Advantage Center Task Force Wants To Hear From Arts Community

Involved in the arts? The Arts Task Force of the Brandon Community Advantage Center Board of Directors wants to hear from you.

The task force is reaching out to members of the arts community in the Greater Brandon area with a view to turning HCC at The Regent, as the Brandon Community Advantage Center is known, into a major arts venue.

“Our agenda is pretty loose right now but what we really want to is to hear from people who are in the arts, visual and performing, who will help us and give us input on ways the center can contribute and support the arts in the community,” said Antonio Amadeo, chair of the task force, in a letter announcing the task force initiative.

The meeting is open to anyone with an interest in the arts and is set for July 21, 4:30-6 p.m., at HCC at the Regent, 6437 Watson Road in Riverview.

Amadeo said the fledging task force wants to reach out to the arts community and is eager to hear from all types of artists.

“Specifically, we want to know what kind of programs or events or uses they want here at the Advantage Center within our constraints because we are not funded for operation by the state or county, it’s all done on a volunteer basis,” said Amadeo who is hoping, too, to get sponsors for the program.

“Whether we do exhibitions, classes or schedule some performances, not just visual arts but performing arts, we need people to come and speak to us, join the task force and tell us what we should do at the center. Then we can go to the Advantage Center’s board of directors and tell them, ‘Here’s what the community wants’ and then see how we can accommodate them here at the center.”

“I think it’s a fantastic idea,” said Pam Moody, owner of The Creative Native gallery on Falkenburg Road.

Moody, whose gallery is closed for renovations, recently held an art show fundraiser in . “It’s exactly what the eastern part of Hillsborough County needs. There’s a common misconception in the Tampa area that you must travel to South Tampa or go across the Bay to St. Pete to have any sort of culture so if this is what they want to do and make us more a destination for the arts I am all for it. Hopefully all the arts groups in the area can come together on this.”

An architect and former chairman of the Hillsborough County Public Art Committee, Amadeo said he would like to see a variety of arts at the center, from exhibitions of local artwork to rotating exhibitions.

“Perhaps we can give artists who don’t get a chance to exhibit in galleries a place to show their work on rotating basis,” he noted. "Or maybe local schools can then have their art students display their work so we can educate the public about what kids are doing in the arts. There might even be someone who wants to do a piano recital that needs a space. We should be able to accommodate that.”

Amadeo also mentioned outdoor art festivals, where artists could sell their work, as a possibility.

“But what I would really like is hear from the people in the arts and the artist themselves. We just want to spread the word,” Amadeo said.

For more information, call Amadeo at 813-294-7373.