Take a trip to The Mermaid Motel Fairgrounds St. Pete Open to Public

By Gabrielle Reeder

Welcome to post-apocalyptic Florida, where locally themed and inspired art meets a choose-your-own adventure escape room.

Fairgrounds St. Pete, at 800 28th St. S, opened to the public on Sept. 2. The 15,000 square-foot warehouse houses 64 artists’ fluorescent and technologically advanced displays, installations and interactive exhibits.

“There’s nothing like it in this area. It takes you to another world, especially if you think you’re just going to any other art exhibition,” said Ari Robinson, the artist behind the Mystic Reef in the FLORIDARAMA room. “From the floors to the walls to the ceiling, an artist has touched every inch of that space.”

The Mystery

Fairgrounds St. Pete allows visitors two options: Treat it as a museum and admire the art, or look for clues and piece together the mystery.

“We have this global narrative with some overarching points and ideas, but the details are all left for the imagination,” CEO and cofounder Liz Dimmit said.

According to Dimmitt, the narrative suggests that a couple checked into the Mermaid Star Motel and disappeared.

Theories

Iona Parris, also known as the Seashell Queen, is wrapped up in the mystery. “I’m still trying to find out where they are, too.”

Robinson has a different viewpoint: “I think they ended up just getting lost in this new, Florida-inspired world.”

Chris Parks, otherwise known as Palehorse, believes the owner was experimenting. “The owner of the roadside motel is an astrophysicist,”

Rainbow Road. Photo by Gabrielle Reeder

he said, “and they were interested in exploring all kinds of fringe experiments.” After exploring lucid dreaming, astral projection and sensory deprivation, “the motel owner eventually discovered Pranayama, which is the control of life-force energy.”

‘The Temple of Cosmic Balance’

Palehorse based his room, “The Temple of Cosmic Balance,’ on his theory.

“My work revolves around sacred art and meditation, and so there are a lot of symbols that are from India and the East in the space.” he said. “I’m using a lot of esoteric symbolism to help the viewer get a sense of the ideas behind the work.”

The centerpiece of the room, Shiva-Shakti, is a balancing of masculine and feminine energy. The left half represents masculine energy; the right illuminates feminine energy. The union of the two creates the balance.

For more on St. Pete Fairgrounds visit fairgrounds.art.