joining forces in Durry, they show just how much the neighboring generations have in common.
Between their serendipitous origin story and a crop of dynamic, hook-heavy alt-pop tracks, Durry are doing something few bands can achieve — and they’re doing it entirely on their own terms. As a band, Taryn and Austin’s journey happened both unexpectedly and fortuitously. At the start of the COVID pandemic, Austin and his wife moved back into his parents’ house, where Taryn was also living at the time. In addition to moving back in with his family, COVID forced Austin to cancel an extensive tour with his previous band, Coyote Kid. Faced with nothing but time, he got back to songwriting, regularly asking Taryn for input — or as the two playfully put it, “Gen Z quality control.”
“I’d say, here’s an early concept, what do you think? Then she’ll steer the ship, and then I’ll evolve it from there,” Austin explains. “Taryn is the sounding board and Gen Z vision of the band, where I’m kinda cranking stuff out.”
As they got going, forming what would turn into Durry, the siblings also outlined DIY ideas for branding and promotion, creating all of their own content and imbuing their visuals with nostalgic golden yellow, large fonts, and tactile images that would later make their way into eye-catching merch.
The immediate result of their musical partnership was the pop-punk/alternative anthem “Who’s Laughing Now,” which leads with wry, tongue-in-cheek lyrics about the futility of young adulthood in 2023: “My mama always said I would regret it if I ever got a tattoo,” Austin chants, adding: “She said I’d never get a job like I ever wanted one with that attitude/ My dad said I had to learn to drive a stick shift, but every van I ever had was an automatic/ My friends said that someday I would make it big, but I’m still living in the basement.”
After posting an unfinished version of “Who’s Laughing Now” on TikTok, it swiftly took off, galvanizing thousands of viewers who shared their coming-of-age frustrations. Clearly, the song’s sentiments — which land somewhere between a shrug and a clenched fist — resonated with millions of listeners, and today the song has garnered more than four million Spotify streams. Meanwhile, Durry have recorded a fully fleshed-out version of “Who’s Laughing Now,” which is set to appear on their riveting, perfectly sardonic debut LP, Suburban Legend.