In 1995, when Florida Craftsmen moved into the Historic Rutland Department Store in Downtown St. Petersburg:
- Forest Gump won the Academy Award for Best Picture
- The average price for a gallon of gas was $1.09
- The Pretenders topped the music charts with "I'll Stand By You"
In the 18 years since, we've helped Florida artists sell nearly $5,000,000 of their art in the gallery and at the CraftArt Festival and curated over 100 exhibitions including the current exhibit at Tampa International Airport. This year, we won Creative Loafing's Readers' and Critic's Choice Awards for Best Fine Crafts and the Tampa Bay Business Best in the Biz Award for Favorite Gallery.
Our blueprint for the coming years will expand and enhance our ability to serve Florida artists through:
- Partnerships with art organizations around the state
- State designation as Florida's Official Craft organization
- Exciting new opportunities for Florida's finest craft artists to market their work
- Business of Art workshops
But 1995 was a long time ago and our building is showing its age. We need new windows and doors, a new roof and our elevator is breathing its last breaths. Our display cases and floor coverings are vintage (not in a good way!)
So, we are asking you to help us start our next 20 years with a building that's as brilliant as our artists and as good looking as our donors. We need you!
Fund a new display case - we'll be ever so grateful. We'll email our thanks and tell all of our friends on Facebook how fabulous you are. ($20-$200)
Donate a French door, fix a windowsill, re-tile our hallway - we'll invite you to all of our parties and introduce you to some really cool artists. ($100-$1000)
Replace the roof - We'll hang your picture in the offices and high five it every morning as we start our day. We'll even take you to lunch! ($40,000)
Purchase a new elevator - We'll call you "Our Hero" every day. You can ride the elevator whenever you want and you can push all the buttons. We'll even arrange a day in an artist's studio. ($130,000)
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