Jennifer Ring

When former Creative Loafing Editor-in-Chief David Warner decided to feature up-and-coming Tampa bay actors and dancers in this year’s Spring Arts Issue, the idea soon expanded to include visual artists as well. We reached out to some of the best curators in the Tampa Bay area—people whose job is to discover new artists and showcase their artwork in local art centers and museums.

Fary Charles emerged from financial hardship with his first big solo show, “It’s Yours” at The Tampa Edition last November, for which he created some of his largest pieces. His motivation: a mixture of rage, disappointment, and a desire to prove himself. Charles had just lost his job at a local art supply store and had gone four months without making more than $200 from his tattoo job when he met with the show’s curator, Tobin Green, in his beautiful home to brainstorm a title for the show.

Tatiana Mesa Paján was an established artist in Cuba before immigrating to the United States in 2013 to join her sister. “When I was in Cuba, I was doing well as an artist,” Mesa Paján told CL. “I wasn’t really so aware of politics. I was in my artistic bubble.” Mesa Paján came to the U.S. with a support system of galleries and collectors in Europe. But once in Tampa, that system collapsed. Suddenly, galleries that had shown her work in Europe were no longer interested.