The smell of barbecue wafted through the air Saturday afternoon as folks flocked to the Bing Rooming House Museum for an evening of art, home cooked food and live music.
A Taste of Laura Street successfully brought to light the recipes of yesteryear as it highlighted the deep history of the street which acted as a cultural icon from the early 1900s to the 1980s. Throughout the day guests were invited to taste all of the food and vote on their favorite dish.
Johnson’s BBQ was on site as well dishing out their beloved food. Inside the museum, members of the Improvement League of Plant City talked to guests about the history of Laura Street and the impact it had on the surrounding community.
A live band played classics to an ever growing audience and an art gallery filled with pieces from local artists was held upstairs.
Julian Parks, 12, was the youngest featured artist. He sat upstairs by his T’Challa Black Panther sketch and his “Strawberry Jazz” piece. Parks started drawing when he was four years old and posts how-to drawing videos on his Youtube channel Dragon Draw Studios.
“I want to be a graphic designer when I grow up,” Parks said. “I’d just like to make art and sell it. Maybe work on films and animation in general. I’m making storyboards now.”
The artists were gathered by Mara Latorre. This was her first time curating a gallery. The hope is as the event continues to grow the gallery will be able to show off more unique local artists. The call out was open to any type of art as long as it remained family friendly. Upstairs guests saw everything from sketches to abstract art using 3-D optical illusions.
This was the inaugural event and William Thomas Jr., president of the Improvement League of Plant City, said they hope there will be many more to come.