ST. PETERSBURG — Two new exhibitions — including one that will serve as a fundraiser for St. Pete Ceramics — are set to open in August at The Werk Gallery, 2210 First Ave. S., St. Petersburg.
“When our friends need us, we want to show up with bells and whistles.” That’s the message The Werk Gallery conveys in announcing the upcoming “Out of the Ashes” exhibition, running Aug. 7-30. This show is all about supporting the gallery’s friends at St. Pete Ceramics, whose studio was tragically lost to a fire earlier this year. The exhibition celebrates their work and is designed to act as a fundraiser to help them settle and grow into their new space. Along with works by co-founders Beth Miranda and Ethan Fielder, several of the studio’s member artists will be featured. According to a press release, 90% of proceeds from sales will benefit the rebuilding of St Pete Ceramics’ space and programs.
Miranda earned a BFA in Ceramics from Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina. After a long hiatus from clay to raise her daughters, she started playing with clay again in 2016, and in 2022, devoted herself full time to ceramics with the formation of The Muddy Walrus Pottery studio. Clay is her happy place and she loves creating functional pieces with a dose of whimsy that make people smile. The thing that sparks the most joy for her is working to help mentor people in clay.
Fielder earned his BFA in Ceramics from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2019. Since then, he has worked in New England as a teacher, production potter, and muralist. From 2022 to 2024 he was a resident artist at the Morean Center for Clay where he exhibited and honed his skills as a teacher and fine artist. In 2024 he founded St. Pete Ceramics with his friend, fellow clay artist, and business partner Beth Miranda. His “Icon” series mashes famous birds of pop culture with iconic pieces of fashion in a humorous and peculiar nod to absurdity in a world which seems more unbelievable and ridiculous by the day.
As part of the fundraising effort, The Werk Gallery will host a special event, Coffee + Dessert with the Artists, set for Saturday, Aug. 15, at 4 p.m. Cost is $50 a person. Paying attendees will receive a limited-edition collaborative mug created by Miranda and Fielder.
Also on display in August will be “Audri Tirabassi: Leave of Absence” in the Gabinetto Gallery.
“Leave of Absence” is a series of intimate landscape paintings by St. Petersburg artist Audri Tirabassi. This will be the first solo exhibit of her career and marks Tirabassi’s return to the arts after a 12-year hiatus managing her family’s restaurant. Her passion for the Florida landscape was fostered in childhood by family trips to the state’s renowned waterways and springs. She is also inspired by Florida’s historical periods, from ancient to first peoples to pioneer. Her paintings provide pause to reflect on environmental changes due to overdevelopment, and she hopes that her work will inspire others towards the preservation of what remains of Old Florida.
Tirabassi is a native Floridian, born and raised in St. Petersburg. After attending the Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School for visual arts, she pursued a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a minor in photography from the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota. Over the years she has worked with Daktronics creating motion graphic animations for several sporting arenas around the country and Canada. In addition, she was a gallery manager and curator with Interior Motives. Her love for the arts continues today through landscape paintings inspired by her original photography that highlights her Florida adventures.
Both “Out of the Ashes” and “Leave of Absence” will get underway with an opening reception on Friday, Aug. 7, from 5 to 9 p.m.
The Werk Gallery is open Wednesday, noon to 5 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday, noon to 7 p.m.; and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. Visit https://thewerk.gallery/.