Ybor Art Colony: Haunted by Inspiration
Words: Becca Nelson
Artwork: Nolan Wiley
There’s a secret society above King Corona, Seventh Avenue’s popular cigar café - a group of local artists sharing a labyrinthine and sprawling collection of studios, collectively known as the Ybor Art Colony.
The Colony is tucked inconspicuously between King Corona and the former NeoTrash storefront, indentifiable only by the namesake logo taped on the window. Inside, a steep double-flight of stairs leads you up to a winding hallway of studios, cluttered with unframed art and half-finished canvases stacked nearly to the high ceiling above. The floor below is littered with the detritus of late-night creation: empty cigarette packs and water bottles, the occasional beer can or discarded take-out box.
Despite the chaotic appearance, the Colony is a well-organized operation, and it is immediately obvious that its inhabitants care deeply about maintaining it. On a weekday afternoon, I’m lucky enough to find five of the artists at work. We gather in Hance Clay’s studio, the biggest of the seven or eight in the building, and I speak briefly to each of them about their experience.
Clay, who is probably more familiar to Ybor regulars as the manager of Blue Devil Tattoo, sits down with me first, and explains the history of the Art Colony.
“During the ‘80s, many artists occupied studios at 1521 1/2 Seventh Avenue (the current address of the Colony), but then it was referred to as Seventh Ave South,” Clay says. “David Audet current head of the Art Department at Hillsborough Community College began his art career here.”
The Colony’s prominence continued through the ‘90s, aided by a thriving artistic community in Ybor. It was then that Dennis Johnson, a.k.a. “Manu,” opened the 1813 Gallery, and art-friendly retail shops like Baby Doll Art, Decades Ago-Go and Romeo Art for Living propelled a symbiotic culture of artists and art-lovers alike. Later in the decade, however, the irony of development reared its head, and as promoters and club owners looking to capitalize on the captive audience of a creative demographic moved in, Seventh Avenue became dominated by clubs and bars, ultimately pushing the artists out.
After roughly a decade of disrepair, Manu returned to Ybor and, along with artist friends like Ramon Falber, took charge of the former Seventh Ave South, revitalizing the space and attracting new artists to the newly coined “Ybor Art Colony.”
As Manu’s successor, Clay manages the studio and also runs, along with fellow Colony artist Greg Latch, the Ybor Art Association. A sister organization to the Colony, YAA has recently made a huge push to revive Ybor’s dying art culture, starting monthly Art Walks for which they open the doors to the Colony. While progress is slow, Clay, along with Latch and all the other artists working there, really believe the space is making a difference.
Latch describes his artwork as “surrealistic cubism,” but also professes an interest in “found art, folk art and a combination of everything.” He first came to the Art Colony after 13 years renting a studio in Channelside’s Artists Unlimited. Currently the president of YAA, Latch originally hails from Tupelo, Mississippi and, speaking in an easy, slow drawl, he exhibits a childlike enthusiasm about spreading the gospel of art in Ybor.
“I’d been here a couple months when Hance moved in, and we just decided to get everything going,” he says. “I just had a show in Los Angeles, and so did James Dormer Schneider, a fellow Colony artist, and we’re just trying to spread the word of Ybor and making it known as an art place. This is our home base, but we go out to all over the country and talk about what we’re doing here.”
Clay and Latch make up the older contingent of Colony artists; also at the space when I visit are the aforementioned Schneider, who graduated from UT a couple years back, and is now about to start on a second degree at Ringling School in Sarasota; recent Ringling graduate Alexandra Evans; and Noah Deledda, a well-known Ybor artist whose graphic design work is ubiquitous in the area.
Of the three, Evans is the newest transplant; she’s been at the Colony since last summer. Evans knew Latch from Artists Unlimited; during the summers when Ringling wasn’t in session, Evans rented a studio in the Channelside warehouse. Returning to Tampa after graduation, however, she discovered AU wasn’t renting out studios any longer. Latch told her about the Art Colony, and she “lucked out,” scoring what the other artists (and Evans) agree is the prime spot: a roughly 400 sq. ft. room at the back of the building, away from the noise of Seventh, with ample light provided by lots of double-hung windows sporadically framed by huge expanses of exposed brick.
Of her experience so far at the Colony, Evans speaks positively.
“As a young person working their way into an art career, it’s really good to have other artists around to get feedback from,” she says. “It also helps you know about what’s going on in Tampa. When I moved back here, I kind of thought the art scene was dead; it really didn’t seem like there was a lot going on. And being in Ybor is inspiring; you really feel the personality of the neighborhood, the history, and the chickens and all.”
Schneider, whose primary medium is ink on skateboard and who has proven a quickly rising star in the Bay Area art scene, is equally appreciative of the communal environment the Colony provides for up-and-comers.
“I think I’ve learned more in one year here than my previous four years in college,” he says. “Each artist brings a different aspect to the group, and each person’s different experiences help the others to find direction. This can help you break out of what you normally do, to push your boundaries as an artist. That’s not something I ever learned in school.”
Noah Deledda disappears back into his own studio while I speak with the others. Deledda’s in a different creative space right now; as he explains, he’s “between artistic theories at the moment,” and uses his studio as an office for his graphic design work as well as a workshop for “ruminating” on the next step in his artistic career.
As an artist, however, Deledda has already made a profound impact on the local scene, having been involved in projects at well-known collectives like Covivant with fellow graffiti-inspired artists such as Tes One and Bask. That high-profile impact, however, doesn’t seem to have spread to the Art Colony, at least not yet.
“I think there are a good amount of people that know about us, but I think the space itself has a secretive feel about it,” says Deledda. “The building itself has a mood, and that’s something you can’t deny.”
Any Ybor history buff would agree that the Colony has a colorful past. Originally built as the Arturo Fuente Cigar Factory, the facility served as a medical clinic in the 1950s, and ancient, faintly ominous-looking medical fixtures still adorn the walls. This admittedly morbid history, along with stories of half a dozen artist suicides that have occurred in the building in the past century, have led to rumors that the Art Colony is haunted.
Deledda agrees, but doesn’t think it’s a bad thing at all.
“I do think it’s haunted, in a way,” he says. “It has a spirit. But I think this building likes artists. It’s a cool, enchanted space that’s not like anywhere else.”
Ybor-goers can see for themselves on the first Saturday of every month when the Colony, and the creative types within, open their doors for the Ybor Art Association’s Ybor Art Walk.
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