Classic example of a vanity business.
Don't get me wrong, I applaud a place that allows dancers, theater and visual artists to mount their work for little or no cost. But is it without a cost? I am an arts patron, not an artist, but my partner and I have many friends who are artists and we keep hearing horror stories about this place. Painters and sculptors arriving at a previously agreed upon time to hang/place their work for an exhibit and they find the place completely locked and cannot get a hold of anyone = Imagine standing in a downtown area with an 80 pound sculpture that must be held up without it's pedestal installed and the truck that dropped you off has already driven away. That is a bad situation. In the meantime, homeless persons are asking for a hand-out. My friend ended up having to call a cab and return to his studio. He did, later, get the piece installed at 620 but had to rearrange for truck transport, pay for a cab home after his first attempt and was never apologized to.
My partner has an old friend (originally from Cali) who had worked as a dancer at The Studio@620 a few years back who, upon hearing that we had bought a home in St. Pete recently and knowing we enjoy the arts, said, literally, "Beware of Studio@620." He continued to say that the quality of work is lower than expected and that the place does not support its outside artists. I am not sure what he meant by "outside artists." What I do know is that we have seen him perform many times in the last decade and in more than one city and he is one of the most amazing dancers I have ever seen. Yet, he told us it was a struggle to produce his work at Studio@620.
I didn't connect the two things at first but recently realized that when we first visited St. Pete about five years back we saw a production at Studio@620 that was all-male and very homo-centric. I expected to enjoy it but it turned out to be one of the worse acted and worse directed plays I have ever seen. Then, I was introduced to Bob D. Jones about two years ago at a party and he was rude to both of us. I guess that is because we are not part of his industry and were not introduced to him as potential donors. I guess he did not think about the fact that while our modest success doesn't allow for high donorship, it certainly places us well to be both patrons and vocal word-of-mouth members of the community.
It seems to be a good mission but maybe poor execution...? read more