Arts In

There’s a ship docked in downtown St. Pete with aerialists flying from the rigging. It’s a ship filled with actors and dancers and theatre crew, creating a visually spectacular story about climate change. Adriana Kelder started the Caravan Stage Company with Paul Kirby in the 1970s. They’ve been bringing original productions to small towns and cities around North America - and Europe - for more than 40 years. Adriana and Paul toured with horse-drawn carriages for 20 years before setting sail. They raised a family as they traveled, and built a network of creative collaborators around the world. And while the troupe lives together onboard with a library in the galley and lively shared meals, their website’s up to date and their shows use high-tech gear and video projections. Quiet, passionate and full of humor, Adriana shares the inspiration behind the company and their current production, the risks they take performing political theatre and the pleasures of wanderlust. Find out more about Caravan Stage

Internationally-known artists Robert Stackhouse and Carol Mickett share details of the evolving designs included in their Gateway Plaza commission in Richmond, Virginia. The building was constructed as their artwork was embedded in the structure. They talk about working with German mosaic specialists and how to install art in 8-degree weather while elevators are being installed around you. Find out more about their work at http://mickettstackhouse.com Arts In is produced by Matt and Sheila Cowley. Executive Producer, Barbara St. Clair for Creative Pinellas.

Internationally-known architect Yann Weymouth shares the practical ideas behind the Dalí Museum’s striking design, and why the glass pyramid he helped build at the Louvre was a beautifully simple answer to their needs. He shares the stories behind the new James Museum of Western + Wildlife Art that will grace downtown St. Pete this year, and how he let natural light into Miami’s Frost Museum using surfboard technology. Yann Weymouth was honored by French President Francois Mitterand for his work as Chief of Design for I.M. Pei during the Louvre project. He also worked with Pei on Washington D.C.’s National Gallery. In Tampa Bay, you can see his work at the Salvador Dalí Museum and Museum of Fine Arts in St. Pete, the University of South Florida campus in Tampa and Sarasota’s Ringling Museum of Art. Yann’s thoughtful philosophy of creativity and collaboration reveal the layered process of design. This professional who could live anywhere in the world explains why he and Susana Weymouth choose to live in S

Journalist Dr. Lillian Dunlap and actor/director Jaye Sheldon are co-Artistic Directors of Your Real Stories. Based in St. Petersburg, Your Real Stories practices “theatrical journalism.” After in-depth interviews with local residents, they distill each person’s story into a script that an actor shares onstage. Your Real Stories brings real experiences to life, to spark conversations across differences in race, gender and age - while creating a detailed view of local history from many different viewpoints. Find out more at http://www.yourrealstories.org. Check out a video of St Pete Stories - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpFP-keLjrE. And their popular Decades of Day Work series - (see Dropbox video?) StoryDays in Tampa Bay, their week-long storytelling festival, takes place every year in early October. You can follow the schedule of stories told by voice, text, dance, theatre and image on the Your Real Stories Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/YRSinc. Journalist Dr. Lillian Dunlap and act

Ya La’ford Painter, muralist, installation artist, community activist and teacher, Ya La’ford, shares her passion for creating art, and for nurturing the next generation of artists. Ya spoke with Barbara St. Clair after recent work in Thailand and China, and before a project where she’ll be working with children in Cuba. While her artwork is internationally known, Ya’s murals grace buildings throughout her chosen home town of St. Petersburg, including the Morean Arts Center, the James Weldon Johnson Public Library and a beautiful blue tunnel leading to the baseball stadium at Tropicana Field. Ya reveals her intense creative fire, her profound connections to her family and the world around her, and how training in engineering and law have shaped her art practice. Find out more about Ya’s work at http://yalaford.com Arts In is produced by Matt and Sheila Cowley. Executive Producer, Barbara St. Clair for Creative Pinellas.

Rebecca Penneys Internationally-acclaimed concert pianist Rebecca Penneys commutes between St. Pete and New York every other week, to teach at the Eastman School of Music. Her infectious sense of humor and the joy she finds in sharing music run throughout this vibrant conversation. Penneys talks about how training as a dancer - and almost giving up piano to pursue a professional ballet career - now shapes the way she plays piano, and the way she teaches even students with carpal tunnel and stress-related injuries to play the piano so it feels like they are having a massage. Rebecca shares her true love, the international piano festival she hosts each summer at USF Tampa. She hosts 40 students from around the world, for free, to learn in a non-competitive environment from a variety of world-class teachers, and to share their music in free performances all over Tampa Bay. rebeccapenneyspianofestival.org Music selections from: Rebecca Penneys & Steinway, Fleur de Son Classics 2005 Recital Gems from Chat

Internationally-known artists Robert Stackhouse and Carol Mickett share their method of collaboration and give listeners a look behind the scenes of large-scale public art commissions - wrangling contracts. sourcing materials, coordinating with engineers, and managing budgets and schedules on art installations where you have to wear a hard hat. Robert and Carol explain their passion for both 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional art, how placement on a wall affects a work of art, and why St. Petersburg’s maturing arts community needs every kind of artist from students to professionals. Find out more about their work at http://mickettstackhouse.com Produced by Sheila Cowley. Arts In is produced by Matt and Sheila Cowley. Executive Producer, Barbara St. Clair for Creative Pinellas.

Lynn Whitelaw looks at how much the world of visual art has changed in Tampa Bay in the last 40 years. We enjoy a wealth of museums, galleries and arts events now, and take for granted the many working artists and arts organizations in our area. It’s hard to believe how different the arts scene was when Whitelaw arrived in 1975. Lynn Whitelaw recently retired as the founding Director and Curator of the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art at St. Petersburg College. He also served as Curator of Education at the Tampa Museum of Art and taught at Hillsborough Community College. - Recorded and mixed by Matthew Cowley, edited by Sheila Cowley. Arts resources Lynn mentions in his talk: Chihuly Collection http://www.moreanartscenter.org/chihuly/ Salvador Dalí Museum http://thedali.org Dunedin Fine Arts Center http://www.dfac.org Florida Artists Hall of Fame http://dos.myflorida.com/cultural/programs/florida-artists-hall-of-fame/ Florida Association of Museums http://www.flamuseums.org Gallery 221@HCC http://www

Tom Sivak Tom Sivak is an adventurous composer and lyricist who talks about turning Beatles songs into Bach fugues, a musical version of “The Brain That Wouldn’t Die - in 3D!!!” and an Andrews Sisters spoof on Shakespeare that featured Jose Ferrer at Lincoln Center. Tom spoke to us shortly after revealing his new comic opera, “Dr. Dilligaff’s Baboon,” at The Palladium. You can find out more about Tom’s work at http://tomsivak.com and follow the development of “Dr. Dilligaff’s Baboon” at http://www.rapidreturns.org/artistslandingpage/. Arts In is produced by Matt and Sheila Cowley. Executive Producer, Barbara St. Clair for Creative Pinellas.

Lisa Powers Tricomi In a conversation rich with laughter and with her own probing questions, Lisa Powers Tricomi shares her thoughts on acting and directing. Lisa talks about her work with veterans in The Telling Project, and the ideas behind drama therapy. She explains the different energies of acting and directing, the power of theater to transform audiences, and how she grapples with questions of how to be human through her work onstage and off. Find out more about Lisa Powers Tricomi’s work at: http://creativepinellas.org/artists/lisa-powers-tricomi/ https://thetellingproject.org http://www.theactproject.com/home.html Arts In is produced by Matt and Sheila Cowley. Executive Producer, Barbara St. Clair for Creative Pinellas.