Love grows: The future of urban farming in St. Petersburg

By Lauren Wood

Two of Brick Street Farms’ hydroponic pods at the urban farmstead in St. Petersburg’s Grand Central Arts district.

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.

Local artists realize dream to paint in St. Petersburg’s SHINE Mural Festival

By Candice Lovelace

Photo 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.

Photo by Candice Lovelace

St. Petersburg welcomes 20 new murals during 2021 SHINE festival

By Mark Griffin

Artist Greg Mike painted this cartoon-themed mural at 915 1st Ave. N in St. Petersburg. Photo 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.

The early stages of artist BakPak Durden’s mural at 919 1st Ave. N in St. Petersburg. Photo by Mark Griffin

St. Petersburg’s SHINE Mural Festival returns with artists from around the world

St. Petersburg’s SHINE Mural Festival returns with artists from around the world

By Edyn Gottlieb

Artist Emily Ding’s fawn mural on the Rob Graham Enterprise building at 100 7th St. S in St. Petersburg. Photo by Edyn Gottlieb

The annual SHINE Mural Festival returned to St. Petersburg for the seventh year, adorning the city’s arts district with 16 new murals.

SHINE is committed to uniting and transforming the community by converting public spaces into outdoor galleries with a diverse collection of artists.

The festival ran from October 15-24 and was produced by the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance, a nonprofit that started the event in 2015.

Over the past seven years, SHINE has brought over 100 murals to the city.

SHINE attracts the best mural artists both locally, and from across the globe. This year, artists traveled from as far as Germany and Columbia to participate in the nationally recognized festival.

Auraileus, a St. Petersburg native, was ecstatic when he was selected by SHINE to be an artist in this year’s festival.

“I’ve always wanted to participate, I am really trying to be a famous artist because I love art and I really like to eat, so I can’t be a starving artist,” Aurailieus said.

Auraileus has been a part of the local art scene since before SHINE began.

Prior to the festival, there was already a growing mural movement in the city, but Aurailieus feels that SHINE was able to take the movement to the next level.

While this is his first time participating in the festival, Aurailieus has adorned the city with several murals over the years, many of which have been painted over or lost to history.

Aurailieus’s work is colorful, creative, and imaginative and uses a combination of fine and urban art. For Auraileus, inspiration is not hard to come by.

“I am an inspiration sponge,” Aurailieus’s said. “Maybe it’s ADHD, maybe it’s how rampant capitalism and advertisements bombard your brain with thirty thousand images a day, but everything is everywhere all of the time. You can drag a spoon through the air and eat delicious inspirations soup.”

Aurailieus’s mural can be found on the Zen Art building at 600 27th St. S. Auraileus hopes that when people visit his mural they will stop and, in that moment, feel happy they are there with whoever they are with.

Artist Emily Ding traveled from Texas to participate in SHINE. She has been painting murals for almost five years.

Ding was thrilled when SHINE reached out to her with an invitation to participate in the festival. She has wanted to paint with SHINE since she first learned about the festival in 2018 when she drove through St. Petersburg on her way to Miami.

In her art, Ding strives to portray emotions and experiences for the viewer with bold colors and expressive creatures. Her mural depicts a fawn surrounded by foliage.

“The tree in front of the building gave me the most direction for a design,” Ding said. “The tree blends in very well. I’m aiming for a feeling of tenderness and growth.”

Ding’s mural can be found on the Rob Graham Enterprise building at 100 7th St S.

The festival also brought three community “Bright Spots” murals to the area, which are intended to engage and inspire the community. This included a week-long, mural-making tutorial led by Tampa-based artist, Jujmo.

Jujmo worked with the children in the Shirley Proctor Puller Foundation art club, a program designed to close the achievement gap for students in South St. Petersburg, to give them hands-on experience making a mural. Six days into SHINE, Jujmo felt the festival was an experience like no other.

“My favorite part so far has been the full immersive experience of hanging with the artists and being a part of something really special for St. Pete,” Jujmo said. “The whole staff has worked tirelessly to create an amazing atmosphere for us, and it truly is an honor to be a part of SHINE.”

Jujmo’s mural can be found on the A-1 Recovery building at 2221 5th Ave. S.

While this was many artists’ first experience with SHINE, others have been a part of the festival since its inception.

Chad Mize is a multimedia artist, designer and muralist and was an artist at the first SHINE festival in 2015. For the past three years, Mize has worked on the curation side of the festival and is part of the team that selects which artists will participate in the annual festival.

