Unique Art For Unique District; Water Streets Unveils Public Art

TAMPA, FL — A unique development calls for unique art. And that's just what Water Street Tampa is offering.

Last week, British artist Lucy Sparrow cut a felt ribbon to officially open her most ambitious project to date, an immersive art installation and fully functioning supermarket, Lucy Sparrow’s Tampa Fresh Foods, within the Water Street Tampa neighborhood.

More than two years in the making and stocked with more than 50,000 hand-created felt artworks, Tampa Fresh Foods is a love letter to the Sunshine State, with Tampa firmly positioned as the artist’s muse.

Tampa Fresh Foods is presented by the Vinik Family Foundation in partnership with the nonprofit organization Art Production Fund.

Inside the store, a fully felted produce department is stocked with Florida’s home-grown favorites including citrus fruits, peppers, watermelons, snap beans and potatoes, as well as a full seafood counter laden with hand-made local fare; mullet, clams, shrimp, blue and stone crabs. Guests can build a bespoke artwork from the Cuban sandwich bar or visit the Tampa Fresh Foods humidor, a temperature controlled walk-in zone featuring classic felted cigars, sold as singles or in hand-painted boxes.

Sparrow took the art world by storm in 2014 with the opening of her fully stocked felt Cornershop installation in London’s East End. With queues around the block and wall-to-wall media coverage, the installation was both a commercial and critical success. In 2016 the BBC commissioned Sparrow to recreate the Crown Jewels in felt, to celebrate HRH The Queen’s official 90th birthday. Her work was unveiled in the windows of the Hermés flagship Store on Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, and she dominated the headlines at Miami Art Week with her installation piece, Triple Art Bypass (both 2018) that saw the artist perform "live" surgery to huge crowds at Context Art Fair.

Tampa Fresh Foods is Sparrow's eighth major "store: installation and the first in Florida.

The exhibit is located at the Asher Residences at Water Street Tampa, 1050 Water St., Tampa.

Sparrow's exhibit comes on the heels of a new mural at Water Street Tampa by Dutch artist Leon Keer.

Keer specializes in making augmented reality street art. Download the LeonKeer app (compatible with Apple and Android), aim the phone or tablet at the mural, and it will take on a 3D effect through the device.

Presented by CASS Contemporary and Water Street Tampa, the mural was painted on the East Cumberland Avenue parking garage at 1045 Cumberland Ave. and spans 100 feet. It depicts a tower of colorful gemstones stacked on top of each other in the order of the rainbow.

Through the app, the garage looks unpainted, then the gemstones stack up and burst away from the wall in 3D, with popping sounds.

“While creating the mural, I looked into the contemporary feel, which reflects on the diversity of the people and businesses going into the new Water Street Tampa neighborhood,” Keer said. “The mural is focused on the balance and cohesion of diversity reflected here in the city of Tampa.”

He said the mural balances different colored stones representing the diversity of the people. Equality comes with recognizing, respecting and celebrating one another's differences.

Photo via Equality Florida

Equality Florida and local artist Chad Mize will debut a new new LGBTQ mural at Tampa Heights' Shuffle next week.

Equality Florida, the state’s largest LGBTQ civil rights organization, raised over $23,000 at its recent Tampa Gala’s live auction to fund the art piece designed and completed by Mize.

A St. Petersburg resident, Mize bases his art in playful doodles and colorful patterns. His artwork can be found all around Tampa Bay, including Fairgrounds St. Pete, Gangchu Chicken & Beer, private residences and more. He has a mural just two miles north of Shuffle at Independent Bar & Cafe.

“Recent pushback at the state level continues to underscore why visibility is so important for our community,” Equality Florida Regional Development Officer Nick Machuca said. “We are proud to partner on this mural to celebrate the progress we’ve made in Tampa Bay and highlight the important work ahead.”
Photo via Equality Florida

The mural came to fruition as Florida’s LGBTQ community suffered unprecedented attacks, like the Transgender Youth Sports ban, the removal of funding for LGBTQ programs from the state budget and the censorship of LGBTQ anti-bullying resources.

Tampa’s municipality, alongside Orlando, St. Petersburg, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Oakland Park, Tallahassee, Wellington, West Palm Beach and Wilton Manors, have led the way of applying inclusive policies and has received a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign’s Municipal Equality Index, which examines how inclusive municipal laws, policies and services are for LGBTQ people.

The reveal ceremony is set for Friday, Jan. 28 at 10:30 a.m. at Shuffle, located at 2612 N Tampa St. Mayor Jane Castor, Equality Florida Executive Director Nadine Smith and local LGBTQ leaders will headline the ceremony.

The ceremony will be followed by an after party at 7 p.m., with live entertainment, art, shuffleboard and more. Half of the night's proceeds will be donated to Equality Florida.