Art for All

"Art is not a treasure in the past or an importation from another land, but part of the present life of all living and creating peoples." – Franklin D. Roosevelt

When you spot the 30-foot-long metal "Security Lizard” catching a lighted firefly atop a municipal garage near I-275 in St. Petersburg, you might think it's an apparition from a children's fairy tale. But the intricate sculpture melded of car bumpers, glass, sheet metal scraps and traffic signals is part of everyday life in the St. Petersburg/Clearwater area, a community rich in arts and a sense of play.

You'll find public sculptures, murals and paintings around almost every turn. Some you won't be able to miss, such as the three new installments in downtown Clearwater: a giant whimsical fuchsia gate, metal columns symbolic of the elements and a modern organic metal sculpture representing the power of the human spirit. And James Rosenquist's "It Heals Up” on the side of All Children's Hospital is visible from much of downtown St. Petersburg.

You'll find some other art pieces in the most unexpected places. Look for a sculpture of a woman with pine cone hair and a skirt of hands in the woods of Seminole's Boca Ciega Millennium Park. And all along the paved Fred E. Marquis Pinellas Trail, which runs from Tarpon Springs to St. Petersburg, you'll come across nine community markers with an artistic bent that pay tribute to the trail's railroading history.

"In general, our art is hidden throughout the county,” said Mark Flickinger, director of public art for Pinellas County. "It's a treasure hunt of little gems.”

Pinellas County (727-453-7860, www.pinellasarts.org/completed_publicartprojects.htm) and the city of St. Petersburg (727-893-4140, www.stpete.org/arts.asp) provide online and printed maps to help you find the treasures. The city of St. Petersburg also will arrange tours of public art for a fee. Clearwater Public Art Specialist Christopher Hubbard can give you more information about that city's public art (727-562-4837, christopher.hubbard@myclearwater.com).

Keep your eyes out for art that predates current programs, including the World War I statues of the American doughboy and sailor that stand guard by the Clearwater Memorial Causeway Bridge. For a look at one of America's earliest commissioned public works of art, drop by St. Petersburg City Hall, 175 5th St. N. The colorful mural by George Snow Hill was commissioned by President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Federal Arts Project, America's first public art program.