St. Petersburg

By Lauren Wood

In the heart of the Grand Central Arts and Warehouse Districts lies a 48-acre farm that grows and harvests crops 365 days a year — all within a few hydroponic shipping containers.

What was once an idea in an overrun junkyard on the corner of 2001 2nd Ave. S in St. Petersburg is now the future home to Brick Street Farms’ hubs. This urban farmstead focuses on the future of food security, food safety and ecological sustainability.

“The market here is pretty special because not only do we have fresh produce that is from our farms on-site, but we also have a lot of local produce as well,” Jonathan “Jonny” Cheng said.

Cheng has been with Brick Street Farms as a farm support specialist since February. Over the summer, he got his master’s degree from the University of South Florida (USF) in food sustainability and security. Still, he wishes to stay with Brick Street Farms as the company expands.

“I’m hoping that we can possibly teach about [hydroponics] in the future to lower-income areas and kind of help those communities have their own sustainable food,” Cheng said.

In 2016, owners Shannon O’Malley and Brad Doyle purchased the industrial-zoned lot with hopes to provide locally-sourced and health-conscience foods to St. Petersburg. Now, they are expanding to other areas in Tampa Bay and have partnered with larger vendors to offer an adequate farm-to-table experience for consumers.

According to O’Malley, in January 2020, Brick Street Farms sold 12 times its projected volume at its test site at a Publix Supermarket in Lakeland. This encouraged O’Malley and Doyle to open other locations in the area, including their newly-renovated home base in St. Petersburg, which will open in 2022.

A “first look” rendering of Brick Street Farms’ urban-cultivation hub was revealed in October, with promises to incorporate solar energy and smart energy management in the new model. As a result, this will help Brick Street Farms gain the most out of their non-carbon-generating electricity sources.

“These systems will be able to determine the most efficient, least carbon impact power source at any given time, choosing between the electric utility, on-site solar power with battery storage and on-site natural gas generator,” Brick Street Farms wrote in an Instagram post.

Currently, Brick Street Farms is situated at 2233 3rd Ave. S in St. Petersburg with 16 individual hydroponic farms. All pods were carefully designed to grow produce, control energy sources and minimize the carbon footprint.

Each Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) container holds approximately 2-3 acres of farmland, with arugula, spinach, basil, mixed kale and 40 other herbs and vegetables. However, all produce is non-GMO and grown without soil, which means there is no pesticide, insecticide or the possibility of soil-borne contamination.

“What CEA does for us is it gives us mitigation against climate change. Obviously, our farmers are struggling, we’ve got crazy weather patterns, but now we can control that interior environment,” said Dr. Brooke Hansen, a sustainability-focused anthropologist from USF who specializes in food tourism, waste management and farming.

Hansen believes that urban farming and agriculture can potentially divert greenhouse gas, waste and hunger issues while simultaneously providing citizens with locally produced, nutritious and healthy foods.

“I don’t think it’s the be-all, end-all solution everywhere. I think it’s one part of a multifaceted solution package that needs to include community gardens, regenerative agriculture, you know, actually in the ground, promoting soil biodiversity, but it’s one of many solutions,” Hansen said. “It allows us to grow food in places where we normally couldn’t, i.e. a parking lot in St. Petersburg. I love that. It’s a farm, and it’s truly amazing.”

Learn more about Brick Street Farms and shop its online store at BrickStreetFarms.com.

By Candice Lovelace

This year’s SHINE Mural Festival featured two new local artists for its seventh anniversary.

The festival started in 2015 with the goal of shining a light on the power of art in public spaces by revitalizing areas, inspiring dialogues and uniting our community.

Artists use the walls and streets of St. Petersburg to transform the city’s shared spaces into an outdoor gallery featuring top artists from around the area, country and the world. Since the start of this festival, more than 100 murals have been created around St. Petersburg and its art districts.

Laura Spencer, an illustrator, and Jared Wright, a freelance artist, were both invited to participate in this year’s festival for the first time. Spencer, also known as Miss Crit, was born and raised in St. Petersburg, while Wright is originally from Clearwater, but now resides in Trinity.

Spencer was overjoyed and humbled when she was invited to participate in this year’s festival.

