ARTS ALIVE! St. Pete Catalyst's Bill DeYoung Imagine Museum Anime & Comic Book Exhibition

Today’s guests on the Arts Alive! podcast are Stephanie Agudelo, events coordinator for St. Petersburg’s Imagine Museum, and Ora Fraze, owner and operator of the art gallery Ultra Mundane.  Both are artists whose work is featured in the third annual Graphic Worlds exhibit, today through Sunday at the Imagine (Agudelo is also Ultra Mundane’s co-curator).

Graphic Worlds, subtitled Anime & Comic Book Exhibition, is a celebration of anime and comic book art, and its close relationship with the mind-bendingly creative glass art that is the museum’s everyday calling card (there’s a lot of new stuff, curated just for this weekend, on display).  Cosplay is encouraged; show up in costume and they’ll waive the regular museum admission fee. You’ll be able to visit all the glass galleries, too.

Tonight (5-8 p.m.) is a gallery-wide Anime Market (a.k.a. “Mythic Manga Market”), with 14 vendors set up in different galleries, selling collectibles, artisan goods and more. Be advised: There’s a scavenger hunt involved. Saturday delivers a cosplay contest, workshops, fun and games (including trivia, retro gaming and trinket trading), and a “Pokémon Terrarium Workshop.” 

 #imaginemuseum #animecomicbooks #billdeyoung #artsalive

The exhibit’s official opening reception (starting at 5 p.m. Saturday) includes performances by the Button Smashers, Pinellas Park’s self-described “anime/nerd ska band.” The costumed group performs original arrangements of music from video games, anime, cartoons and pop culture history (sets at 5:30 and 6:45 p.m.).
Graphic Worlds: Anime & Comic Book Exhibition continues 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. .