The educational meets the social at The Contemporaries’ events. This lively group of contemporary art enthusiasts enjoys studio visits, curator-led museum tours, lectures, and other activities designed to highlight contemporary art and artists.

The Contemporaries are excited to kick off a new season of programming with a very special private panel discussion focusing on the history and intrigue of vintage motels! Join photographers Todd Bates and Selina Roman, whose works will be on view at multimedia artist Chad Mize’s newest exhibition space MIZE Gallery as part of the two-person exhibition Pretty Vacant, and historic preservationist Emily Elwyn for a discussion of this quintessential Florida architecture and the artistic practice it inspires.

Moderated by MFA Curator of Contemporary Art Katherine Pill, this is a ticketed event with proceeds benefiting the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg. Bites and beverages will be served.

$15 Contemporaries Members / $20 non-members

Tampa-based artist Selina Roman earned her MFA from the University of South Florida in 2013. She has participated in residencies with the Visual Artists Network and Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator. Her work is in the collection of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota; Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art, Tarpon Springs; Hillsborough Community College, as well as numerous private collections.

Todd Bates is a St. Petersburg-based photographer who specialized in corporate portraiture, and served as the Creative Director of Creative Loafing for ten years. His Vintage Neon project takes him across the country documenting historical signage, with the goal of approaching “neon signage from a designers perspective.”

Architectural historian and preservationist Emily Elwyn serves as the President of the Board of Directors of Preserve the ‘Burg, and has a passion for the historic motels of Florida. She earned her master’s in Heritage Preservation from Georgia State University, and has studied Florida at the University of South Florida.

Image Credit: Todd Bates, Delirium, 2019 and Selina Roman, You Seemed Interested, 2016