ArtsTampaBay.com

Pages:

Visual Arts

Kenna Westerman got her first camera by saving sugar coupons at the age of eight years old. Inspired by watching her grandparents constantly taking photographs and movies, she began to freeze time with her camera at all family gatherings Her two children became new subjects to photograph. Raising her children and working didn’t stop the creativity flow. However, it would be twenty years before painting resurface. In the late eighties, she enrolled college at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She completed a bachelor of art degree in Psychology. After graduating, she enrolled in the master program of Social Work. Completing her master degree, she counseled with many people, using a variety of art techniques to help with their healing process. With the encouragement of her husband, Rusty, she started entering different art shows exhibiting her pastels and photography. Her photographs have won 3rd place at the 2004 Arkansas State Fair and 1st place at the Fort Smith Art Gallery Exhibit. In 2005, her photographs won special recognition at the Upstream People Gallery in Omaha and second place at the 2005 Magnolia Art Festival in Arkansas. Two photos were selected for the 2006 Small Works on Paper, 19th Annual Competitive Exhibition sponsored by the Arkansas Artists Registry. Her photograph, “Forgotten”, was purchased by the Arkansas Art Council. Her pastel works won 1st and 3rd place at the Arkansas State Fair. She is now learning to paint with watercolor.

Beth Wetherington

Visual Arts: 2D

Beth Wetherington is an graphic designer, with extensive experience with print media. In addition to winning numerous national PBS awards for her design work at WEDU-TV, she works as a fine artist in watercolor, colored pencil and graphite. She is a member of Tampa Regional Artists and is the editor of TRA’s newsletter.

Katie White

Visual Arts

My inspiration as an artist comes from the courage of my former elementary art students. I learned so much from their creativity when I would encourage them to “take a risk, don’t worry about the outcome” because “art is about the process, not the end product . . . it is the gateway to problem-solving.” I realized through teaching that I could apply those words to my own practice of creating art. My objective is to evoke emotion, perhaps spark a memory or bring tranquility to a space. Many of my pieces include a reflection or horizon line because I am drawn to the place where land and water meet the sky. It reminds me of how important it is to be grounded in the world we live in today.

Bonnie Whitehurst

Music; Teaching Artist/Instructor

Bonnie Whitehurst moved to Florida, from Michigan, in 1979. She worked for the Pinellas County Arts Council for 20 years in the Artist in the Schools program. Since 2001 she became a fulltime music teacher at Espiritu Santo Catholic School where she also plays the organ and cantors. Additionally, Bonnie is the music director for the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tarpon Springs. Ms. Whitehurst also composes and records. She has nine professional CDs, three of all original music, and a DVD. Bonnie plays for weddings, community organizations, festivals and private parties. Please check out her YouTube Channel with over a dozen videos highlighting her original music at https://www.youtube.com/user/bonniewhitehurst.

Ginna Wilkerson

Teaching Artist/Instructor; Writing

Currently, I am working on painting and mixed media art, and also marketing my recently completed Young Adult novel, Buried Secrets. I am always open to teaching and workshop opportunities in the area.