“Participating in SHINE has been a dream of mine since the Mural Festival’s inception,” Spencer said. “It’s been a really rough year for me personally, so getting that email from SHINE was a huge, humbling experience – I really hope to make myself and everyone proud with this one!”

A few years ago, Spencer had the privilege of designing an electrical box for SHINE. Since then, she has hustled to gain more mural experience. It’s important for Spencer to create art in the context of her surroundings.

“This is a continuation of a floral concept I started for a mural series at The Blueberry Patch (in Gulfport) earlier this year,” Spencer said. “It just so happens that this mural is on the side of a florist shop too – Absolutely Beautiful Flowers! It’s really important to me to create art in the context of my surroundings, so I think this is a satisfying design solution.”

Wright was “super excited” when he was invited to participate in this year’s festival. He called it the “perfect opportunity.”

“I’ve always wanted to contribute to the local art scene and this was just about the perfect opportunity,” Wright said.

Wright’s inspiration for his mural was an idea he’s had in his head for a while. When he got invited, this idea was the first thing he started sketching up.

“The concept is an owl holding a snake,” Wright said while describing his mural. “The snake is wrapping around the whole mural almost framing it, but the snake and owl are not fighting… The narrative is loose, but it’s about the harmony and balance of nature.”

Wright has never created a mural before but has always admired murals and muralists.

“I actually have never done any murals before, but I have been a fan since I can remember,” Wright said. “I’m excited to see how this turns out.”

This year’s festival ran from Oct. 15 to Oct. 24.

Spencer’s mural can be found at Absolutely Beautiful Flowers located at 3000 Central Ave., while Wright’s can be found at Colony Grill located at 670 Central Ave.

By Mark Griffin

When the seventh annual SHINE Mural Festival concluded, St. Petersburg has added 20 new murals to its collection.

Throughout the years, SHINE has drawn in artists from around the world to showcase their skills in large-scale mural paintings.

The St. Petersburg Arts Alliance (SPAA) produces the event each year. The local non-profit organization said its goal is to, “raise money through individual and corporate gifts, event sponsorships, and grants that support community-wide arts efforts.”

During SHINE, which ran Oct. 15-24, artists could be seen creating their art while mingling with the city’s residents.

This year, seven artists from the Tampa Bay area participated in the SHINE Festival. One Tampa artist who goes by the name of Jujmo created her illustrated version of a jungle that can be found at 2221 5th Ave. S.

Jujmo was also involved with one of three “Bright Spot” murals that were designed to teach children in the area about mural painting and art. She draws her inspiration from anime, color and folklore which is evident when looking at her artwork.

When asked why she participated in this year’s SHINE festival Jujmo said, “I wanted to participate because not only do I get to paint a massive wall, being with your artistic peers that you’ve looked up to through the years is just a different experience. I literally get so excited being around them.”

As residents walked around the downtown area seeing the murals in their beginning stages, a sense of community took hold. People could be seen snapping pictures of the work in progress. Local shops and bars were full of patrons who were drawn in by this year’s event. Artists interacted with residents and shared their inspiration with admirers.

BakPak Durden, an artist from Detroit, Mich., showcased their mural at 919 1st Ave. N, which is home to local bar The Bends, known for its live music and monthly art shows.

“Pretty much the entire experience has been delightful. Everyone has been very kind. The festival organizers are very thoughtful, and I could tell how much care and intention went into everything,” Durden said. “And the folks at The Bends were excited for me to paint, so that was great.”

More than 100 murals have been painted since SHINE’s beginning in 2015. Now, 20 more can be enjoyed by locals and tourists walking through the city.

By DILLON MASTROMARINO
USFSP Student Reporter

ST. PETERSBURG – Geologist Penester Tjale recalled a day when she visited one of her secondary schools in her home country of South Africa.

She looked around a classroom brimming with students from grades seven to nine and asked them a simple question: Do you know what a paleontologist is?

No one could give her an answer.

This brought back memories of her high school. Tjale said she never had a female math teacher or a physics teacher who was female and also black.

“I realized these kids need to see someone that looks like them for them to believe it is possible to also become a scientist,” said Tjale. “Hence I took it upon myself to go around and do what I do.”

