In less than a year, Florida residents and visitors will be able to look past the major metropolitan cities for an immersion of arts and culture.
David Gnage, who is co-owner at the curated boutique Plant City Mercantile in downtown, is hoping to bring local and national artists to Plant City for a spring 2016 art festival.
Gnage is part of Plant City Creatives, a group of affiliated artists and business owners who want to see an art movement in the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World.
“[We are] looking to get Plant City out in the public eye,” Gnage said. “We want Plant City to be affiliated with art as well as everything else.”
At the first meeting, headed by business owner and resident Yvonne Fry, Plant City Creatives had about 30 people in attendance who shared an interest in bringing art to the city. Gnage sees this initial interest as a good sign of how the group will expand in the future. As a former St. Petersburg resident, he believes that Plant City is only lacking in exposure.
“Art has been here, and it will be here in the future,” Gnage said.
Gnage and the rest of the Plant City Creatives team are focused on a mixed media art festival. The festival, which Gnage hopes will feature about 200 artists and vendors, is modeled after the Mainsail Art Festival that is hosted in St. Petersburg every year.
“Mainsail worked because of collaboration,” Gnage said. “It did start small, and it became bigger.”
Gnage hopes that the Mainsail model can be used as a guide for what Plant City’s art festival will look like five years down the road. For the spring festival, Gnage is hoping to attract families with kid-friendly activities, such as art drawing or face painting. Additionally, attendees can enjoy live music and food.
Gnage is searching for artists on ZAPP, a website that allows for artists of all forms of media to apply to art shows in one central location. Gnage is searching for both local and national artists, but is especially focused on featuring artists from the Sunshine State.
“We’re open to anything,” Gnage said. “We want to represent Florida artists as best we can.”
Although the venue has yet to be determined, Gnage and the rest of the Plant City Creatives team are hoping that the art show can be hosted in downtown, with little to no admission charges. Gnage has already met with the Plant City Chamber of Commerce to form a sub committee, and City Manager Mike Herr has also been supportive of the idea.
Gnage says that the goal of the festival is not for Plant City Creatives to make a profit, but rather for passionate people to allow artists to show off their work while putting Plant City in the spotlight.
“If we can cover costs, we’re happy,” Gnage said. “We’re not looking for a profit. It’s a community of artists with no dues.”
Plant City Creatives is looking for sponsorships from local businesses to cover pre-festival costs. Gnage believes any money put toward the festival will be a benefit to the city.
“It won’t be like anything that’s ever been here before,” he said. “I’m excited for stuff to get started.”
Modeled after Mainsail
Mainsail is one of the art festivals Plant City Creatives is looking to model its festival after. Although much larger than what is being planned, Mainsail has some key factors that make it an attractive event:
– $64,000 in cash prizes
– Mixed media (ceramics, jewelry, metal, oil, photography, digital art, etc.)
– Live entertainment
– Kids art tent
– Culinary arts food court
TO SPONSOR/GET INVOLVED
Contact: David Gnage, Plant City Mercantile
Phone: (727) 415-7791
Email: plantcitymercantile@gmail.com
Contact Emily Topper at etopper@plantcityobserver.com