Scott Solary, Jeff Danner, Luci Westphal, Joy Rose at 4 Gats Gallery
A whirlwind 3 weeks of making, sharing, promoting, showing, and selling art – and spending time with lots of awesome people.
Scott Solary, Jeff Danner, Luci Westphal, Joy Rose at 4 Gats Gallery

This blog post was originally published on Patreon for my patrons, who get exclusive content, creative gifts, earlier access to some articles and the invitation to participate in some creative decision making. All that as a thank you for their financial and moral support of my filmmaking, photography, and creative work.

Talking about work: I’ve created and shared a lot of work… It’s been a very productive, creative, intense 2 months – all building up to that crazy crunch time of 6 art events over only 3 weeks! 

I had the best intentions to write articles and share photos for Patreon and my blog for each individual event. But of course, with that many events, there was no time. So instead, now here’s an overview of all that happened. (This was originally published in November, before I disappeared into preparing for the next event: Shopapalooza 2-day market over Thanksgiving weekend). 

Halloween on Central (Sun 10/30)

As the chairperson of the Historic Kenwood Artist Enclave, I felt responsible for having a display of art work in our neighborhood booth during the 22-block-long street party on October 30th in St. Pete. Naturally, we went with a dark theme – and I finally got to see a few of my angel photos in print. In our digital age, seeing photos printed again makes such a huge difference, doesn’t it?

black and white photos, angel statues, Brooklyn cemetery

I remember forever ago, when I asked you all for ideas for digital photo album themes for my website, Dianne Couts suggested some of my angel statues. Now that I created a collection of these statues for print, I should finally be able to create that digital album. 

black angel door, cemetery, Havana,
Unexpectedly, I even sold one print – this photo of a door in a cemetery in Havana, Cuba. 

St. Pete Still at Westminster Suncoast Nursing Center – Official Invite-Only Reception for Residents (Wed 11/2)

November 2nd was the day I officially kicked-off the St. Pete Moving Still project as I revealed the St. Pete Moving Still frames to residents and staff in the Nursing Center Building. 

Seeing residents actually respond (positively) to these frames was amazing. After all that I imagined and assumed, and then what I filmed and the logistics planned, these were pretty much the happiest moments in a long time. 

Luci with resident at Westminster Suncoast, St. Pete Moving Still display

Smiling woman, digital screen of wooded trail, St. Pete Moving Still

Watch one of the Moving Stills: Milkweed & Monarch

Watch one of the videos used for a Moving Still: Gulf Water Moves

Then on November 4th, I got to visit patients at the Nursing Center who aren’t able to go outdoors or even out of bed at all. Together with activities director Carly Jewel, I got to install screens in a few patients’ rooms and the staff lounge. This is when I realized how truly bigger-than-me this project is. And how lucky I am that someone let me in the door. And how nervous I am about what effect this might have. 

St Pete Moving Still - digital frame playing nature video - nursing home room - Luci Westphal

Lakeland ArtCrawl (Sat 11/5)

My first true art fair: ArtCrawl 2022

art fair display booth, photographer, black walls, white tent, nature photography, Florida, Luci Westphal, Lakeland Art Crawl

I created this to explain the different kind of work I had on display at the art fair:

Luci Westphal, artist, visual non-fiction storyteller, writer, social artist

While I didn’t win any prizes, and didn’t sell as much as I had hoped (but enough to make the entire trip worth it), I noticed the judges stop by twice at the following photo. 

Graffiti wall, Berlin street art, Liebe ist ausverkauft, Luci Westphal

(Now more than ever, I look forward to one day having an exhibit with some of my street art photography from around the world. One day…)

handmade silver necklace made in 1968 by Maria Westphal
I wore a necklace my mom made in art school in 1968. I got as many compliments for that as for my photos, I think.

It was a great success all around.

On Wood / Of Wood Exhibit during St. Pete Art Walk (Saturday, 11/12)

Special one-night-only exhibit at the 4 Gats Gallery within a private home of the wood sculpture artist Randy Colbath. The exhibit was divided into two different views of celebrating wood as a photographer: photography printed on wood and photography of wood, i.e. featuring images of trees.

Luci Westphal photography at 4 Gats Gallery, Warehouse Arts District, St. Petersburg

For the images of trees, I decided I wanted to go all out and see if it would be possible to print large photos. I had three printed as large (30 x 40 in) regular photos with the most affordable backing for indoor display.

Luci Westphal photography at 4 Gats Gallery, Warehouse Arts District, St. Petersburg

And then I took a bigger gamble and had one photo printed extra large (4 x 6 feet) on vinyl banner material to display outdoors.

