SPL SPOTLIGHT
14 StPeteLifeMag.com March/April 2020
Barbara Banno, President of the
Gulfport Merchants Chamber,
who last year relocated her own
landmark Gulfport institution Stella’s
to the Courtyard, says that the venue
is a natural bridge from Gulfport’s
artistic past to its creative future.
“Before we had the Gulfport Tuesday
Fresh Market, before we had Get
Rescued, before we had the Fine
Arts Festival, we had The Village
other notable events organized by
the Chamber she leads.
Next door to the Courtyard is
Sumitra Espresso Lounge, a
gathering space for the town’s
art and business communities,
teas, chocolates and CBD-infused
products and which serves as a free
polite debate. Upstairs in the same
building is Mother Ocean Studio,
where tattoo artist Samantha
Roberts uses her skills as an artist
not only as a career but also as
medically restorative inkwork to
survivors of breast cancer. It’s a wellknown
and little stated fact among
the artists in Gulfport that above all
its other lofty functions, art, in its
purest form, is a healing practice.
A New Old Florida
Everywhere you look, it seems, the
arts in Gulfport are in as full a bloom
as the hibiscus and bougainvillea
that line the town’s public streets
and private yards.
As recently as a year ago, things
Gulfport. The building that now
houses Brenda McMahon Gallery,
as well as the stylish and eclectic
and the creatively themed and
delicious baked goods from A
Friend Who Bakes - all led by female
entrepreneurs incidentally - was not
yet occupied and some here were up
Top, Sumitra owner Maurice Loeb, Joanna Hansen, in arms about the newly constructed
left, and Cassidy Bergeron greet customers.
Bottom, Singer Zai performs monthly.
/StPeteLifeMag.com
/carrowayrose.com