Creative Pinellas’ eighth Arts Annual exhibition will be its last.

The exhibition themed “From Now to Next” acts as its goodbye celebration as the publicly defunded arts program prepares to close its office and gallery space in Largo by Feb. 1.

A total of 122 works from 73 artists span the exhibition, including painting, sculpture, spoken word, ceramics, mixed media, assemblage, film, and a special site-specific installation from the artist BASK.

Some of the exhibit’s featured artists, like Miss Crit, aka Laura Spencer, credit Creative Pinellas with their success after being nurtured by the program.

“Creative Pinellas has always been there for me and our artistic community,” Spencer said in a release. “It’s an absolute honor and privilege to participate in the final exhibit at the gallery.”

Others, like Cristi López, will show their work for the first time. In the gallery’s closing announcement, she said being showcased in the last Arts Annual “affirms that I made a great decision in moving here.”

There is no cover for Arts Annual: From Now to Next, running through Jan. 4 in Largo.

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This weekend is your last chance to check out “Between Two Groves,” Karian Yanes’s solo exhibition at the Morean Center for Clay.

Through ceramics, Yanes shares her experience at the intersection of Puerto Rican, Palestinian and Midwestern culture, exploring how stories and traditions transform across time, memory, and diaspora.

The show’s largest work, “All We Ate Was Watermelon,” is a 12-foot-tall mixed-media sculpture with 3,480 ceramic pieces protecting an orange branch modeled after a traditional Palestinian cross-stitch pattern.

It’s surrounded by a series of ceramic wall hangings that show fragments of Yanes’ family history using scenes from her family’s orange grove in Palestine and imagery from Puerto Rico, where her grandfather worked in a juice factory, along with references to her ‘90s Ohio childhood and elements of her current life in Florida.

There is no cover for “Between Two Groves,” running through Saturday, Dec. 27 in St. Petersburg.

Karina Yanes: Between Two Groves Ceramic Exhibition

Time Wednesdays-Saturdays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Continues through Dec. 27 2025

Location Morean Center for Clay, 420 22nd Street South, St.Petersburg

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Notably relaxed in delicately arranged armor made of spikes and studs, Discord Addams sat across from me, sipping some kind of mezcal concoction. It wasn’t an unusual Friday night scene for us—Discord and I have cackled over cocktails more times than I can remember (the drinks may have something to do with that).

But something was different about tonight—in just a few days, the entire world will be invited into the irreverent, punk rock world she’s built over the last 13 years. After a decade of auditioning for the megahit series, Discord was finally accepted as a contestant on Season 18 of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”

With so much on the horizon, we did what any good friends would do: sat down for a drink to chat about the long road that led her here and the path she’s forging ahead. 

It all began in the most unlikely of places: Akron, Ohio. Discord was well-embedded in the local punk scene, but didn’t make her way into the realm of drag until she had seen alternative style icon Raja take the “Drag Race” catwalk.

“I loved seeing that drag is a medium that you can communicate any message through,” Discord explained. Inspired by Raja’s high fashion club kid aesthetic, Discord made her drag debut in 2012 at Akron’s Interbelt.

Four years later, Discord relocated to Chicago with her partner, Gidget Von Addams (the other half of what is soon to be America’s favorite quasi-lesbian couple). While she found plenty of opportunity in the Windy City, she felt there was still a need within the local scene to uplift women and people of color, who were often overlooked as drag entertainers.

“I’ve always been a champion for people who aren’t getting what they deserve. I think justice is a big core in the art that I make and also the way that I present myself in and out of drag.” 

For Discord, platforming women isn’t just about doing the right thing, it’s also about giving back. “If you were to ask me point blank ‘What men do you find inspiring?’ I’d be really, really hard pressed to give you an answer.”

When asked who does inspire her, Discord had an immediate answer: Rosie O’Donnell. “She really, I would say, kind of changed my life. I have her Barbie doll.” She tacked Lady Gaga, Kesha, and her own mom onto the list of inspirational figures.