Big Cypress swamp photograph for the outdoors, shipping container decor, Luci Westphal, sculpture, Randy Colbath
A photo I took in Big Cypress and had printed on outdoor vinyl, displayed on shipping container. It turned out so beautifully that I think I might pursue printing more work large-scale on vinyl instead of smaller metal prints – as part of my “outdoor photos outside”

I thought all the photos came out great and enjoyed the show tremendously – especially thanks to dear friends joining me.

visitors at 4 Gats Gallery

Big thanks to Randy and Cindy for having me – and to Scott for helping me figure out the logistics of the vinyl print display and all his support. 

cat looking through window at food, 4 Gats Gallery, St. Pete

St. Pete Moving Still at Westminster Suncoast Quak Center of Lifelong Learning (Monday, 11/14)

The real-deal public exhibit, reception, premiere, and interactive installation that I had, again, been quite nervous about. It’s not just that I didn’t know how people would respond to this rather unusual art concept and set-up – I was worried if they would respond at all. 

St. Pete Moving Still exhibit at Westminster Suncoast, St. Petersburg

The event was graciously and generously hosted by Westminter Suncoast – thanks to Sarah Feehan for getting it all organized. The response from the Westminster residents was very positive. I had lots of great conversations and was delighted to see people interact with the videos and each other. Lots of great ideas flowed my way. 

St. Pete Moving Still exhibit at Westminster Suncoast, St. Petersburg

A special thanks to fellow photographer Kim Benson, who had suggested I create viewing stations for this exhibit. Brilliant, Kim! She’s also the one that made the “share your thoughts” cards more inviting by spreading them across the table vs. my German-order stack. No other project I have ever done has felt so fluid and with learning and being open at the center of it all. 

St. Pete Moving Still exhibit at Westminster Suncoast, St. Petersburg

St. Pete Moving Still exhibit at Westminster Suncoast, St. Petersburg
The pleasure of watching people interact with each other sparked by seeing a Moving Still
St. Pete Moving Still exhibit at Westminster Suncoast, St. Petersburg
The pleasure of quietly observing people engrossed in watching a St. Pete Moving Still
St. Pete Moving Still exhibit Paola Nesmith, Scott Solary, Martha Joy Rose
Paola Nesmith, Scott Solary, Joy Rose during the St. Pete Moving Still social art event at Westminster Suncoast

A special thank you and a big hug to my friends who came all the way south to this unusual art event and location. Pictured here are Paola, Scott, and Joy. Not pictured are Kim, Jane, Alexis, and Caryn. It really meant the world to me that you came to this <3 

Bohemian Night at Kenwood Gables (Thursday, 11/17)

The last of the 6 art events in 3 weeks is one that I helped organize (as the chancellor 😉 of the Artist Enclave). This inaugural Bohemian Night was the first event in a series of quarterly art events at the Kenwood Gables Boutique Bed & Breakfast in Historic Kenwood. Each of the Bohemian Nights will celebrate several Historic Kenwood artists and start of a 3-month exhibit of their work. 

A huge thank you to Jayson and Reymond Lazaro for hosting us and displaying our work! 

article about Bohemian night in The Artisan magazine, St. Petersburg
Article about Bohemian Night in The Artisan Magazine.

We kicked off this first Bohemian Night and subsequent exhibit with 3 Historic Kenwood artists and their projects that were all funded with a 2022 St. Petersburg Arts Alliance grant: Letisia Cruz, Michael Satino and my St. Pete Moving Still frames.

Bohemian Night at the Kenwood Gables Boutique Bed & Breakfast, Historic Kenwood, St. Petersburg
Speeches, welcomes, and toasts with a fantastic crowd of fellow artists and other neighbors and cool people in the gorgeous Boutique B&B. 

Jayson Lazaro, Luci Westphal, Michael Satino, Letisia Cruz, Reymond Lazaro, Bohemian Night at the Kenwood Gables Boutique Bed & Breakfast, Historic Kenwood, St. Petersburg
Hosts and artists, from left: Jayson, Luci, Mike, Letisia, Reymond
Letisia Cruz reads poetry at Bohemian Night, Kenwood Gables Boutique Bed & Breakfast, Historic Kenwood, St. Petersburg
Letisia Cruz reads her poetry during the first Bohemian Night at the Kenwood Gables Boutique B&B
Rituales art series by Letisia Cruz at the Kenwood Gables Boutique Bed & Breakfast, Historic Kenwood, St. Petersburg
Rituales art series by Letisia Cruz
Light-Painting photography by Mike Satino
Light-Painting photography by Mike Satino
St. Pete Moving Still Clam Bayou by Luci Westphal
St. Pete Moving Still “Clam Bayou” by Luci Westphal
Me and the "Gulf Water Moves" St. Pete Moving Still frame.
Me and the “Gulf Water Moves” St. Pete Moving Still frame

That’s it, folks. That’s the show. That’s what the public side of those 3 weeks looked like.

The private side: lots of frazzled running around with my hair sticking up, lots of frozen pizza and Tattooed Chef frozen meals, and one strong, supportive, patient husband. Thank you, Scott! I love you so much!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.