things to do in st. pete

Discover artwork that explores the wondrous phenomenon of coral spawning ✨

Here is a behind-the-scenes look at the artist group, OVERGROWN, sharing the process of making “Ballet of the Final Anthozoans”.

It’s often difficult to convey the energy, hard work, and dedication that our participating artists and Fairgrounds St. Pete team put into creating the work you get to now enjoy!

As with all of the artwork at Fairgrounds St. Pete, “Ballet of the Final Anthozoans” has a story.

With the backbone of our ecosystem in decline with humans to blame, these Final Anthozoans find themselves flipped upside down in a world of imbalance. Due to global warming, pollution and other human-created catastrophes, coral spawning is becoming less and less successful, adding to the cumulative decline of our coral reefs. “Ballet of the Final Anthozoans” acts as both a tribute and a warning: we must protect these delicate environments, or else bear witness to their last dance. The egg within coral spawning alludes to cyclicality, a common theme in OVERGROWN’s work. Upon viewing, the participant is faced with an alluring space that plays with depth and perception to lend an expansive underwater atmosphere.

Scroll on to see BTS images of making the “Ballet of the Final Anthozoans”.

“Ballet of the Final Anthozoans” an immersive installation created by “OVERGROWN” comprised of Adam Hutz, Barrak Darweesh, KJ Wu and Tina Piracci that choreographs the wondrous phenomenon of coral spawning.

To see OVERGROWN’s work at Fairgrounds St. Pete, – get your ticket today, and join our Insiders Club for the latest Fairgrounds St. Pete news.

Did you know the “Entrance Doodle Wall” is similar to the first chapter of your favorite story? It foreshadows the mysteries you’ll discover throughout Fairgrounds St. Pete!

Here is a behind-the-scenes look at Chad Mize sharing the process of making the “Entrance Doodle Wall”.

It’s often difficult to convey the energy, hard work, and dedication that our participating artists and Fairgrounds St. Pete team put into creating the work you get to now enjoy!

Scroll on to see BTS images of making the “Entrance Doodle Wall”

Chad Mize is a multimedia artist, designer, and muralist residing in St. Pete, Florida. He was born in New Orleans, LA in 1974 and then moved to Tampa Bay, where he spent most of his childhood. An early interest in art resulted in his earning a BFA in Visual Communications at the University of Mississippi. With a love for past and contemporary culture, he takes a humorous, tongue-in-cheek approach to his designs, which include playful doodles, colorful patterns, political art, and graphics with text. In 2010, Mize opened BLUELUCY, a St. Petersburg gallery that represented over 450 local and national artists. When the gallery closed in 2015, Mize founded his own lifestyle and design brand, CHIZZY. His contributions to the thriving St. Pete art scene also include working on the SHINE Mural Festival, which brings artists from around the world to paint murals in St. Petersburg. In 2018, Mize opened the gallery MIZE in the Historic Uptown neighborhood of St. Pete. Mize’s work is held in numerous private and corporate collections, both nationally and internationally.

To see Chad Mize’s work at Fairgrounds St. Pete, – get your ticket today, and join our Insiders Club for the latest Fairgrounds St. Pete news.

Discover artwork infused with robotics and technology 🤖⚙️

Here is a behind-the-scenes look at Bec Conrad sharing the process of making “Wall of Eyes,” and “Eyes in the Rough”

It’s often difficult to convey the energy, hard work, and dedication that our participating artists and Fairgrounds St. Pete team put into creating the work you get to now enjoy!

Scroll on to see BTS images of making the “Wall of Eyes”!

“Wall of Eyes” is a 24’ lightbox installation activated by the presence of a viewer. The lightboxes feature silhouettes of glowing eyes belonging to six animal species who make their home in the Florida Everglades: the American alligator, Roseate spoonbill, tree snail, Florida panther, giant land crab and the opossum. When a viewer passes by, Wall of Eyes lights up, sending the visitor into a mystical, multicolored environment.

“Eyes in the Rough” is a set of three animatronic eyeballs that peek out at visitors from the tall cat grass lining the Everglades Arena. The eyes track movement through a motion-sensing camera hidden in each sculpture. As visitors walk by, they may feel like something is watching them… because it is!

Artist and engineer Bec Conrad holds a MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and a MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of New Hampshire. She was a consulting technologist for Tellart LLC, who received the 2016 Cooper Hewitt National Design Award in Interaction Design. Bec designed and manufactured several robotic interactive elements of Toyota’s Concept-i, the highest fidelity prototype car ever created. Bec’s artwork examines kinetic expressions of robots and questions human relationships with technology. Bec has exhibited artwork nationally and internationally, including at Flux Factory, NY and the International Symposium on Electronic Art, Vancouver.

To see Bec Conrad’s work at Fairgrounds St. Pete, – get your ticket today, and join our Insiders Club for the latest Fairgrounds St. Pete news.

Discover artwork that feels strange yet familiar🚸🛣️🐊

“Caution Ahead” is a collection of three unique iridescent street signs created by Danielle DeGuglimo.

It’s often difficult to convey the energy, hard work, and dedication that our participating artists and Fairgrounds St. Pete team put into creating the work you get to now enjoy! Scroll on to see BTS images of making the “Caution Ahead”.

Danielle has created three iridescent street signs for Fairgrounds St. Pete’s Backwater that are similar to signs seen on Florida roadways. The Panther Crossing, Gator Crossing and Sinkhole signs are made of acrylic, iridescent film, vinyl and steel posts. The faces of the signs reflect a dreamy, mirrored iridescence while warning of the potential danger and right of way for native panthers and alligators. The third sign warns of the rare and sudden occurrence of Florida sinkholes. Typically caused by a change in the stabilization of limestone underground, sinkholes can change the topography by quickly swallowing up the landscape, including buildings and vehicles, or developing slowly over a long period of time.

Danielle DeGuglimo is a native Floridian living in central Florida who creates art installations for public interaction and engagement. Her work is often in response to childhood nostalgia and play. Her installations are typically oversized and surreal and focus on representing the strange yet familiar.

To see Danielle DeGuglimo’s work at Fairgrounds St. Pete, – get your ticket today, and join our Insiders Club for the latest Fairgrounds St. Pete news.

Have you experienced our latest immersive art experience: “Electric Sky Lounge”?

This new immersive, interactive art experience was created in collaboration with internationally renowned artist Neil Mendoza featuring his award-winning artwork “Disruptive Devices”.

You’re invited to interact with each work using a crank wheel that changes a virtual world. The result is a surprising and humorous interaction between the real and the digital worlds. 🦆🤚🐓🤚🐕

It’s often difficult to convey the energy, hard work, and dedication that our participating artists and Fairgrounds St. Pete team put into creating the work you get to now enjoy!

As with all of the artwork at @fairgroundsstpete, “Disruptive Devices” has a story”.

“I’m interested in expanding our culture’s perception of technology and what it can do and be,” said Artist Neil Mendoza. “Disruptive Devices explores themes of environmental sustainability and the impact of technology in our lives, through a surreal and playful lens.”

Scroll on to see BTS images of making the devices!

Neil Mendoza’s practice combines sculpture, electronics and software to bring inanimate objects and spaces to life. By combining found objects with technology in unexpected ways, the various elements of his work are viewed from a new perspective. Mendoza explores themes of the absurd, the humorous, the futile and the surreal. He has exhibited work and talked at conferences around the world, taught classes on art and technology at UCLA and Stanford and co-founded the art collective “is this good?”

To see Neil Mendoza’s work at Fairgrounds St. Pete, – get your ticket today, and join our Insiders Club for the latest Fairgrounds St. Pete news.