WERE YOU EXPECTING MAYBE THE ADDAMS FAMILY? Even Bebop and Rocksteady get the art show treatment this weekend. CHRIS JOHNSON/MERGECULTURE
PRESENTS
Turtle power
TMNT-inspired art show and block party leads list of weekend activities. By Ray Roa and Jennifer Ring
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environmentally conscious via a runway show with sustainable fashion, plus live performances and local vendors. Friday, Oct. 22, 7 p.m. $5. 2201 1st Ave. S, St. Petersburg. thegoldmined.com
Fashion forward St. Pete’s solar-powered Coastal Creative studio teams up with the Gold Minded collective for an event that seeks to make attendees more
Haunt the park The Studios@5663 artists created an interesting challenge for themselves this Halloween season. Their plan: to convert an 11-studio building into an art-themed haunted attraction in just 13 days. “We’re going to be working nonstop these next two weeks for sure, but it’ll be worth it,” John Gascot told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. Once complete, the studios will temporarily appear as a haunted version of itself with a different theme/spook in each studio. “There’ll be a scary Mona Lisa, a living Goya painting, a Cubist nightmare, and I feel compelled to stick a Bob Ross in there as well,” Gascot told CL. The best night to visit is Sat. Oct. 23 during 4th Saturday Block pARTy, Pinellas Arts Village’s signature event. This way you can catch Pompei’s blacklight art show and the costume contest at Derek Donnelly’s Cove Gallery & Studio while you’re in the neighborhood. But the studios are open Halloween weekend, too. “I think there’ll be things that you’ll want to come back the following weekend and [experience] again, because you’re like, ‘Oh my God, I didn’t catch everything in there,’” Gascot added. “So yes, it’s a haunt attraction, but it’s also an art installation that you get to interact with.” The Haunting of Studios@5663. 7 p.m.-10 p.m. Sat. Oct. 23 (also on Oct. 29-31). Studios at 5663, 5663 Park Blvd N, Pinellas Park. $5 per person suggested donation benefits Diversity Arts 501c3. Masks required. @studios5663 on Facebook
eonardo. Michelangelo. Raphael. Donatello. All Renaissance master artists. All Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, too. “There are too many layers of genius to unpack, really,” Mergeculture wrote in a press release for its latest show, “Straight from the Sewer,” which opens on Friday in downtown Tampa in conjunction with the monthly Bloom block party on Franklin Street. The show features work from a dozen artists from across the country—including Meow Wolf’s Nico Salazar and Birdcap, which painted one of the best murals in Tampa Bay—and was inspired by a conversation between Mergeculture Gallery’s co-curator Michelle Sawyer and Tampa producer Wally Rios. Also on the artist lineup are local favorites like past CL cover artist Peachmoon, 3LB God and Alejandro Algarin (aka Maff Bug), plus a music lineup that features some of the city’s best producers and rappers (Rios, who’s already done “Naruto” beat tapes, is releasing a Turtlesinspired one on Friday). As part of the Bloom party, nearby Magnanimous Brewing is releasing new beers (“Rahzar” and “Tokka” imperial sours with vanilla plus raspberry or blueberry). Gaze Yoga is even having a dance party, and there’s naturally a pizza pop-up, too. Straight from the Sewer. Friday, Oct. 22, 7 p.m. Bloom on Franklin Block Party outside Mergeculture. 1544 N Franklin St., Tampa. $5-$10 donation. @mergeculture on Facebook
CannaBlissed AT THE
Tampa Tattoo Arts Convention
OCT 22nd - 24th, Tampa Convention Center Visit the #CannaBlissed Lounge for CBD + ∆8 products and limited edition merch designed by “Ink Mistress” Emily Elegado.
NO MEDICAL CARD REQUIRED Visit BlissWellnessMarket.com | For Tickets Go To Bit.ly/BlissTattoo21 cltampa.com | OCTOBER 21 - 27, 2021 | 7