Morean Arts Center

Morean Art Center is a beacon of artistic influence and professionalism for the Tampa Bay art community. Situated in downtown St Petersburg, on Central Avenue, Morean is an anchor for all of the other galleries in the area. The beautiful multiplex red building with two perfectly placed palm trees in front. To be honest, I my mind was blown when I entered the downstairs fine art gallery— that is not only free, but perfectly curated with some of the best fine art I have seen in the last ten years. The art is current, energetic, and contagious. Also, works are pleasantly affordable.
I don’t ask for much from a gallery; regular hours, air conditioning, enough space to walk around, donation only, and clean. Morean has all of that and more, I am hooked for life. Is it a gallery, an art museum, an «art center?» Does it matter? It just makes me happy and inspired.
«Leave a Message» was the themed collection that I was able to visit on the Second Saturday Art Walk in DTSP, and I am still obsessed and thinking on the daily about the piece I saw from Tes One, freakin’ genius. Tampa Bay artists have blown me away. Talent people, talent.
So many different art classes to choose from as well, just wish I had more time to take them all.

The feeling you get when you walk into an unpretentious gallery. The ability to admire art without feeling clueless. I got to actually speak to some of the artists during the Shine festival. Keep keeping it real Morean.

— Short Synopsis —
A large variety of art in a building with a nice, red exterior look. I spent around ~30 minutes here browsing the artwork and the attached retail store.
In retrospect, I would only come here in conjunction with taking a class here or being next door visiting the Morean Glass Studio and Hotshop.
— Summary —
Being situated right next to the Morean Glass Studio and Hotshop, my girlfriend and I decided to come by after the hotshop demonstration. This place does not require admission like the hot shop and Chihuly collection, which was $ 5 for both on their 5^th anniversary sale this past weekend (July 11^th — 12^th).
This free art center has a nice, red, modern looking exterior. The artwork inside has a large variety and some of it is interesting. I prefer the glass studio next door and the Chihuly collection. I just wish there was more, but I can’t really ask for much with the free admission.
I was also able to see some of the classes they do. The listing is located by the main entrance of the building. They have painting, glass, clay, youth, etc. It was cool to see what they offered, but most of the classes are more than $ 100.
As stated in the short synopsis, I would only come here if I was taking a class here or was already here because of Morean Glass Studio and Hotshop, which is next door. Nothing too special to bring me just to look at the displayed artwork.

We did the hot date in the hot shop. We really had fun with it, as did the other couples there. David does a nice job explaining and moving you safely around the hot glass. $ 125 is pricey, but, well… we made it into a great date DAY and NIGHT! Walked around St Pete, early meal and wine at the 400… toured the Chihuly exhibit. (oh I was so inspired to go make something incredible!) And now we have our cool little glass thing with this great memory.

The building looks state from the outside but we got some mixed signals inside. The gift shop sells local artists’ wares of varying quality but mostly high prices. One person said this gallery is free while another said your multi-​gallery pass covers the admission. (We were told only the Hot Studio and Chihully actually charged a fee. We had the combo ticket for $ 20 for both within 30 days. We understood this gallery and the clay gallery could be seen ‘free”.) We were not impressed with the quality of art work in any of the galleries. There was a photograph show and a juried painting show. Several of the walls and benches had scuff marks lending an appearance of less than being kept up with. There was an attached unused restaurant in disarray that looked like storage. We did not feel we were in a place that was a «class act». We did not take or tour classrooms. We are being generous with a third star when we did not really get that vibe.

Really enjoyed checking out the galleries here. The space was much larger than I expected from the outside. Mixed quality, but we liked the variety of art that was on display.

The Morean Arts Center houses a gallery, a gift shop and classrooms. It is adjacent to the the «Morean Glass Studio & Hotshop» (
).
If you are doing the Morean tour (St. Petersburg Arts Experience*), your ticket will include entry to the Morean Arts Center and the Hotshop. The cool thing about the tour ticket, is that you have 30 days to visit the four locations (however you can only visit each location once).
There is the Chihuly Collection (
), there is the «Morean Arts Center» (
), there is the «Morean Glass Studio & Hotshop» (
), and there is the «Morean Center for Clay» (
).
On the day of our visit (Thursday 1÷10÷2013) the gallery was being set up for a new exhibit, so the only thing we could do was browse the gift shop and look at the children’s art that hung in the hallway to the door that leads to the hotshop.
* We found a $ 2 off coupon for the St. Petersburg Arts Experience in one of the local Welcome Guide-​Map brochures.