3 Art Shows Closing: Bayboro, Forever Florida, Morean Center for Clay

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — This weekend is the last chance to catch three art shows in St. Petersburg as they host their closing events:

• Freeman and NovaFro at Bayboro Brewing, 2390 5th Ave. S.
• Luci Westphal’s Post-Historic St. Pete at Forever Florida Real Estate, 2629 Central Ave.
• trans / clay / body at Morean Center for Clay, 420 22nd Street S.

Freeman and NovaFro

Artists James Kitchens, who paints under the name Freeman, and Britt Freemon, who is known as NovaFro, will celebrate the closing of their show at Bayboro Brewing on Sunday, noon to 4 p.m.

“I’m impressed by these artists both at different stages in their creative careers,” James Hartzell, who curated the show, told Patch.

Freemon added, “We didn’t really have a set theme for the show, but the thought 30 for 30 comes to mind since James K., aka Freeman, has been a creative force for over 30 years, and I’m just getting into the fine art world in my early (thirties.)”

Hartzell met Kitchens while painting the Black Lives Matter and Black History Matters street murals at the Woodson Museum.

“(I) was blown away by his portrait and painting skills, history of working in (a) variety of mediums over 30+ years, tattoos, graffiti, traditional painting, murals, even his time as a boxer,” Hartzell said.
Kitchens told Patch that he loves painting colorful, engaging works “from (his) soul.”

“I love painting with acrylics. In my paintings, I try to make my work vibrant, and I love having motion in my paintings,” he said. “I paint from my soul. I kind of let the canvas tell me what to put on it. Most of the artwork that I have displayed are different mediums like airbrushing and acrylic paintings.”

Hartzell calls Freemon, who met at a vendor market at Uptown Eats, “a rising star."

“Britt’s work also focuses on portraits and Black culture, similar to Freeman but with a unique spin and perspective on her visual storytelling,” he said, adding, “Love connecting with artists like this, seeing their growth of style and interactions with the community.”

In her artist statement, Freemon, who primarily works with acrylic paints and other materials on canvas, wrote, “Through my painting journey, I’ve been developing my style of art in vibrant portraitures, with an essence of whimsy expressed through a Black American lens. I like to capture the emotion of a moment, typically from our pop culture, whether past, present or future. I strive to challenge each piece.”

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Post-Historic St. Pete

Luci Westphal hosts the closing reception for Post-Historic St. Pete, Sunday, 3 to 7 p.m., at Forever Florida Real Estate. The event will feature readings with local poets from 4 to 5 p.m. and an opportunity to ask Westphal questions about her work.

The show spanned two venues simultaneously with additional works on display at the Craftsman House, 2955 Central Ave.

Westphal, a native of Germany, has a background in film and photography. While she and her husband, artist Scott Solary, lived in New York City, Berlin and Colorado for a number of years, they returned to Florida, moving to Belleair Bluffs in 2018. The Florida State University graduate moved to Historic Kenwood during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In recent years, she became interested in St. Petersburg’s changing landscape — the juxtaposition between the high-rise developments going up and the city's historic buildings and iconic landmarks.
Many residents and visitors seem interested in new developments and construction projects across St. Petersburg, Westphal told Patch. “And people have opinions, which is exciting.”

She added, “The kind of artwork that interests me is something that isn’t just decor — and there’s nothing wrong with decor. I find beauty exceptionally important in life … for mental, physical and emotional well-being. But I put effort in wanting to create things that make people think and provoke thoughts and feelings and emotions about things they maybe haven’t thought of before. I hope my work can make people ask questions, not ask them what they should be thinking.”

trans / clay / body

This is the final weekend to catch this showcase of ceramic works by nearly 60 trans and gender nonconforming youth students and artists at the Morean Center for Clay.

One of the artists featured in the exhibition, Nela Lamb, will lead free guided tours of the show on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. and Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

Curated by the Morean’s ceramics instructor Dakota-Joan Parkinson the pieces were created during free ceramics courses and a traditional anagama wood-firing workshop taught by Parkinson at the center last year.

Having “always been a bit of a community builder,” Parkinson is drawn to the communal aspect of the wood-fire kiln.

“In traditional Japanese culture, the anagama firing process requires a collective effort, with the entire village working together to fuel the kiln over days and nights,” she told Patch.

This was evident during the workshop at the Morean, according to Parkinson. “The bonds formed during this process were mirrored in our community of trans youth, whose collaboration resulted in stunning, high-quality pieces that will endure long beyond us all.”

She added, “It brought people together. They bonded around a shared goal and shared labor.”
Lamb said that both clay as a medium and the wood-fire process speak to the trans and gender nonconforming community.

“In ceramics, we take raw materials — clay, slip, glaze — and shape them into forms that speak to us and portray the story we want to tell,” they told Patch. “As trans people we do the same with the raw materials we’re allotted at birth — we shape them to express our truth.”