“I’ve always just been inspired by anyone that challenges authority.” 

Discord escaped the cold and found her way to the Tampa Bay area in 2020—but was on a bit of a drag hiatus after experiencing social burnout in the Windy City. Thankfully, a healthy dose of southern hospitality from none other than St. Pete’s own Adriana Sparkle was enough to get her back in the saddle.

“Meeting Adriana is what got me back into happily doing drag,” she admitted. Discord credits the welcoming, noncompetitive energy of the Florida drag community as her motivation for pursuing drag as an artistic medium again.

Years after finding a home bar at Cocktail St. Pete, Discord got the call that she would be starring in Season 18 of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” She described the experience as “very validating.” Discord continued, “I’ve always been my biggest fan, but at some point you question yourself, like, am I delusional?”

Discord hopes that her run on “Drag Race” will inspire other artists to be authentic and speak loudly about what they believe in.

“I think due to being on the spectrum, I’m incapable of being too far outside of who I am at any given time,” she said. “I wish more people would realize that if you do exactly what you want to do at all times, people will like it. Even if it’s not everybody—the worst artists in the world are the people who are adored by everybody.”

She also aspires to be a public example that high fashion does not need to be expensive or new. Each of her creations has been put together, pulled apart, and reimagined, with the majority of her pieces made out of thrifted fabric: “We refuse to waste any scraps.” 

Post-“Drag Race,” Discord is looking forward to creating art on a larger scale—including the realization of her longtime dream of releasing a punk album. Other than making music, Discord has one simple wish for the future: “I really want to find a way to cameo on “Wednesday.” Making Discord Addams canon in the Addams family would be crazy.” 

Tune into the premiere of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 18 on MTV on Friday, Jan. 2. Live local? Don’t miss Cocktail St. Pete’s Season 18 Premiere Watch Party with live performances and Q&A with Discord Addams starting at 7 p.m.

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Creative Pinellas has nurtured the careers of Pinellas County artists and writers from its Pinewood Cultural Park space in Largo since 2018—and last Friday night, the nonprofit closed an important chapter in its history. 

Beyond cultivating homegrown talent, The Gallery at Creative Pinellas has served as an important gathering place for creatives across the county. Its central location made it a natural meeting point for North and South Pinellas artists, as Tarpon Springs-based artists Carol Mickett and Robert Stackhouse noted just before Pinellas County commissioners voted 5-2 to defund Creative Pinellas.

As a result, Creative Pinellas CEO Margaret Murray warned at the same hearing, the organization will need to vacate its Pinewood Cultural Park gallery and offices. That move is now scheduled for February 2026.

Last Friday night, arts professionals from across Pinellas met in the middle once again—this time to bid a final farewell to one of Pinellas County’s best cultural gathering places. Representing South County—staff from the Museum of Fine Arts St. Pete, the Morean Arts Center and the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance. From North County—staff from the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art in Tarpon Springs, the Dunedin Fine Arts Center and Safety Harbor Art & Music Center. Independent artists and arts administrators from across Tampa Bay were also in attendance. They posed with their artwork, friends and colleagues, highlighting the vibrancy of the local arts community and underscoring the loss Pinellas County residents will feel when Creative Pinellas moves out.

The Arts Annual Exhibition features work by more than 70 Pinellas County artists and will remain on view at The Gallery at Creative Pinellas in Largo’s Pinewood Cultural Park through Jan. 4.

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Tampa Bay is keeping poet and novelist Jack Kerouac’s legacy alive—opening his St. Petersburg home to budding and mature poets alike for one Sunday each month.

Since his death in 1969, Kerouac’s house has served as the headquarters of the private, non-profit corporation dedicated to preserving his house and highlighting local artists.

This month’s installation of Coffee and Poetry at Jack’s house is emcee’d by local writer, comedian and actor Victoria Dym, who will read some of her own work and lead an open mic.

