Story by Sarah Worth
Sprinkled among the many artists at The Raymond James Gasparilla Festival of Arts (GFA) are 15 people who are just entering the world of professional art.
They are part of the Festival through GFA’s Emerging Artists program, a unique opportunity that allows budding artists to transition from ‘hobbyists’ to art professionals. It’s a fast-track, of sorts, because it offers immediate access to an event at which thousands of attendees will see their work.
The 15 are a select group, chosen from among more than 200 applications from promising artists who show exceptional talent said Clay Hollenkamp, sponsorship administrator for GFA and a long-time member of the Emerging Artists committee.
“These are extremely talented artists who are at the very beginning of an art career, but haven’t yet participated in major festivals like GFA,” Hollenkamp said. “On Festival Weekend, they’ll have the chance to present and sell their work to more than 25,000 art lovers, possibly connecting with patrons who will collect their work throughout their career.”
The Emerging Artists program, which has been offered by GFA for more than 15 years, draws applicants from throughout the Tampa Bay area, as well as from across the country – the class of 2025 includes artists from Oklahoma, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and Alabama.
The Emerging Artists program, which has been offered by GFA for more than 15 years, draws applicants from throughout the Tampa Bay area, as well as from across the country – the class of 2025 includes artists from Oklahoma, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and Alabama.
In addition to showing at the Festival, the Emerging Artists are also provided with other perks that can help guide them in their new ventures, including a series of meetings with established artists and arts administrators who provide mentoring and inside knowledge that will benefit them in their careers as professional artists. Gallerists, interior designers, and artists with festival experience, are some of the professionals with whom the Emerging Artists will meet during the weeks leading up to the Festival.
“These mentoring meetings are invaluable to these new artists for gaining advice on how to get their feet in the door of a gallery, for example, or how to get into a catalog of art offerings of an interior designer,” Hollenkamp said. “This is knowledge that may otherwise take years to learn. It’s a great benefit that GFA is proud to offer and we’re so grateful to the professionals who are willing to share their experience.”
Other perks for the Emerging Artists include workshops that delve into the business side of being an artist, with experts providing information on tax concerns and how and when to form a business or LLC; grant writing workshops for finding and securing funding that supplements the new artists as they grow their portfolio; and marketing workshops (coming soon) that guide new artists in defining and promoting their brand and best practices for using social media.
All 15 Emerging Artists in this year’s cohort are scheduled to show their work at this year’s Gasparilla Festival of the Arts, March 1 and 2 at Julian B. Lane Park. Applications for the next class of Emerging Artists will be available in October 2025. For more information: https://gasparillaarts.com/emerging-artists/
Meet the 2025 GFA Emerging Artists
Eric Gonzalez
From Tulsa, Ok, he paints his miniature watercolor paintings with a small fine tipped brush on acid free, archival watercolor paper, using no magnification, on subjects ranging from landscapes to pop art.
Kellie Hastings
From the Gulf Coast of Alabama, she explores color, line and composition to achieve intricate, abstract glass sculptures that reflect experiences of nature.
Allison Hilgert
Raised in Crystal River, Fla, she conveys into her work her childhood memories of cypress trees, weaving crowns and scepters from palmetto branches, while exploring the traditional values from her upbringing in rural Florida and reflecting on ideologies and mental health.
Jay Hoff
From St. Petersburg, Fla, his sculptures are created with LEGO, providing 2-D portraiture, and new forms of 3-D expression.
Margaret Hutcheson
Born and raised near New Orleans, her work in clay is inspired by her time with Cajun-French, German and Italian-American neighbors and the nearby French Quarter with its French, African and Cuban-American influences.
Ryan Michael Kelly
From Venice, Fla, his successful career in photography shifted to fulfill his life-long dream of painting, and he now paints on hand stretched canvas using acrylic, enamel, charcoal, gesso and other paint and drawing mediums.
Boryana Kostova
From Bulgaria, she came to United States 15 years ago, and works in hand painting oils on canvas.
Hannah Lansburg
From New Orleans, she grew up with her mom doing shows for a living, helping her gather and explore a creative voice of her own in mixed media, with work made from mostly driftwood and found objects assembled with self-taught and learned woodworking skills, including mortise and tenon joinery.
Mark Lembo
From the Tampa area, his abstract “Impressions” series has explored mark-making, relief printing and stamping, making use of varied materials, tools, shapes and media, including acrylic inks, India ink, markers and watercolors, as well as metallic watercolor and pearlescent ink.
Michael McCoy
From Tampa, his photographs are compositions of color created in reality, yet expanding the limits of imagination with surreal landscapes, and then meticulously imprinted onto metal, blending the ethereal with the tangible.
Deianis Ortiz-Aponte
Born and raised in the mountains of Puerto Rico, he makes nature and organic forms essential parts of his jewelry designs, using beading, metalsmithing, texture and metal colors.
Morgan Pallas
From Lancaster, PA, she focuses on creating fantasy and nature themes in her work in watercolors, using both wet-on-wet and wet-on-dry techniques.
Shannon Prier
From the Tampa Bay area, she has been compelled to paint her entire life, with her current work in abstracts created from fluid acrylics, sand, salt, and other mixed mediums, some using a method known as pour painting.
Carmen Rosa
Born in Puerto Rico, she uses oil paints and Austrian crystals on canvas to express her ideas, emotions, colors mixed with fantasies and daydreams, many showing her love for fantasy, science fiction and anime films, and an influence from her career in healthcare.
