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Playful design for musical instrument show at Florida Craftsmen

 
A violin embellished with carvings by Mark Noll
A violin embellished with carvings by Mark Noll
Published July 29, 2014

Musical instruments are utilitarian, built for performance. In the hands of master craftsmen, they can also be things of beauty, so much so that many non-musicians collect them for their looks, not their sound.

"Fine Tuned: A Fresh Take on Musical Instruments" at Florida Craftsmen, 501 Central Ave., St. Petersburg, presents a group of handmade ones along with whimsically repurposed and embellished examples. A group of 13 violins is used by artists as starting points for sculptural transformations that are in a silent auction to benefit the Suzuki Program at the Canterbury School in St. Petersburg. (They were ordered by the school but were too large for the students so …) View them online at floridacraftsmen.net and make a bid, which can also be made by phone. The auction continues through the show's duration, Aug. 23.

If you're an aspiring musician (or just want to have some fun), enter a songwriting contest. Go to the Craftsmen site to download a verse by Maureen McDole, co-founder of Keep St. Pete Lit, compose music for it, record it and send the MP3 file to info@floridacraftsmen.net. The winner, chosen by voice coach Del Couch, gets a recording session at Howling Dog Studios.

Hours are 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. For the Second Saturday Artwalk on Aug. 9, the gallery stays open to 8:30 p.m. Free. floridacraftsmen.net or (727) 821-7391.

Contact Lennie Bennett at lbennett@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8293.