In 2018, Mize opened the MIZE Gallery in the Historic Uptown neighborhood. On Oct. 22, the gallery hosted an exhibit that featured 77 artists and celebrated the conclusion of the seventh SHINE Mural Festival.

Artist Jujmo’s mural on the A-1 Recovery building at 2221 5th Ave. S in St. Peterburg. Photo by Edyn Gottlieb

Amid tensions over COVID-19 restrictions, Disney World brings back mask requirements

As COVID-19 continues to surge within the U.S., one health care worker shared her thoughts on visiting theme parks amid the ongoing pandemic.
Courtesy of Unsplash.com | Joe Burbank

By Madison Jackson

USFSP Student Reporter

One of the happiest places on Earth also can’t seem to ignore the world is still dealing with a pandemic.

Walt Disney World decided in June to again require face coverings indoors, regardless if they are vaccinated. However, wearing a face covering in an outside setting remains optional but encouraged in crowded areas.

“As we have done since reopening, we’ve been very intentional and gradual in our approach to our COVID-19 health and safety protocols,” Disney mentioned in a previous statement, also adding, “We encourage people to get vaccinated.”

Disney’s policies were updated to reflect ongoing guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some of the new health and safety protocols at Disney include:

● Face coverings are required for all guests (ages 2 and up) in all indoor locations, regardless of vaccination status.
● Easy access to handwashing facilities and hand sanitizer dispensers.
● Limited availability within each of the theme parks, as managed by a park reservation system.

While some still debate the COVID-19 vaccine, the CDC and other health leaders around the world continue to advocate for everyone who can get the shot to slow the spread of coronavirus. The first COVID-19 vaccine to get full FDA approval was from Pfizer-BioNTech, which was originally allowed under an emergency use authorization.

Still, only about 53.2% of Americans are fully vaccinated, and about 53.2% of Floridians are fully vaccinated, according to the World Health Organization and data from the Florida Department of Health.

As cases in the United States and in Florida continue to rise, especially that of the highly contagious delta variant, the CDC and other world health leaders say it is more important now than ever to keep social distancing and wearing face coverings even if you are fully vaccinated.

The surge in cases, hospitalizations and deaths due to the delta variant has weighed especially heavy on front-line health care workers.

“It has become incredibly stressful at work. I literally go to work all day, sleep a few hours, and then go back,” said Gina Finch, a frontline worker at Baycare Mease Countryside Hospital in Clearwater. “Especially because we are worried about a new surge of cases due to the summer break and with children going back to school … I strongly urge everyone to get vaccinated.”

While dealing with the overwhelming surge of COVID-19 cases as a health professional, Finch is also a Disney lover and has been a Disney World pass holder for a few years. She expressed uncertainty about the safety of visiting theme parks because of the high potential for large crowds.

“I love Disney World as much as anyone else and I definitely try to go there when I can,” she said. “However, I don’t know if now is that great of a time to be enjoying large gatherings like a theme park. Personally, I haven’t gone since the new spike in cases. This virus is dangerous, and people need to wake up and realize this is all real and shouldn’t be taken lightly.”

Florida, currently, is a huge hot spot for rising COVID-19 cases. Because of this, Florida has also become a political battleground over what kind of restrictions should be in place, especially within private companies and in schools.

Recently, the mayor of Orange County, where Disney World is located, announced an executive order declaring a state of local emergency in response to a surge in cases. Meanwhile, Gov. Ron DeSantis remains opposed to mandating many restrictions related to the pandemic.

“I think that those who are fully vaccinated are probably okay going to Disney. Do I think it’s completely safe? No. But as long as everyone who is vaccinated continues to protect themselves by washing their hands, social distancing, and wearing a mask are most likely okay. I don’t think unvaccinated or partially vaccinated people should be going there, but I guess it’s their choice. To me, it just seems too risky,” Finch said.

Finch advised people to be more cautious as the number of cases continues to tick up. While many want to get back to a sense of normalcy, Finch said “acting like everything is back to normal is just not helping.”

“Our hospitals are filling up with patients quickly. Just the other day we had a 17-year-old who was doing okay at first, but we had to airlift him to another hospital because he wasn’t able to breathe,” she said.

USF student engineering societies are back in workshops and racing to compete

By Annabella Keim

USFSP Student Reporter

TAMPA – After a year and a half shut down, societies of student engineers at the University of South Florida are finally back and working on several new and innovative automotive and aerospace projects.