The special guest is Lennie Hay, whose book, “Lost in America,” was published by Broadstone Books in 2024. Broadstone will also publish her upcoming book, “Feeding the Dead,” in 2026. Hay draws inspiration from her upbringing in the Midwest, being raised by Chinese immigrants and German-Ukrainian farmers.

Tickets are $10 for Coffee and Poetry at Jack’s house, happening Sunday, Nov. 23 from 3 p.m.-6 p.m. in St. Petersburg.

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Tampa Bay-based artist Genevieve “Vevie” Lykes Dimmitt lost her son, Lawrence Hundley Dimmitt IV, to suicide in 2017, but she still speaks to him through her art.

Her art show, “Windows Letting in Light, Prayers for Lawrence,” runs at FloridaRAMA in St. Petersburg through Monday, Nov. 10. Proceeds from artwork sales benefit Love IV Lawrence, a donor-advised fund created in her son’s memory to promote mental health awareness and end the stigma surrounding suicide.

This Saturday, Nov. 8, from 6 p.m.-8 p.m., Vevie joins Love IV Lawrence representatives for a public talk on art and mental health.

What do you do after a family member dies by suicide and the press starts calling?

That’s the question the Dimmitt family faced in August of 2017 when Lawrence Hundley Dimmitt IV, Operating Partner of Dimmitt Chevrolet in Clearwater died at 32 years old.

The loss left the family stunned. Lawrence’s mother, Vevie, and sister, FloridaRAMA Founder and CEO Liz Dimmitt, describe Lawrence as a sort of golden boy—cute, popular, friendly, fun, thoughtful, a great outdoorsman, a successful businessman, a kind mentor to his colleagues at Dimmitt Chevrolet, a protective brother, a supportive friend, a good neighbor and a loving son.

Lawrence’s friend, Daniel Singer, describes him as one of the most engaging people you’d ever meet—friendly to everyone, the life of the party, an overall outstanding human being.
Everything appeared to come easily for Lawrence, but beneath the golden boy façade, he struggled internally.

“I think we all knew he had his ups and downs,” Liz told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. “And that summer of 2017, he was in a hard place, but we didn’t know that we were there.”
“He was clearly battling a lot of this stuff behind closed doors,” says Singer.

Suicide is rarely expected, yet shockingly prevalent.

According to the World Health Organization, more than 720,000 people die by suicide every year. And for every suicide, there are more people who have attempted suicide. Earlier this year, Tampa Bay lost beloved historian, author and archivist Andy Huse.

“It’s an epidemic in the world today—so many people are struggling with it,” Liz told CL.
Despite the shock, the Dimmitts didn’t have much time to grieve. It wasn’t long before members of the press discovered the police report and began contacting the surviving family members.

Not knowing what to say, Lawrence’s surviving siblings deferred to their mother, Vevie.
Liz recalls specifically asking her mother, “What do you want us to say?”

“We’re not pretending this didn’t happen to our family,” Vevie told her kids.

“I think I just knew that I had to tell the truth,” Vevie reflects on that moment. “That we could only get through it if we told the truth.”

As far as she was concerned, there was no other option. Once they told the truth, the Dimmitts were left alone to try and make sense of it.

How do you make sense of it? You go through their things, you talk to your friends, family, neighbors, doctors, your priest. You make art.

Eight years later, Vevie still wonders if any of Lawrence’s many concussions played a role.
On the day of his death, Lawrence had left a single file out on his desk—a class action lawsuit referencing concussions in high school football players. Lawrence suffered one such concussion himself as a high school senior. At the beginning of his first football game of the season, Lawrence was carried off the field on a stretcher.

The coach told Vevie that her son was fine, not to worry about it. But after the game, she discovered that he’d been lying there with a concussion the entire game, practically unconscious. Vevie took her son to a doctor who told her, “he’s had a concussion, and he shouldn’t have any more, but there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“But I know he had more,” she says while acknowledging, the simple fact that, “it’s not like we can ever figure it out.”

