The St. Petersburg Arts Alliance (SPAA) invites you to our inaugural Garden Party Brunch to celebrate the impact of the arts on the growth of our city. Join us in honoring Melissa Seixas, Duke Energy Florida State president, as SPAA’s FIRST “Arts Advocate of the Year”. Ms. Seixas was the originator of the idea of creating a Comprehensive Arts Strategy for the City of St. Petersburg and took that idea to Jason Mathis, CEO of the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership, who involved SPAA and the rest is history. Read the press release about Ms. Seixas here!
Meet and mingle outside on the grounds of this luscious estate while enjoying special live performances, and brunch-inspired hors d'oeuvres and beverages. Your experience begins with live theatrical, movement, and musical performances throughout the beautiful gardens overlooking the bay. Enjoy gourmet bites and beverages and opportunities to support SPAA’s work for the arts in our community, and most importantly, the honoring of Melissa Seixas, Arts Advocate of the Year.
And let’s make it even more fun by donning a fantastic hat that speaks to your own creative genius. Special prizes will be awarded to the “Most Beautiful,” “Most Creative,” and “Most Humorous” hat.
Get ready for some unique auction offerings too!
The celebration will promote continued support of programs and resources for local artists and arts institutions that ignite creativity, community, and prosperity. Proceeds from this inaugural event will provide support for:
- Arts Education - in school and after school.
- Conducting workshops and education sessions for artists, non-profits and creative businesses
- Increasing impact with our job opportunity board.
- The St. Petersburg Second Saturday ArtWalk.
- Producing ArtBeat - a unique e-newsletter with Opportunities for artists, non-profits and creative businesses.
- SHINE, St. Petersburg's Annual International Mural Festival.
- Building capacity for SPAA to carry out its mission.
INDIVIDUAL TICKET PRICES are just $175 all inclusive! Registrations close at 11am on April 23, 2022.
Thank you event sponsors!!
- St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce
- St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership
- Corcoran Partners
- WUSF Public Media
- Duke Energy
- St. Petersburg College
- The USF Foundation
- First Home Bank
- Premier Sotheby's International Realty
- Turtle Moon Graphics
- St. Petersburg College Foundation
- Green & Henwood Wealth Management Group @ RBC Wealth Management
- Zen Glass Gallery & Studio
- Paul Nesbitt
- Steve and Marie Beaty/Highlander Sales Group
SPONSORSHIPS
An investment in SPAA’s Garden Party is ideal for individuals, businesses, or organizations that are established or emerging supporters of the arts and our community. Brand exposure will be amplified through social media outreach and collaborative marketing, among the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance, St. Petersburg’s five arts districts, the City of St. Petersburg, and the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce. Sponsors will receive advance marketing and publicity.
Click here for full sponsorship levels & benefits or contact Terry Marks for more information at terry@stpeteartsalliance.org
We are committed to keeping our community safe!
Hats Off to Performing Arts will be held outside. We will exercise all appropriate precautions in regards to the Coronavirus
***Mac users - If you have any difficulty in purchasing tickets, try using Google Chrome as your browser or you can email tracy@stpeteartsalliance.org to register you and send you an invoice via email. Please be sure to notate the number of tickets you want. Thank you.
The Comprehensive Arts Strategy led to the formation of meetings, surveys and one on one discussions with thousands of art leaders, artists and lovers of art within the City of St. Petersburg. The four tenets of the plan are collaboration, purposeful communication, leadership and funding and bench making. With the genesis of this plan, SPAA is lifting up the arts by supporting individual artists and galleries, creating a city that reflects a Mecca of Museums, promoting performing art venues and performing artists, recognizing the uniqueness of the art districts that comprise the City of St. Petersburg and continuing to educate and advocate for adequate and sustainable funding for the arts as an economic driver. “Melissa Seixas is at the core of what we hope to achieve through her vision that led to the Comprehensive Arts Strategy. With her insight and our community partners, we will aspire to strengthen and grow the arts as an economic innovator for our city, our artists and our community,” stated Terry Marks, SPAA’s CEO.
Meet the Arts Advocate of the Year
Melissa Seixas is Duke Energy’s state president in Florida, serving approximately 1.8 million electric retail customers in central Florida, including metropolitan St. Petersburg, Clearwater and the Greater Orlando area. Seixas holds a bachelor’s degree in American history from Eckerd College and a master’s degree in American history from the University of South Florida. Melissa has a strong tradition of supporting her community. She has served on numerous boards for nonprofit and business organizations including the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, the Pinellas County Urban League, the St. Petersburg and Clearwater Chambers of Commerce, Pasco Economic Development Council and as immediate past chair of the board of directors for the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership. She also has a long history of service to the University of South Florida and was honored as the 2019 recipient of the USFSP Regional Chancellor Award for Civic Leadership. She currently serves as a chairperson of the USF St. Petersburg Campus Advisory Board and the board of trustees for the University of South Florida.
“As a community it’s important for us to embrace the arts because it allows us to express ourselves, illustrate the world around us, gain understanding and build connections,” said Melissa Seixas, Duke Energy Florida state president. “Supporting the arts in the communities where we live and work is fundamental to who we are at Duke Energy, and I am honored to receive this award from SPAA.”