Reece Ulmer, a senior at USF Tampa, is the Society of Automotive Engineers’ lead designer for the base frame, otherwise known as the chassis. Their 2021-2022 car body has already been manufactured and will have a four-cylinder engine compared to their previous
build’s single cylinder.

Students are now preparing the suspension, and Ulmer estimated the entire vehicle will be complete within a couple of month’s time, ready for participation in
Formula SAE competitions across North America.

“If you refine your designs and you talk to a lot of people on the team, you can bounce ideas off of each other,” Ulmer said. “It’s pretty much all student taught, it’s just the application of knowledge.”

The Society of Automotive Engineers does quite a bit of in-house production at its workshop on campus. In order to efficiently create a vehicle from scratch, the team created different subsystems within the group that focus on a specific aspect of the car: chassis, suspension, breaks, powertrain, drivetrain, ergonomics, composites and aerodynamics. Each subsystem has its own team of students dedicated to designing, testing and manufacturing the creation.

“Once that geometry is set, everything is pretty much ready to get bolted on and attached. And then, it’s just about refining the work that we’ve already done and finding ways to improve it the best we can after that,” Ulmer said.

The small, formula-style racing cars are taken to the Formula SAE annual competition where the project will compete against 120, and indirectly against more than 500 other student-created vehicles. This year’s competition is in Michigan.

Due to the pandemic, all manufacturing stopped because students were not able to be in the shop. All of the activities had to move over to the group’s Discord server, which only allowed for designing and deliberations. Trying to stay motivated, Ulmer said, was the most challenging part of meeting virtually.

The student-led Society of Automotive Engineers, in collaboration with the Society of Aeronautics and Rocketry, hosted a racing and rocketry showcase at the USF Tampa campus on Sept. 2.

This event gave students the opportunity to see and catch up on the progress of each society’s innovative engineering projects. In the past, the Society of Automotive Engineers has placed sixth place overall at the Formula SAE Lincoln and placed favorably in other categories like endurance and fuel efficiency. The Society of Aeronautics and Rocketry has also participated in several different NASA student competitions.

Alumni from each society are often sought out by engineering giants such as SpaceX and General Motors. Companies like Optimum G, Continental, Stewart-Haas Racing and Raytheon Space all have hired USF SAE alumni in the past. SpaceX even filters their applicants based on their involvement with SAE.

No matter your major, all students are welcome at the Society of Automotive Engineers and the Society of Aeronautics and Rocketry. Interested students are also welcome to come to the Society of Automotive Engineers workshop located at the USF Tampa campus engineering research building to see some welding and learn more about cars.

To learn more about aerospace engineering, come to the Society of Aeronautics and Rocketry’s payload meetings for the NASA Student Launch every Tuesday and Wednesday at 5 PM in the ENR building at USF Tampa. For more information join the SOAR Slack page at usfsoar.slack.com.

Traveling front-line worker finds escape in Tampa and St. Petersburg amid pandemic

Traveling front-line worker finds escape in Tampa and St. Petersburg amid pandemic

By David Melhorn

USFSP Student Reporter

TAMPA/ST. PETERSBURG – Traveling nurse Halle Pinizzotto knows that the pandemic is plaguing Florida, but this did not deter her from accepting an offer to fill a position at Tampa General Hospital.

“I’ve always known that I wanted to be a nurse,” Pinizzotto said. “I went to a specialized high school that offers a Health Sciences program. I just knew that I wanted to help people to the best of my ability. When the opportunity presented itself, I was more than ready to go to Florida. I’ve never been to the area, and to be able to do my job with the beach not far away was clearly enticing enough to solidify my decision.”

Pinizzotto works in the ICU at Tampa General Hospital primarily with coronavirus patients with high oxygen requirements and the critically ill. She has worked two out of her three-month contract with Tampa General Hospital.

According to reporting from the Tampa Bay Times, Florida has reported 3,409,165 coronavirus cases with 48,722 deaths due to the coronavirus as of Sept. 17, 2021.

“The truth is most of us are exhausted,” Pinizzotto said when asked how morale is in the hospitals. “But the reward of taking care of a patient and seeing them improve keeps us going.”

After changing into her isolation scrubs and donning her protective equipment, Pinizzotto typically reviews orders, labs and medications before proceeding to check the patients’ IV drips, ensuring that they are full and braces for the ensuing shift.