Carla Wilkins

ACHC Artist Grant Award; Teaching Artist/Instructor; Visual Arts: 2D

Carla Wilkins grew up in Tampa, Florida and earned a Bachelor of Science in visual art at The Florida State University followed by a Masters in Art Education from The University of New Mexico. She has taught in elementary and secondary schools, and loves bringing out the creativity in all children and in every kind of medium. She claims teaching art was the best gift she found in life, and fervently believes that “art can save the world”! Carla’s drive to create has always been inherently therapeutic, which at one point led her to study art therapy under art therapist Maxine Hull in Atlanta as well as a year of graduate work at Florida State. Her greatest influences have come from relationships with people, outdoor adventures and a few curve balls that are inevitable in everyone’s life, good and bad. In other words, she paints her own experiences. In this regard, she finds Frida Kahlo’s self-portraits and the narrative paintings by Jacob Lawrence among the most inspiring art. Expressing her stories is a personal process in hopes of always moving forward, which can often take years of revisiting the same work adding new layers of oil paint, oil pastel, linocut prints, chalk pastels and hot glue. Another approach she uses to improve herself as a human being has been painting overlooked patterns in rocks, tree bark, waves and leaves, attempting to reflect the metaphors found between nature and the human psyche. Peaceful perspectives are the gifts in these studies. Carla’s passion for hiking, rock climbing, swimming and kayaking allowed for intimate discoveries in the beauty of earth’s elements, from beaches to boulders, from rivers to deserts. She appreciates the landscape wherever she lives which has been Kansas City, Albuquerque, Atlanta, Tallahassee and currently in Tampa, Florida. Exhibits 2017 “Artists: The Soul of the Community” group show, Carrollwood Cultural Center, Tampa, FL 2017 “Downtown Arts Invasion” group show, Bamboozle Cafe, Tampa, FL 2016 “I Did it My Way”group show, Stirling Gallery, Dunedin, FL 2016 “Possibilties of Perception”, Carrollwood Cultural Center, Tampa, FL 2016 “Local Spring Art Show”, Rare Hues Gallery, Tampa, FL 2016 “Gasparilla Festival of the Arts” Emerging Artist Recipient, Tampa, FL 2015 “Winter in the Park” Art Fair, Huff Promotions, Vero Beach, Florida 2015 “Art Crawl” Art Fair, The Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, Florida 2015 Juried International Exhibit “Social Selfies: Constructing Community”, William Johnson Gallery, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 2015 Juried Art Show “Inspiration”, Carrollwood Cultural Center, Tampa, FL 2014 Ewha Cultural Exhibition, 621 Gallery, Tallahassee, FL 2011 Juried Art Competition and Show, Arts Clayton Gallery, Jonesboro, GA 2010 Juried Art Show of High School Educators of Georgia, Art Institute of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA 2007 Group Exhibit, “Water”, Sharptop Arts Center, Jasper, Georgia 2006 Juried Annual Art Show, Harris Arts Center, Calhoun, Georgia 2006 Group Exhibit, “Fiber Arts Show, Sharptop Arts Center, Jasper, Georgia 2004 Created and presented Curriculum of African American Art National Art Education Association Conference, Denver, Colorado 2004 Group Exhibit, “Graduate Exhibit for Spring”, Masley Gallery, University of New Mexico Education 2004 Master of Arts in Art Education, University of New Mexico 1999 Bachelor of Science in Visual Art, Florida State University

Mark Williams

Visual Arts: 2D

My art is about celebrating color, life, joy and journey. I work primarily in acrylics because it allows me to express my creativity quickly with many layers and techniques within short periods of time. I also like to create digital art using Photoshop, Painter and Procreate. Some of my paintings even provide the basis for many of my digital art pieces – and some digital pieces become the foundation for my acrylic works. Some pieces are born without planning but are created from the blank canvas – a journey to simply create based on mood and music. There are times when I am inspired by life events or subjects that merit a series as well. In the process of creating most of my work, I strive to create an excitement with the space and color – that the viewer will take part in a whimsical and colorful engagement.

Wayne S. Williams

Visual Arts; Writing

I work in communications and marketing…, to pay bills. My two artistic passions are – first and foremost – poetry which I address in some way every day – and photography… have been at both since the mid-70s. I’m an ambient music fanatic (Eno!) – listen to the internet radio of SomaFM every day… with Drone Zone as my channel. Through the decades I’ve always been drawn to music on the edge (most I continue to enjoy, even though they’re been made mainstream over time) – Beatles when they where the edge, the Doors (still a fanatic), King Crimson, Sex Pistols, Clash, experimental… enjoy the St. Pete “underground” noise movement going on now. But yeah, poetry is my thing.

David Williams

David Henry Williams is a professional photographer who has integrated over 30 of professional experience as a corporate, editorial, fashion, fine arts and portrait photographer to produce images that capture the people, the events and the places that personal move him. His subjects range from blues singers to corporate executives, preschoolers to high school seniors, fashion models to blushing brides. His photographic achievements include being published in the Best of Photography Annual, American PHOTO, French PHOTO, Family Circle Magazine, and Florida Trend. His work has been exhibited in juried exhibitions include the Tampa Museum of the Arts Tampa Triennial, Palm Beach Photographic Museum’s INFOCUS, the Delta Blues Museum, and the Highway 61 Blues Museum to name a few. He was also a finalist for the Professional Photographer’s of America AN NE Award, and won Honorable Mention in the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts’ Members Show, as well as Best of Photography at the Morean Arts Center Member Show. I integrate over 30 years professional experience as a corporate, editorial, fashion and fine arts photographer to produce images that capture the events, the people, and the places that I have had the privilege to photograph. My subjects range from blues singers to corporate executives and from fashion models to blushing brides. When I pick up my camera, I am always pushing myself to produce images that are creative, unique and emotional.