How do you move forward after a death changed that changes the lives of so many around the person?

Liz Dimmitt, who happened to be in Florida at the time of Lawrence’s death, never moved back to New York City, where she’d just purchased a new apartment with her husband-to-be. Instead, the couple settled in Florida, and Liz started running Dimmitt Chevrolet.

She’d always wanted to have a big art project, and Lawrence’s death reminded her that life is too short to put off one’s dreams. So in 2021, she established Fairgrounds—now FloridaRAMA—in a St. Pete warehouse called The Factory.

Lawrence’s Tampa friends approached the family, wanting to do something.

“We didn’t necessarily know exactly what it would be or what form it might take,” Dan Singer, from Tampa, told CL.

But their good friend and mentor, Martin Borrel, offered guidance, and Lawrence’s Tampa friends established the foundation, Love IV Lawrence, with the Dimmitts in 2017 to help change the conversation around mental health, depression and suicide. The foundation supports several Tampa Bay organizations doing important work in mental health, granting about $100,000 in annual support.

“Ultimately, our mission is to save lives,” Singer told CL.

Genevieve Dimmitt continued to make art, but its nature changed.

“As an artist, it forced me to paint from the deepest parts of myself,” Vevie told CL. “I try to connect with him, to talk to him, to tell him things that were left unsaid. I no longer paint to make something beautiful. I paint to survive, to understand and to stay connected.”

Vevie’s paintings are covered in messages to her late son—all the things she wishes she’d told him. The words often overlap to the point of illegibility—there are so many things left unsaid.
The last time Vevie saw Lawrence, the family was together in North Carolina around the time of the 2017 total solar eclipse.

She was setting the table and trying to serve dinner when Lawrence noticed a series of paintings she’d left leaning against the wall and asked her, “Where do you get your ideas?”

“And I didn’t really give him an answer,” says Vevie. “That was my opportunity to talk with him and communicate, and I missed it.”

The answers soon found their way into her artwork, starting with “The Eclipse of 2017,” and then in others. Letters swoop around objects that remind Vevie of Lawrence—smashed automobile glass, shark’s teeth, bottle caps, rocks and shells.

The works currently hanging in FloridaRAMA Gallery are just a portion of the paintings through which Genevieve Dimmitt processed her son’s death.

“There’s a huge amount of work that came out of this,” Liz told CL.

Through the tangle of unspoken words, one thing is always clear: love.

Rummaging through old papers as she packed up to make the trip from North Carolina back to Florida once again, Vevie found the last Mother’s Day card Lawrence ever gave her. The handmade card carried the following message:

Dearest Mama, Happy Mother’s Day. I wish you happiness, comfort, enlightenment, and peace on this special day and always and forever in the future. You have earned it. You are an inspirational and uplifting force for your children and for everyone in your life. Your spirit is warm, vibrant and encouraging. Thank you for instilling your positive energy with us. Thank you for being an incredible person. Thank you for your love. The love and respect that I have for you is equally as strong. It is eternal and it is unyielding. You mean the world to me, mama; you are my world. You have made me the man that I am today. I love you. Happy Mother’s Day.

Years later, it reads like a goodbye note.

“If I were painting today, I’d tell him how much that note meant to me, and how much he meant to me,” Vevie told CL. “I’d ask more questions.”

For families affected by suicide, the intrusive questions never end.

“At the end of day, when you look back, maybe there are things you could have done,” Singer told CL. But this requires knowledge and tools that most people don’t have.

That’s why Love IV Lawrence has invested heavily in Mental Health First Aid—a program that trains people to recognize when a loved one may be at risk for suicide. Through longstanding partnerships with MHFA instructor Stoney Dvornik, Directions for Living and Safe & Sound Hillsborough, the organization has helped certify more than 7,000 people in Mental Health First Aid.