“We are spread very thin. So not only are we in unsafe circumstances because of the raging coronavirus all around us, we are unable to provide the care we would like to because we have more patients than safe and limited resources. Maintaining your morale is difficult with so much sadness around,” Pinizzotto said.

Tampa General Hospital is a 1,041-bed non-profit research and academic medical center located on Davis Island in Tampa. TGH was recognized as one of America’s Best Hospitals by U.S. News & World Report 2021-22 according to the hospital’s website.

A Tampa Bay Times reporter recently spent 12 hours in a COVID-19 ICU ward in Clearwater, documenting what nurses and other hospital staff experience on a daily basis. The report also detailed how health leaders are seeing nurses feeling demoralized, exhausted, and frustrated over still having to deal with people who will not wear a mask or get vaccinated.

It has become increasingly frustrating for healthcare professionals such as Pinizzotto, who continues to work herself to exhaustion every day and witness the coronavirus firsthand, only to come home and see friends on social media debating the seriousness of the pandemic.

“I would urge them to talk to someone who is seeing it firsthand,” Pinizzotto said. “I don’t even have the energy for people like that anymore because it is truly exhausting to see people dying all around you and people tell you that it’s not real or that you’re lying about it. I’ll never be able to express the sadness and trauma that I will carry around the rest of my life because of working in the COVID-19 ICU for the last year and a half. It won’t get better if people don’t start doing their part. Until then, people will keep being hospitalized and dying and eventually the health care workers will be so burnt-out people will be lucky if hospitals ever have adequate staffing or safe conditions/patient ratios ever again.”

Pinizzotto is no stranger to going to states that are surging with coronavirus cases. Before Tampa, she was assigned to a hospital in Dallas, Texas, which is flooded with new daily coronavirus cases much like Tampa. Pinizzotto is from New Jersey and worked in Arizona before Texas. She graduated with a nursing degree from Widener University in Pennsylvania in 2016.

“One thing that has shocked me about working in Florida the most is the lack of vaccinated people including those in the healthcare profession. What has also shocked me is that this place is all about freedom, but marijuana isn’t legal,” Pinizzotto said. “The biggest difference working in Florida compared to other states is that Florida protects their healthcare providers well (as far as I have seen) from violence in the workplace more seriously. However, they don’t compensate the nurses as well for how hard they work you the way that northern and far western hospitals have done. This is also noted anytime you tell a recruiter you want to work in Florida- they warn you about this.”

With the constant stress and sadness, Pinizzotto urges people to find a way to cope and unwind. Pinizzotto knows that there is much to do in the area and tries to experience as much of it as she can after recovering from a grueling work shift.

“I have been so impressed with the area. I find myself trying to convince all my friends to visit here. From the beaches to the bars to the people, the vibe here just feels very genuine to me,” Pinizzotto said.

Some of her favorite experiences in the area include John’s Pass, Downtown St. Pete, Whiskey Joe’s, Teak at St. Pete Pier and Oystercatchers in Tampa.

“If I had to convince someone to move here, I would take them to St. Pete Beach and Downtown during the day with dinner on the St. Pete Pier. I would tell them about the beautiful beaches around the area and cool bars and restaurants to try. It’s also just full of beauty with the bay, water, trees, parks, and wildlife,” Pinizzotto said. “Florida is a lawless place. People are allowed to do almost anything they want, and I understand why that is desirable. I am in love with the beach towns all around. People seem happy here.”

When asked if there were still something she would like to do before she leaves Pinizzotto said, “Tiki hut boat bar ride at John’s Pass, Siesta Key Beach, and Bern’s Steakhouse.”

Pinizzotto could not find many things she dislikes about Florida. When I asked, she only said, “I don’t know… gators!? Significant less money but it’s a great destination. Lastly, no one is vaccinated.”

Halle Pinizzotto, center, is a traveling nurse who has spent the last two months in Tampa and St. Petersburg amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

On Monday nights, they rock the house

Mike Thomas
Dillon Mastromarino | USFSP
Mike Thomas (left) hosts the open mics.

By DILLON MASTROMARINO
USFSP Student Reporter

GULFPORT – What do a retired IT worker, a chef-turned-radio host and a full-time musician have in common?

A guitar in hand and a time slot every Monday night at Caddy’s open mic.

The waterfront restaurant at 3128 Beach Blvd. S brimmed with eager performers from around the Tampa Bay area on Nov. 18.