As one of the 50 voices speaking across America in the “Hidden No More” initiative, Tjale was one of eight women leaders who spoke at USF St. Petersburg on Nov. 4 about the challenges and triumphs of being a woman in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math.

Inspired by the award-winning film Hidden Figures, “Hidden No More” is a program championed by the U.S. State Department and Walt Disney Co. This initiative is designed to showcase the work and accomplishments of international women in STEM.

Though the women participating in the program are from various countries, they perform similar initiatives of developing and bringing STEM education to young girls and children in underserved areas.

In order to reach younger generations about the professions available to them, many of the women organize programs and activities for students so they’re exposed at a young age to the opportunities that STEM education has to offer.

Aurora Villagra Acosta, a high school science and biology teacher in Paraguay, said the first step in introducing STEM education for younger generations is to create spaces for outreach and education on STEM subjects.

According to Acosta, these spaces expose students to the practical application of science in the real world and exhibit the work and collaboration of professionals in various STEM fields.

Mariella Galea, mathematics education officer of the Ministry for Education and Employment in Malta, organizes activities for girls and young students to immerse themselves in STEM subjects outside the classroom.

These activities give students the opportunity to interact with professionals who share their work in various STEM fields such as medicine, engineering and architecture.

“These girls need (to see) female professionals in various areas so they can see what STEM subjects can offer them for their future careers,” said Galea.

Agne Jogis, a secondary school chemistry and physics teacher in Estonia, said younger students are conditioned to believe science is too difficult.

“The children get that from home,” said Jogis. “They feel that they don’t know science or chemistry or physics, yet they haven’t learned it at all.”

In Estonia, when children start learning sciences like chemistry and physics in eighth grade, Jogis said she will begin the year’s first chemistry lesson with a question: What do you think about chemistry?

Many of the children believe that it’s hard or that they are incapable of excelling at it.

As the year goes on, Jogis implements experiments and activities for students to better understand the curriculum while also breaking down preconceptions about science.

“And as we go on, I’ll ask them again. And they’ll be like, ‘I didn’t think it’d be so easy!’” said Jogis. “I didn’t have the heart to tell them that it gets harder, but as we go on, they tend to lose their prejudices.”

As program officer for the National Science and Technology Council, Nsama Mataka specializes in STEM education for young students in Zambia. Through her STEM initiatives, Tjale focuses on schools in remote areas of Zambia with disadvantaged communities.

“When we first started with the pilot project in the south of our country,” said Mataka, “you find you’re implementing this STEM initiative in a school where children have never even held a test tube.”

According to Mataka, before they began their STEM initiative in the south of Zambia, there had never been any children from the areas who had progressed from primary school to junior high.

After their initiative, Mataka and her team had 13 students involved; six of them girls. One of the girls progressed to one of the best technical STEM schools in the country.

“It was a good feeling for me,” said Mataka. “Especially since it was my first… it was like a pilot. So now we’ve started drilling it out to other districts and provinces.”

The “Hidden No More” initiative was hosted by the Open Partnership Education Network, a USF St. Petersburg-based organization that tries to bring the world to the Tampa Bay area. OPEN’s mission is to create a smarter, better connected community that learns and grows together.

Partnering with OPEN is World Partnerships, a St. Petersburg-based organization founded in 2000.

World Partnerships hosts global leaders under the U.S. State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program. The program has been responsible for bringing over 200,000 new generation leaders to America, including Margaret Thatcher and Mahatma Gandhi.

World Partnership’s collaboration with OPEN has brought leaders and thinkers from around the world to Tampa Bay. Their joint goal is to foster a more connected world through professional and educational encounters.

By JONAH HINEBAUGH
USFSP Student Reporter

ST. PETERSBURG – Inside the home of Mary and Anthony Grieco, paintings abounded. They lined the walls, sat propped up on shelves and lay neatly organized in canvas print racks.

One house over, orange arrows directed visitors to the home studio of Nancy Jones, who creates stained glass artwork. Pieces sat unfinished with tools still resting on the work table, giving guests an intimate look into her work.

Those were two of the 13 home studios that were open to visitors on Oct. 19, when the Old Southeast Artist Enclave hosted a self-guided tour.

Two streets away are the homes of Ether Aall and Scott Durfee, who lives with his former partner, George Medeiros.