Suicide is more prevalent than most realize, and with the world the way it is today, these tools and resources are more important than ever.

“If you haven’t been directly affected by suicide, someone you know has been directly affected by suicide,” Singer told CL. “They may or may not want to talk about it, but it’s just so pervasive out there today.”

“We’ve learned so much more through having Love IV Lawrence,” Liz told CL. “You have to have the hard conversations and ask hard questions…we didn’t have those tools in our toolbox at the time.”

UPDATED 11/06/25 4:50 p.m. Updated to correct the spelling of Martin Borrel.

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Every few years, a theatre company somewhere asks the same mischievous question: what if “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” didn’t take place in a forest?

In Tampa, the answer comes with sunscreen.

At ThinkTank Theatre, Shakespeare’s most famous comedy—a swirl of love triangles, mistaken identities, and fairy mischief —unfolds in a beach resort. The fairies? Part of the summer entertainment lineup. The mechanicals? Resort staff trying (and failing) to stage a play. Oberon? The bartender. Puck? His barback.

“We both loved the beach resort idea,” says Georgia Mallory Guy, ThinkTank’s producing artistic director and the show’s director. “What if Oberon is the bartender and Puck his barback? What if Titania and her fairies are the summer entertainment series? What if Hippolyta is having to sell her Amazon Resort and Spa to Theseus’ Athenian Beach Club? The ideas came rolling out.”

ThinkTank Theatre: ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’

Time Wed., Nov. 5, 7:30 p.m., Thu., Nov. 6, 7:30 p.m., Sat., Nov. 8, 7:30 p.m., Sun., Nov. 9, 2 p.m., Wed., Nov. 12, 7:30 p.m., Thu., Nov. 13, 7:30 p.m., Sat., Nov. 15, 7:30 p.m. and Sun., Nov. 16, 2 p.m. 2025

Location Tampa Jewish Community Center on the Cohn Campus, 13009 Community Campus Dr., Tampa

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A familiar story, told in a familiar place

Running Nov. 5–16 at the JCC on the Cohn Campus, this production opens ThinkTank’s 25/26 season.

The setting, Guy says, grew out of both necessity and imagination. “The space at the JCC is pretty intimate, and it’s a completely found space,” she explains. “So in talking with my set designer, Keith Eisenstadt, we both knew it needed to be something that would be imaginative within the confines of the space, familiar (since it would be so intimate), and still allow all the magic and farce of the play to come through.”

“It’s down to earth yet heightened, in your face and full of life and laughs,” she adds.

No degree in Shakespeare required

If you’ve ever sat through Shakespeare and felt lost in the language, this Midsummer might change your mind.

“We’re setting the play in a world of today — costumes, props, and set items that look familiar to today’s vacationing or beach lifestyle rather than Elizabethan costuming,” Guy says. “I’ve encouraged the actors to make the dialogue feel like we would hear someone talk today. It doesn’t take away from the action or driving force — the rhythm and prose are still there — but it lessens that preciousness around the language so it feels more familiar.”

Her goal is to make Shakespeare click for audiences who may think it’s not their “cup of tea.” “When you notice yourself really understanding Shakespeare,” she says, “you just feel smart.”

Building a theatre that reflects its audience

The cast combines professional actors, new faces, and members of ThinkTank’s Young Artists’ Ensemble, the company’s internship and mentorship program for high school students.

“For our professionals, once we alleviate them of having to feel like a mentor to young artists, they actually become a better mentor,” Guy says. “For our interns, some don’t have high school theatre programs, others love theirs so much they want the next level. So they come in ready to tackle the process. It’s just one of those special magic blends.”

That blend reflects ThinkTank’s broader mission: to make professional theatre accessible to families, teens, and first-timers alike.

“Within that family-accessibility is an aim towards teens and young adults,” Guy explains. “We look for plays that provide that conversation between generations and hierarchies—parent/child, teacher/student. ‘Midsummer’ certainly provides that.”