Tables and chairs were rearranged to accommodate the makeshift stage. Dozens of wires snaked along the floor from sound boards to electric amplifiers. People chatted and drank, their cased guitars lying beside them as they waited to be invited on stage.

One player, Paul Brechue, said he wasn’t sure about performing that evening. However, he said he always kept a guitar in his car just in case.

“I tried being a full-time freelance musician but mentally I needed the stability of a 9-to-5 job,” said Brechue. “I managed to rack up 17 years in IT at a major cellular company and by saving my pennies I was able to retire early. But I always played part-time as well.”

After the Beatles hit the airwaves when Brechue was around 11, he was eager to start playing. From a young age, Brechue said, he had always wanted to learn how to play music and was greatly influenced by the music he heard at church and (thanks to renditions by Wendy Carlos) the music of Johann Sebastian Bach.

When he was in high school, a teacher exposed Brechue to Dixieland jazz, which was a gateway for his appreciation of music theory and the Great American Songbook. He said he’s been playing professionally ever since.

“I go to open mics now mostly because I haven’t been ambitious enough to book paid work,” Brechue said later via email.

“I was aware of a couple other open mics on Monday. I opted for the one in Gulfport because it wasn’t too far a drive, and it turned out to be a great choice since several of the players were old friends I hadn’t seen in a while.”

One of those old friends was Mike Thomas, the host of Monday night’s open mics.

“I was asked to host an open mic about a year ago and wasn’t thrilled by the idea at first,” said Thomas. “But once it started to take off it reignited my excitement with being a part of an amazing, creative music community. And that’s what the Tampa Bay area is.”

Lynn DiVenuti
Dillon Mastromarino | USFSP
After the open mic, Lynn DiVenuti unwinds by playing for passersby.

As long as he can remember, Thomas said, he has loved music. When he was 12, he said, he hijacked his older brother’s chord book. He started playing professionally seven years later.

Once Thomas committed to hosting an open mic, he began attending as many open mics as he could find. Through constant networking, Thomas met several players and songwriters whom he considers the bedrock of the local music scene.

He said he found common ground with many local artists and as he supported them in their craft, they supported him.

“All I do is play now,” said Thomas. “Open mic is a bonus. I play the gigs as they come and love every minute of it.”

Support is a major factor in the local music scene. One local musician, Lynn DiVenuti, attends every Monday open mic in support of Thomas.

“[I] have performed at just about every live music venue in Gulfport by now,” said DiVenuti. “Open mic keeps me practicing everything I learned throughout the years. If I didn’t play open mics the instruments would get dusty or I’d need to join a band or start one.

“Music is in my blood; ain’t no denying it.”

At the age of 4, DiVenuti built her own drum set using a Lincoln Log box, lids, spaghetti pots and various kitchen utensils.

“Kinda surprised my parents let me live this long,” said DiVenuti. “I was an active child.”

When she was 15, DiVenuti said, she received her first guitar as a bribe from her parents to stop running away. The first song she learned was the Beatles’ “Why Don’t We Do it in the Road.”

Her first gig was with a bluegrass band at age 19. She’s been performing for 45 years.

DiVenuti has held many jobs during her life. She’s worked in marketing, advertising and music management, and he created and sponsored events from music festivals to chili cookoffs.

DiVenuti said she was a chef for over 20 years. She owned and operated several bistros, was the director of food services at USF St. Petersburg and was the night manager of the St. Petersburg Times’ company cafeteria.

DiVenuti lives in Gulfport and is a host for Pro Sisters Radio, a platform created for female musicians to promote their music.

“I always loved Gulfport,” said DiVenuti. “Gulfport is my home now since 2007. It is perfect for me. We all help each other when needed and the sense of community is strong. Plus the music rocks!”

STEM women are hidden no more

STEM Women
Dillon Mastromarino | USFSP
(From left to right) Valeria Edelsztein (Argentina), Mariella Galea (Malta), Aurora Villagra Acosta (Paraguay) and Penester Tjale (South Africa) bring STEM education to children in underserved areas.

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.

Nsama Mataka
Dillon Mastromarino | USFSP
Some children in Zambia “have never even held a test tube,” says Nsama Mataka.

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.

These artists work where they live

Aall
Jonah Hinebaugh | USFSP
Ether Aall, who moved from Switzerland, brought the neighborhood artists enclave back to life.

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.”

Durfee
Jonah Hinebaugh | USFSP
Scott Durfee led the first push to organize the neighborhood enclave.

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.”