Tampa Warehouses - An Art Collective

[damabarr9]

Hello all. I'd love to be part of (and help start if necessary) some kind of art collective. All thats needed is a dirt cheap warehouse and some spreading of the word. I've been digging around the internet trying to get some information regarding potential locations or exactly what would be needed in terms of city support etc, but haven't had much luck. I think it would be great to find some city-owned warehouse thats just sitting there where a collective could agree to pay taxes on the property without having to outright buy or rent it. The idea would be to collect money from the people that would use it.

As far as I can think it, everyone would benefit. The art scene would have a big place to congregate and bounce ideas off each other, the city would not be losing tax revenue, and they would have something unique and eclectic to point to regarding the up and coming nature of Tampa.

Ideally the place would be near Channelside or Ybor.

Any thoughts/ideas/comments? Let's hear 'em!

zac

[bsutter2]

I bet you could get one of those scary looking abandoned ones off of nebraska, although I dont know anyone that would be too big on going to an art show over there , and also its pretty far away from the areas you mentioned.

[damabarr9]

Well, I was thinking less of holding an art show and more of making it someplace where art-minded people could congregate to bounce ideas off each other. So any old beat up warehouse would be fine. Something where we could setup tables, eisels, plug in musical instruments, drop some couches and see what gets made. Sort of like Andy Warhol's Factory in NYC was what I was thinking, though minus the drugs and violence.

Where on nebraska were you thinking? Even farther up north, USF area would be cool. Honestly, the rougher and more non descript the better...it adds to the mystique and adventure of it. If any place specific comes to mind let me know! I've got the next 2 days free so I'm gonna drive around and see what can be found.

z

[Rock2uf]

damabarr9,

Had any luck?

[damabarr9]

Haven't had much luck, but mostly thats because I didnt have as much time to get around and check things out as I had hoped. Anyone no anything about The Stage Door? It's an old looking building on Nebraska Avenue, just north of Bearss. That could be something really cool. I dug around online and I know it used to be a performance theatre, even found a phone number that was listed as active around August of 1999.

But I wonder who owns it now?

I've got to work most of the weekend, but I intend to find out what I can tommorow morning and then I'll have to wait till Tuesday to check things out more heavily.

zac

[Rock2uf]

damabarr9,

If you know the address (should be easy to find out), you can find out who owns the building on the property appraiser's website. It's public info. I'm not familiar with Tampa's site, but I've used other city's appraiser's sites. The sites are usually pretty user friendly.