A season of curiosity

The company’s fall slot traditionally centers on literature—plays that students might read in school. For Guy, “Midsummer ” fits that bill while setting the tone for what’s ahead.

“Fall is where we focus our aims towards literature,” she says. “Winter is our Female Forward Initiative, and our Boozy Broadway and Annual TYA PlayFest are staples. At the forefront, we’re a true Think Tank in how we approach theatre—its opportunities, reflection of our community, and showcasing its relevance for the upcoming generation of theatre supporters.”

And in this case, that reflection looks a lot like home—warm, funny, and just a little bit sandy.

Tickets to see ThinkTank Theatre’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” playing select nights Nov. 5-16 at Tampa’s JCC on the Cohn Campus are still available and start at $20.

This post first appeared at TB Arts Passport, which is part of the Tampa Bay Journalism Project (TBJP), a nascent Creative Loafing Tampa Bay effort supported by grants and a coalition of donors who make specific contributions via the Alternative Newsweekly Foundation. If you are a non-paywalled Bay area publication interested in TBJP, please email rroa@ctampa.com. Support TB Arts Passport by subscribing to its free newsletter or becoming a paying Arts Passport Member.

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The collaboration between The Studio@620 and Powerstories is just one of the initiatives that have come into being as part of Erica Sutherlin’s tenure as the Studio’s artistic director. Over the course of the next several months, Sutherlin will continue to put her own stamp on the St. Petersburg arts and community center co-founded by Bob Devin Jones, who retired in June of 2024.

The first stage in what she calls “a three-phase rollout” was an open house event on May 31 of this year. A new mural on the side of the building emphasizes the welcoming vibe.
A refreshed mission statement reinforces Devin Jones’s “The Answer Is Always Yes” philosophy while emphasizing “the creative workforce”—think of the new motto as “Yes, and…” The Studio, which famously incubated the creation of arts organizations like freeFall Theatre, is now presenting paths forward for individuals, too.

Case in point: The crew for “Cadillac Crew” includes an audio engineer who’s never done a theatrical sound design before, and the stage manager is taking on her first backstage leadership role.

The next stage in the rollout is what Sutherlin calls “the sustainability phase, building revenue streams that will sustain the Studio beyond Erica.” Plans include a small boutique, strategic partnerships with USF, and expanding on the Studio’s existing education components.
The rollout’s third phase will be perhaps the most visible, as the center modifies its branding so that “The Studio” takes pride of place over the “@620” part of the name. The look of the building will gradually change, too, and a new website will premiere in January.

Sutherlin told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay she is excited about the Studio’s theatrical season. Following “Cadillac Crew,” she’ll be staging an all-female “Julius Caesar” (March 12-22); “A Streetcar Named Desire” (April 16-26); and the musical “Passing Strange” (June 11-21).

“The shows represent four different aspects of my creative brain,” says Sutherlin, whose varied resume includes first-rate productions of the two-person “Pass Over” at the Studio and the massive musical “Ragtime” for American Stage in the Park. “‘Streetcar’ and ‘Julius’ are part of our Sankofa series—a look at classic works through a different lens.” [Sankofa is a Ghanaian concept meaning “look to the past to inform the future”.]

The bare minimum cost of producing a show, she says, is about $35,000.

“We have to pay people a decent wage—and I hope to be getting close to a livable wage. And we have to continue to find sponsors and programs that bring in money because tickets pay only a small percentage of the production cost. In a facility with 80 seats, and a top ticket price of $40, even if we sell out all eight performances, that still doesn’t pay for the production.”

Community support will continue to be crucial.

“The space is full and vibrating,” says Sutherlin, “but we are still trying to keep our doors open… If we talk about how much we love the Studio and how it’s been a beacon, we need to support it.”

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Gabriel Tao can make even a door to the IRS lead to a world of whimsy. 