All three played intricate roles in not only organizing the event but also turning the neighborhood into a place where artists can work out of their homes.

The Old Southeast neighborhood, which lies just south of USF St. Petersburg between Fourth Street S and Tampa Bay, has a variety of house styles, from modest cottages to homes valued at more than $600,000. Many of the residents are renters.

Aall focuses on sculpting and metalwork. Her pieces feature renditions of insects and amphibians.

She moved to the neighborhood from Switzerland in 2016 and learned about the neighborhood’s designation as an artist enclave.

“I should probably check (the enclave) out and see what has been done or what I can do,” Aall recalled saying. “So I started to talk to people in the neighborhood and I said, ‘I would love to bring this alive.’”

The enclave mirrored the one in the Historic Kenwood neighborhood, which was already thriving when Durfee began seeking the same designation for the Old Southeast.

Durfee and Medeiros moved there in 2003. Their home, which they’ve dubbed “Spathose,” doubles as a studio where they created jewelry from recycled material, dresses and paintings.

In early 2010, Durfee said, there was a push for art initiatives in the city. That meant Spathose was allowed to become a studio as well as a home.

By 2014, both the Old Southeast and Historic Kenwood were designated “Artist Enclave Overlay Districts” by the city.

According to St. Petersburg’s municipal code, artist enclaves “encourage a mix of small-scale, home business uses oriented toward or supporting the visual, performing and cultural arts, while maintaining the residential character of the underlying residential neighborhood.”

The city code also says that these enclaves are normally established within “single-family residential neighborhoods where artists may live, create work and market their art.”

To become an artist enclave, at least two-thirds of residents in a proposed district must give their approval.

Durfee said he worked closely with members from the Historic Kenwood Artist Enclave when he established the enclave in the Old Southeast.

“This proposal was going to help all artists in St. Petersburg by bringing more attention to the already ever-growing artist movement,” Durfee said.

But then Medeiros and Durfee halted their partnership, leaving the enclave inactive and without leadership.

It stayed that way until Aall took over and began reorganizing.

“I had visited Historic Kenwood, and I knew what they were doing,” Aall said. “I thought, OK, we could do that, too. I actually started to recruit people and started to bring them over to do meetings here. I got people who are interested in the artist enclave and let them know that we are planning to start making these events happen.”

Her goal was to model tours after the tours in Historic Kenwood, but the push to organize events was tricky.

Some skeptical residents supported the first petition several years ago but feared it would get “too big, too soon” and fizzle out once again.

“They were very skeptical, especially people who were part of the petition many years before,” Aall said. “They said, ‘Oh, this is not gonna work out,’ and ‘Don’t make it too big too soon.’

“I have a vision. I wanted to bring it to this point. I said, ‘I’m just going to go for it and whoever comes on board comes on board and who doesn’t? I’ll do it.’”

First was finding funds for the supplies that were needed for the tour. Her idea was to hold a logo contest. After a winner was chosen in June, the logo designs that were submitted were auctioned off.

The group also set up at the Old Southeast Market at 1700 Third St. S at least once, allowing artists to put their work up for sale. This helped secure flyers, balloons, maps and signs for the group’s first event.

“I think something like an artist’s enclave in a neighborhood takes time,” Aall said. “I’m thinking back to Historic Kenwood because I think at the beginning they had a hard time bringing it up to speed, and now they have been around five years.”

What seems most important to her is showcasing the talent of all artists spanning the city’s five arts districts, museums, enclaves and outsiders.

“I think there’s space for everyone,” she said. “If they bring people from the outside in, it gives exposure to what lies beyond us.

“Creativity goes beyond borders, so there’s no border for only St. Petersburg. I think we should be open to everything.”

By XAVIER JAMES
USFSP Student Reporter

ST. PETERSBURG – The public official who oversees St. Petersburg’s infrastructure and a professor who specializes in climate change have a warning for the residents of St. Petersburg.

The years ahead will bring serious, expensive problems.

“The air is warming, the sea level is rising, and our climate is changing in many ways that stress the city’s infrastructure. We need to be discussing this,” said Gary Mitchum, an associate professor of physical oceanography at USF’s College of Marine Science.

