The Raymond James Gasparilla
Festival Of The Arts
Perfecting The Art Of Juried Fine Art Festivals For 53 Years.
When the 54th Annual Raymond James Gasparilla Festival of the Arts comes to Julian B. Lane Riverfront park on Tampa’s Downtown riverfront on March 2 and 3, 2024, it brings with it a rich blend of culture and history.
For more than five decades, the Raymond James Festival of the Arts has been a has given art patrons, art enthusiasts, and festival lovers the opportunity to appreciate fine art, music, food, entertainment, and experience.
It is also an opportunity for art collectors to buy high quality work and for the country’s most accomplished artists to showcase and sell their work. The Festival features a wide variety of art mediums including ceramic, digital, drawing, fiber, glass, jewelry, mixed media, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, watercolor and wood.
Beyond the art, there’s something for everyone, including live music, culinary attractions and areas designed for children and families and admission is free.
For many years each February in Tampa, a juried art exhibit was held at the Florida State Fair in conjunction with the city’s Gasparilla pirate invasion. Highly accredited artists and art administrators from New York were invited to jury the show and eminent architect Mark Hampton designed a special exhibition space.
Over time, as the art became more diverse and sophisticated, many families stumbled upon some very avant-garde art and controversy often ensued; in 1969 several complaints about paintings of nudes caused officials to scramble and relocate the works to a private room, as at the same time, art activists realized that change needed to come.
The informality of the State Fair exhibit had brought much high-quality artwork to many people who normally never ventured into museums and the art supporters knew they wanted to continue sparking such interest as they also realized another location for the exhibition was needed. In 1970, a group of downtown business people conceived the notion of a sidewalk art festival.
Amid a sleepy downtown Tampa, Robert John Dean and Richard Redman had just completed the renovation of several charming old brick buildings on Whiting Street between Ashley Drive and Franklin Street. Across the street was WDAE radio station managed by Donald Clark, a businessman with a sense of community and familiarity with the concept of outdoor art shows. He took the outdoor show idea to Jim Turner of Tampa Electric Company who connected Clark with Dean and Redman, later joined by Lester Olson, Frank Franklin and Fred Matthews, all visionaries who dreamed of a rejuvenated city, bustling with people and culture. They were joined in their efforts by community leaders and art enthusiasts Lois Nixon, Ann Ross and Jeanne Winter, among others.
The festival succeeded beyond expectations and became known as “The Little Art Show That Could.”
In 1973, the Gasparilla Sidewalk Art Festival was the recipient of the First Annual Governor’s Award for the Arts, selected due to its melding of business and arts interests. The groundwork was laid for what was to become one of the most prestigious juried outdoor art festivals in the country. If the relaxed atmosphere of the Gasparilla Sidewalk Art Festival made this venture a popular success, the factors that made it a critical success were distinguished jurors and substantial cash prizes.
To jury the first show in 1971, Festival organizers invited Pierre Apraxine, then assistant curator of painting and sculpture at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, Apraxine’s reputation was a crucial element in the growth of the festival’s caliber.
The opportunity to have one’s work evaluated by an eminent juror was a strong attraction to many artists, many of whom were from area university faculties, such as Bruce Marsh, professor of art at the University of South Florida. Marsh was Best of Show winner for the first two years and said the wins were important to him, not only because the prize money represented a not-inconsiderable percentage of his annual salary at the time, but also because the awards brought him recognition.
Over the years many positive changes have occurred.
Prize money has grown from its original $3,900 to nearly $100,000 and categories of submission have expanded to include fnew mediums such as digital art.
In 1995, the logo and the name were changed from the Gasparilla Sidewalk Art Festival to Gasparilla Festival of the Arts to reflect an expanded focus and include cultural partners such as the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center and the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library.
With added music and other forms of lively entertainment provided by young performers from area schools in-addition to professionals; an Emerging Artist program was launched to broaden interest in the Festival. Artist applications have risen from the initial 140 to more than 1000 and sponsorship has increased significantly. The Festival has hundreds of volunteers at both the board of director and festival committee level who spend countless hours working on continuous improvement each year.
The Festival location also changed over time from its humbler beginnings on Whiting Street.
The Raymond James Gasparilla Festival of the Arts was initially relocated behind the Tampa Museum of Art and the old Curtis Hixon Convention Center and in 1995, it expanded into the newly constructed Curtis Hixon Park on the Hillsborough River. In 2003 it moved to Franklin Street and Lykes Gaslight Square Park as construction proceeded on the new Tampa Museum of Art.
In March 2010 the Festival moved back to the river as the newly built museum opened its doors with a renamed and redesigned Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park on its doorstep, and the park hosted the Festival through 2019. In 2020, the Festival found its new home across the Hillsborough River in the spectacular Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park with its many amenities.
Today, the Raymond James Festival of the Arts features more than 250 fine artists, 15 Emerging Artists, and more than a dozen live music performances. The addition of food trucks and other concessions make the Festival a “must-attend” cultural event the first weekend of March each year.
Please save the date March 2-3, 2024 for the 54th Annual Raymond James Gasparilla Festival of the Arts in Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park, Downtown Tampa.
