St. Petersburg’s Pier District Closer To Developing Art Projects; 6 Artists Chosen As Finalists

ST. PETERSBURG, FL. - Six artists and artist teams have been selected as finalists to create original art for the new St. Petersburg Pier District. The artists come from across the U.S. and Copenhagen.

The Pier Public Art Committee reviewed 277 submissions from more than 70 artists from the U.S., Canada, and other countries. The finalists are: Jun Kaneko (Omaha; junkaneko.com), Nathan Mabry (Los Angeles), Xenobia Bailey (New York City) , Ball-Nogues Studio (Los Angeles; www.ball-nogues.com) Ned Kahn (Sebastopol Calif.; nedkahn.com) and Jeppe Hein (Copenhagen; www.jeppehein.net ).

The City of St. Petersburg began a process in 2016 to select artists for public art within the Pier District. Art will be funded through the city's Percent for Art ordinance. A total of $480,000 is currently available for two commissions.

The finalists will receive a design honorarium to develop specific proposals for the Pier District. They will also be invited to present their proposals to the Pier Art Committee which will recommend projects for commissions to the Public Art Commission. The commission's recommendations will then be forwarded to the mayor.

At least two projects will be commissioned, one for the Pier Approach and one for the area leading up to and including the Pier.

The new $76 million pier project includes a $30 million budget for the creation of Pier Approach. The pier project encompasses 26 acres on St. Petersburg’s waterfront. The pier district will include such features as a fishing deck, restaurant and event space, event plaza, an education center, a floating platform, splashpad and pavilion.

Work on the new pier is expected to be completed in early 2019. The new pier replaces the city’s iconic inverted pyramid that was constructed in the 1970s. The inverted pyramid was demolished in 2015.

Rendering via the City of St. Petersburg’s website