‘End Of An Era’: Artist Co-Op Leaves Grand Central District Storefront

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — With the rising cost of rent, the Gulf Coast Artists’ Alliance is leaving its Grand Central District studio space and storefront, St. Pete Artworks, to move into a new, smaller west St. Petersburg location.

With the move, the artist co-op is also rebranding as GCAA Artworks.

Artists will remove their work from 2604 Central Ave., which the organization has called home for the past four years, as the group settles into its new space at 5546 1st Ave. N.

The new location has less space and can only accommodate 10 permanent displays for artists, though there is a larger space for rotating exhibitions featuring its members, James Hartzell, gallery manager and board member, told Patch. The group boasts nearly 80 members.

“It's not all doom and gloom, but definitely the end of an era,” he added. “GCAA will continue on and do good things in the community.”

The group’s nonprofit parent, Gulf Coast Artists Alliance, which was initially based in northern Pinellas County, has been around since 2006, founder and director Judy Vienneau told Patch.

“Then, I just saw this vibrant art community in St. Petersburg and I kept my eyes open,” she said.

This is how St. Pete Artworks was born, opening its first public gallery and retail space in The Art Lofts, a co-op at 10 5th Street N., and, eventually, into its own gallery around the corner in the 600 block, which popped up as an arts district in downtown St. Petersburg, from 2011 to 2013.

“There were all these other galleries on the block. It was a great networking of artists and a wonderful experience of being there at that time,” she said.

From there, GCAA and St. Pete Artworks landed at a small gallery space in the Grand Central District at 2412 Central Ave. before moving into the storefront that it’s currently leaving.

“There was nothing when we first moved in there in Grand Central, really,” Vienneau said. “A couple of restaurants and bars, definitely not like it is now.”

Since operating out of its most recent space, the landlord asked the organization to pay “basically double” the rent in a proposed lease renewal, she said, adding, “Every single penny we bring in goes to our rent. There’s no room for an increase. The only reason anybody gets paid anything is because of government grants or state grants, rather, which are precarious at the moment, and some (money) from the city, which only covers one-and-a-half months of rent.”

It’s a difficult time to be an artist in much of St. Petersburg, especially in the downtown, Edge and Grand Central districts, Hartzell said. “We scouted around to see what are the costs for studio space elsewhere. It’s fast becoming unsustainable to rent anything close to the square footage we had. It doesn’t exist and very few people have the financial capital to purchase a place and build it out.”

This forced GCAA to look outside downtown St. Petersburg and further west in the city.

“There’s no other direction to go,” Vienneau said. “But it’s what happens. The artists make an area, refurbish it, restore it, make it a cool place to come, and then everybody comes and the arts get squeezed out. It’s really sad, but it’s just what happens. I've seen it in other places.”

Hartzell added, “It’s all part of a larger symptom. The golden goose of the art community is getting squeezed from a lot of different angles.”

The new location, a former home converted into gallery space that opened last summer, “softens the blow” of the group losing its Central Avenue digs, he said. “But it’s a big shock in the sense of downsizing and the artists are hit with a difficult decision — do you stay on board or move your display elsewhere?”

GCAA remains committed to supporting Pinellas County artists amidst St. Petersburg’s changing landscape, Vienneau said.

“The spaces for artists are dwindling, other than the art centers like the Morean Art Centers or Florida CraftArt — the Warehouse Arts District being the exception. And there’s a lot going on there (in the WAD), but not a lot of selling opportunities, except maybe during art walks,” she said. “I think it’s important to support the local arts community for as long as we can.”

GCAA’s Grand Central District location will be open into Saturday evening for the city’s monthly art walk event and will feature works by Jillian Holladay and music by Evan French.

The new location will host its first event, the opening of a show called “Trapped in the Narcisystem,” on March 8. The organization will also participate in the Live Oaks neighborhood’s annual rummage sale that day.