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Way of the Brush amps up Ybor art scene

By David Harris
Posted: Apr 16, 2008 12:42 PM

Blake Emory works on a stage for the "Way of the Brush" art event in Ybor.
	[John Pendygraft | Times]

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A woman moans a song, echoing through the corridors built with platforms made of scavenged 2-by-4s and plywood. Artists talk about "process" and "meaning" to friends and visitors, all energized by the prospect of reviving the art scene in Ybor City.

The "Way of the Brush" multimedia stage is on the other side of the maze of art that winds visitors around to the center of the warehouse.

Vintage furniture offers a conversation pit, a place to relax and enjoy the homemade sangria included with the $10 admission at an old production warehouse on 17th Street. The gallery houses 30 featured artists in all media including film and performance.

Suddenly the lights begin to go out in clusters, followed by the quick, determined stride of Blake Emory, one of the event's organizers. He is barely recognizable in full makeup and oversized black robe.

Emory and his brother James are known mural artists from Plant City. It's the brothers and their sister, Niki, who draw artists, musicians, dancers and audience to the new location of the Cigar Theater.

The giant screen hovers above the stage and loops video of a trip through the cosmos. Eerie strings and synthesized melody accompany the ominous monologue of God played by Blake Emory in his play "The God's Folly in Creation".

A fire-breather exhales a flash of light that reaches the tall warehouse ceiling and backlights the 8-foot cardboard dragon that symbolizes destruction. The audience, eyes wide, knows there's something new in Ybor City.

They feel it in the performance. They feel it in the under-funded community of volunteers who heard the Emorys were rebuilding an art scene in Ybor.

Friends and casual acquaintances showed up with tools, skills and ideas. In three weeks, they turned an empty, unused warehouse into a meeting hall for creatives.

"We pretty much pulled nails out of every board you see here," James Emory said. "If you get all the artists together, it's a pretty good formula. You get 60 to 70 artists, 10 to 15 bands and find some really cool people who will let you rent out their warehouse space."

Greg Latch is a painter who was at the cigar factory gallery for 13 years before it recently closed.

"We want to get art back in Ybor," Latch said. "We just want this to be the art hub. This is where it was in the '70s and the early '80s. This is a make or break for us. We need this thing to go."

Background music plays as Nathan Naylor and his models set up their presentation.

Naylor does unique body plastering live. A half-naked model covers her breasts as Naylor prepares her for the cast. Another model with long, blond dread-locked hair sits on the stage robed in a blanket waiting her turn.

Her name is XZanthia and her art photography is hanging on the east wall of the warehouse. She owned a large gallery in the heart of the downtown Denver Artwalk for six years.

"What scene there is not here, we want to make here," XZanthia said. "We need to pull Tampa out of its ass."

Nikki Emory, curator for the gallery, agrees the time is now for the local art scene. The gallery charges artists low fees to show their work, connecting less-known artists with the public.

"This isn't about paying a lot of money to be seen in a gallery," she said. "This is about allowing many artists to show their amazing work."