Mitchum and Claude Tankersley, St. Petersburg’s public works director, shared a microphone on Nov. 20 when the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership and the Kate Tiedemann College of Business hosted a breakfast-time speaker series called Sunny Side Up.

Tankersley, Bradenton’s public works director from 2008 to 2016, has worked for St. Petersvburg since January 2016.

Mitchum holds a doctorate in oceanography at Florida State University in 1984. He spent 11 years researching short-term climate changes, decadal processes, and long-term sea level rise problems with the Department of Oceanography at the University of Hawaii.

Mitchum is now associate dean for research at the College of Marine Science.

The two tapped their work experience and knowledge to give a presentation dubbed “Reimagine Rising Oceans.”

“What I used to call nuisance flooding is now a serious problem and we need to prepare for future changes,” said Mitchum.

Nuisance flooding is minor flooding that occurs at high tide. It is often associated with minor impacts such as old sea walls overtopped due to an increase in rainfall intensity, climate conditions, and degrading water systems flooding low-lying areas.

Mitchum used a decadal graph chart to predict the elevation of the sea level over the next eight decades.

“Over the past few years the intensity of this city’s rainfall has increased, and the nature of Florida’s climate is impacting sea level rise,” said Mitchum.

Florida’s climate is classified as a monsoon. That means the state experiences heavy rainfall for several months followed by several dry months.

“The combination of our climate and the increasing intensity of rainfall is a burden to our city’s infrastructure, and it will cost us billions of dollars to invest in a solution,” said Mitchum.

How does the rising sea level affect the city’s water system infrastructure? What are other problems must we face because of it?

Mitchum passed the mic to Tankersley to answer those questions.

Tankersley connected how the sea level rise impacts the city’s wastewater management systems, infrastructure and people.

“We rely on wastewater systems to remove any contaminants from our water so it can be returned with little impact on the environment,” said Tankersley

“The effects of intense rainfall and our climate conditions have increased the sea level, endangering the wastewater system and our citizens,” said Tankersley.

Another issue that worsens is flooding.

In 2016, Tankersley said, he received phone calls from residents complaining about flooding they had never experienced.

“People think they are not affected by sea level rise because their home is not close to the sea wall,” he said.

They do not understand that the combination of climate change and the increase in rainfall intensity is breaking down the infrastructure.

Water moves through the infrastructure system to filter out sewage and other contaminants. However, excess water surrounds the exterior of the pipes, which causes them to rust.

Most of the city’s wastewater systems are only 10 feet above the current sea level.

“What if a hurricane cuts off power supply for months and we get stuck with poor wastewater systems? This is a problem I worry about and am working on solving,” said Tankersley.

The impact of rising sea level is expected to change the city drastically over the years, and the only thing the city can do is plan, Tankersley said.

“As of now we are focused on moving forward with the research and knowledge we have and forming an effective solution we can use immediately,” he said.

By DYLAN METHOT
USFSP Student Reporter

ST. PETERSBURG – She is known as an art teacher by day and a skater by night.

Not rollerblades or skateboards – she rides quad skates. That means four wheels and toe brakes. Think disco.

Her name is Ray Grace. She teaches – and lives – at Academy Prep Center of St. Petersburg. When she looks through the rectangular windows in her classroom, she can see the white window of her upstairs apartment, surrounded with pink painted panels.

Academy Prep Center is a special, tuition-free school for students who live in the low-income, predominantly African American neighborhoods near the school at 2301 22nd Ave. S of St. Petersburg.

The students, who are in grades five through eight, attend six days a week. They work in small classes, with a lot of one-on-one attention from teachers like Grace, and when they depart Academy Prep the staff helps place them in good high schools and monitors their progress there.

Since it opened in 2005, the school says, 99 percent of its graduates have gone on to graduate from high school on time and 70 percent are now college students or graduates.

Grace, who is from Tampa, is one of six specialty teachers who teach and live in furnished apartments on campus through the AmeriCorps program. She is also pursuing a doctorate is arts education from USF.

Her scarred knees are testimony to her skating ability, which she constantly works to improve. Throughout the week she can be seen cruising around the St. Petersburg Regional Skatepark at Campbell Park or by the water downtown.