Theresa Willingham

Writing

A professional writer and photographer, I’m the author of two books on health, and numerous articles across a range of topics from health to education, religion and philosophy. I’m currently working on a book about makerspaces in public libraries. My work is focused on helping empower individuals to live and learn in meaningful, personally fulfilling and socially productive ways. Learn more at EurekaFactory.net. You can see my photo gallery at http://theresa-willingham.artistwebsites.com

Cass Womack

Visual Arts

Interactive Media Production, Game Dev, Digital Illustration, Chalk + Mural Artist Cass has devoted her life to education and the arts. After teaching programming and animation for 4 years and working another 10 as a production artist in the video game industry, Cass decided to take up street painting as a way to get out of the office and reconnect with the community. What started as a hobby in 2011, blossomed into a lifestyle. Cass now travels all over the US (and Canada!) sharing her unique, colorful style, her vast knowledge and love of public art. She loves to experiment with new techniques, surfaces and mediums. When not at events you can find her painting and teaching on her livestream channel. Tampa artist working within Hillsborough, Polk, Pinellas, Manatee and Pasco counties. Strong supporter of improving our communities through public art.

Robert G. Woods

Visual Arts: 3D

Originally from Pennsylvania, our family moved to Tampa in the late 60s. I was always tinkering, by building and transforming bikes into choppers. My education came with the influences of the construction industry. As a hobby I would create unique items like a sidecar for my motorcycle. I was given the opportunity to fabricate and assist in designing sculptures for other artists. I realized my own passion for this creativity and retired from the construction industry and now pursue my own artistic journey. I combine stainless steel, cold steel, brass, paint and sometimes blown glass materials to create my own unique sculptures. I use various welding techniques which employs MIG and TIG welding. Every design I create is finished with a baked on powder coat for protection of the outside elements, since most of my commissioned works are exterior installations. I have accomplished numerous sculptures in various sizes up to 18 feet in height. I would love to create a Robert G. Woods Original Sculpture for you.

Adele Woodyard

Writing

Adele Woodyard has written about Florida travel, people and places since 1988. Hundreds of her features, profiles and photos have appeared in national, regional and local publications and online. She co-authored a Florida travel guide-book in 2009, and a collection of her short stories, The Shell and the Starfish and other stories was published this year. She is currently working on another guidebook, Florida "freebies" and "cheapies" 250 Daytrips for Little or No Money. The award-wining freelance writer is a member of American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) and the Bay Area Professional Writets Guild (BAPWG).

Rick Yearick

Visual Arts

Rick moved to the Tampa Bay area to work as a full-time artist in 1994 and has been a prolific painter since, having shown his work in several shows, galleries, and studios since then. Working primarily in acrylic, his colorful paintings have met with broad appeal among all types of art aficionados everywhere. “I find the Tampa Bay and St. Petersburg art scene very conducive to my creative process,” says Rick. “The region has become a wonderful place to showcase my work.” A graduate of the Columbus College of Art & Design, Rick’s career has taken him to Chicago, Kansas City, Houston, Philadelphia, and St. Pete where he served in executive creative positions with such companies as 3M, Helene Curtis, Hallmark Cards, Crayola, and Art Makers International. Throughout his career, Rick never put his brush down and has produced countless paintings that have found homes throughout Florida and the United States as well as across the globe. Drawing inspiration from travels both near and far, Rick’s work is bursting with vibrant interpretations of picturesque scenes, interesting things, and the many captivating beings he meets along the way. Owners of his art take pleasure in the joy that both he and his paintings exude.

Dee Youmans-Miller

My style is called Split Realism and combines elements such as realistic faces, landscapes, found objects or graphic elements. I contrast these with each other, developing a different context to the work. My images tell stories with their layers of elements, creating its very own narrative. The hundreds of objects in my studio capture the “voice” of the work. Drawn in by the depth and richness, the compositions are woven together producing art that is tapestry-like in its richness. With an extensive background in both graphic and fine art, and degrees in art history and art education, I possess a wide perspective from which to draw. I tend to pull inspiration from each, so that my work has references to various art styles and techniques that blend into one image.

Evie Zimmer

Visual Arts: 2D

Evie Zimmer is an American artist creating and teaching in Tampa, Florida. Her early work consists mainly of traditional portrait paintings, although she had always been drawn to the intricate design and energetic beauty of op-art. Eventually, Evie began to explore her op-art fascination and her work blossomed into her current mesmerizing style. Evie’s work has been described as a “strange loop” of process and product. Her oil paintings radiate an inherent energy field not unlike traditional mandalas with acidic colors transforming into soothing pastels, and geometric patterns melting into exotically organic shapes. Recently, Evie’s paintings have become more floral and symmetric yet still maintain her unique and recognizable abstract style. Evie is quite active in the arts community both locally and nationally. Her work has been shown, sold, and published across the country including New York City, Art Basel Miami, Palm Springs, Ca., various publications and online shows, and digital billboard displays in Baltimore and on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood. Evie is constantly creating new work from her studio in Tampa where she welcomes visitors and students.

Pages:

Find An Artist

Art Opportunities

SIGN UP FOR AC EMAILS

DIRECTORIES

SUBMIT

ABOUT the Arts Council