Wear your art on your sleeve

For something that offers a slightly different slant in imaginative designs, head across Tampa Bay to see the new exhibit at the Florida Craftsmen Gallery in St. Petersburg. Called "Closet Artists: Art to Wear," the exhibit features unusual creations by three artists from International Academy of Design and Technology in Tampa, along with others responding to a national call for art.

"It's a great way to nurture students and give them a taste of the real-life processes while they're in school," said the show's curator, Elizabeth Kozlowski. "You step out being a lot more knowledgeable. It's invaluable."

The students have gone all out to conform to the theme to use unexpected or repurposed materials. Imagine a necklace made from Legos; a gown made of spikes, studs and zippers; or a purse put together with palm seed pods.

As an entrance requirement, the students were asked to submit sketches of a dress they would create using Ikea bags. (Ikea is one of the sponsors.) Student Jose Hernandez had the winning entry.

"I also used some hardware like nuts, bolts and screws and other trinkets to hold the pieces together," said the Texas-born Tampa artist.

Other students were chosen based on their creations from previous fashion shows.

Florida native and now South Tampa resident Kacey Lynn, 31, a senior at the academy, created thee wearable cocktail dresses using a 1960 vintage metallic brocade fabric, accented with a shimmering dupioni silk fabric.

"Basically I take classic designs and incorporate fun with different types of fabric," she said. "So you can have a very basic dress and completely transform it with the fabric you use. My dresses have three color combinations to them." The design term for that is "color blocking," she added. The dresses sell for about $300 each.

Alla Kupaeva, a second-year student, has four long gowns in the show.

Meet many of the artists and see their unusual clothing designs at an opening reception from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Florida Craftsmen Gallery, 501 Central Ave. in St. Petersburg. For details, call (727-821-7391, or visit www.floridacraftsmen.net

Ghost-based exhibit opens

Don't miss the opening lecture and reception for Kurt Piazza's solo exhibit, "The Future Belongs to Ghosts," in which he explores ethereal images and concepts through black-and-white videos and large-scale prints.

Piazza will present a gallery talk at 11:30 a.m. Thursday followed by a meet-and-greet reception from 5:30 to 8:30 that same day at the Ybor Campus Art Gallery of Hillsborough Community College, in the Performing Arts Building at 2204 N. 15{+t}{+h} Street at the corner of Palm Avenue.

The exhibit continues through Jan. 28.

For information, call director Carolyn Kossar at (813) 253-7674.

ehammer@tampatrib.com