“I use skating as a way to strengthen my ties with the community and to promote physical awareness,” said Grace. She frequently meets up with groups of skaters to hone her skills.

And when she falls, she gets back up.

“Ray has smiled after taking a fall when most people would have cried from the pain,” said Melissa Isaacs, a friend and fellow book lover.

In her classroom one day this fall, she waited calmly whenever students started talking over her. Working with youngsters can be tough, but Grace approaches it with patience and understanding, said Samuel Luna, a music teacher at Academy Prep.

In a recent class with sixth grade girls, Grace created a lesson plan that taught skills that are applicable in all classes and life. Grace called these skills “transfers.”

Teamwork was the main goal of the lesson in which the girls created Marc Chagall- inspired stained glass.

They used tri-fold display board, construction paper, colored pencils, scissors, and a lot of glue.

First, the girls had to decide on the design for the shutters. With the tri-fold display board closed, they glued on their paper shutters till all the negative space was covered. Some chose a simple repeating pattern while others went for abstraction.

Once the shutters were completed they were allowed to go to a “mystery box” full of collage materials. What they gathered would be used to cover all the white space on the inside of the board.

Throughout the period the girls went through waves of focused silence to roaring laughter and conversation. They all wore black shoes and dark green polos with blue shorts, pants, or skirts.

The focus was on the task at hand, not what each person was wearing.

Four beige metal tables covered with dry paint were the main features of Grace’s classroom.

Music played as the girls worked in groups at each table full of colors and endless artistic options.

Bits of paper, markers, and glue sticks covered the floor by the end of the class. They all worked together to clean up the mess and stack their chairs.

Then it was time for lunch.

By XAVIER JAMES
USFSP Student Reporter

ST. PETERSBURG – Twenty-five years ago, Davie Gill was a three-sport athlete at Jeffersonville (Indiana) High School with aspirations of becoming a sports star.

His grades were not good enough for the scholarship offers that came from Division 1 schools. So Gill went instead to Garden City Community College in Kansas to play basketball, run track and earn an associate degree in education.

He then transferred to Eckerd College in St.Petersburg, where he was a three-year starter for the basketball team and got a bachelor’s degree in American Studies with a concentration in sports American culture.

When Gill’s sports career was eventually derailed by hernia surgery, he began a career in higher education administration at St. Petersburg College, where he is now athletic director with responsibilities over six teams.

In that role, he oversees budgets and fundraising, game day operations, broadcast media arrangements, and the eligibility and conduct of SPC’s student athletes.

“When I started this journey at my job it felt like it was an arranged marriage,” said Gill, 42. “But in this case I actually realized the (job) is amazing and fell in love with it all.”

Gill was hired by SPC in July 2000 to coordinate the Brother to Brother program, an endeavor designed to enhance the college experience of African Americans. The program encourages students to get involved through school activities or community service.

Gill helped develop the program and enjoyed the experience. “The cool part about it was how different the approach was. We took tremendous pride in creating interracial relationships and bonds for people who have never done so before,” said Gill.

Brother to Brother gained national recognition for its efforts and success, he said, and “graduation rates (around the country) quadrupled from 20 percent to 81 percent.”

Despite that success, SPC eventually decided to drop the program.

Gill, who was named athletic director in May 2015, describes his job as team oriented. “I would say some of the challenges we face is that we lack resources. Finding students or citizens who want to get involved and enjoy is always helpful.” said Gill.

Being an athletic director has its strange moments.

“Flies keep flying around my peer’s office, and now they have assigned me to find whatever dead animal is causing it,” said Gill.

Gill also served a term as state adviser for the Florida College System Student Government Association.

“I went to one of the parties and gave them a suggestion. The next meeting I come to realize I was nominated to be the state adviser unanimously.” said Gill. In September 2019 he was inducted into the Florida College System Student Government Hall of Fame to acknowledge his contributions.

Gill is now working to bring the Brother to Brother programs back to St. Petersburg College.

“We already have scheduled meetings happening soon,” he said. “The program may seriously return in spring of 2020. The mission the program represents holds value and the results have spoken for themselves.”

Gill, who is pursuing a master’s in sports administration at Troy University in Alabama, has been married to Kim Pogonowski-Gill, a chiropractor, since October 2005. They have a daughter, 9.