On the Tampa artist’s website, visitors are given a choice of four doors: each promoting one of his businesses, and one last portal labeled “I Don’t Like Fun.” Clicking the later instantly redirects the user to the Internal Revenue Service. 

That playful, slightly subversive commitment to the bit is central to Tao’s Little Door Collection, a viral project that has evolved from a personal marketing tool into a high-concept branding service for Tampa Bay businesses.

Using his background in 3D printing, Tao now creates meticulously designed, 4.5-inch custom doors—each one a subtle, physical advertisement—as a direct response to a digital world he believes is exhausted by online ads.

“I think the most important currency is not money or even time, but attention,” Tao told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. “This is just my way of captivating people’s attention.”

Tao began making the doors after realizing he needed a creative way to promote his Cozy AF themed Airbnb properties, which include a woodland-themed tiny house built from a shipping container, complete with a koi pond, and a school bus converted into a Medusa-themed rental with snake art and ornate gold details. 

The project, which he now calls the Little Door Club, operates on a principle of subtlety. Unlike large-scale murals or billboards, the doors are often intentionally placed where people aren’t looking.

 “I think now everything is big and in your face. So I wanted it to be subtle and me. I think there’s a reward for those who, you know, notice the small things,” he added.

The creation process for each door begins with extensive design work. Tao studies a business’s personality—for a plant shop, a door handle might be a tiny leaf; for a bail bondsman, he envisions a miniature jail cell. He then brings the design to life in his warehouse full of printers.

Tao relies on two main materials: PLA, a biodegradable filament used for indoor displays or temporary outdoor pieces, and the more durable PETG, which can withstand Tampa Bay’s harsh humidity and sun for years.

The most unique aspect of the Little Door Club is its relationship with its audience: the doors often disappear.

“I’m never surprised when people actually take them, which is part of the plan,” Tao admitted. “I leave little messages on the backs so they become personal keepsakes.” 

Tao noted one incident where a person visited Tampa, found and kept a door, only to realize months later—when booking one of Tao’s fairy-themed Airbnbs—that they were the same artist

His new goal, he says, is for his doors to act as physical, collectible business cards. Tao is now focusing on creating a complete branding package for businesses. Tampa Bay businesses with their own little doors include Jolly Green Nursery, Reservoir Bar, Rubicon General Contractors, La Perrada Columbiana, the Aesthetic Portal, and the Green Room, among others.  

“My goal is to make every cool business in Tampa Bay part of the Little Door Club,” Tao said.

Ybor City’s Reservoir Bar was one of the first to join the club with the addition of its own Little Door outside the business on E 7th Avenue. 

“It’s something that people see and they’re like ‘Oh, I want one of those,’” Reservoir bartender Lisa Parisi told CL. “It’s a little bit different— everybody already has T-shirts and stuff.”

Tao gifted his friend, CEO of Rubicon Contracting Chris Morgan, a 3D printed door for his office. 

“His creativity, his expertise with 3D printing, it’s not just a little door,” Morgan told CL. “I think this is probably step one of something bigger and more elaborate to come.”

Full disclosure: Creative Loafing has also joined the club. When CL approached Tao for this story, he volunteered to make a few 3D-printed doors for the publication. Keep an eye out for them—and CL newspapers—around Tampa Bay.

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We haven’t even started shopping for this month’s roast feast, and the Grinch is already popping up around Tampa Bay.

Countryside Mall hosts the green man himself (not Shrek) for a festive literary marketplace that would make Cindy Lou Who proud. Local authors, book vendors and literary crafters come together for a family-friendly day that includes readings, signings, storytelling and photo ops with Whoville’s most wanted.

Make sure it doesn’t conflict in your schedule with solving world hunger or jazzercise.

There is no cover for “A very Grinchy bookfest,” happening Saturday, Nov. 1 in Clearwater.

A Very Grinchy Bookfest

Time Sat., Nov. 1, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. 2025

Location Countryside Mall, 27001 US Hwy. 19 N, Clearwater

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