Arts In

Eugenie Bondurant is film and TV actor, cabaret singer, teacher, director, international runway model – and part of the heart of St. Pete. At an age when many women actors are struggling to find good roles, she was cast in the pivotal role of Tigris in the last Hunger Games film. In 2019, she started work on a DC comics film called The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It and starred with Harry Connick Jr. in Fear of Rain, a national film that was shot in St. Pete, playing a very scary villain and talking Cole Porter to Connick during breaks. They'd already auditioned over 100 guys for that part and couldn't find anyone they liked. When they let Eugenie audition, they rewrote the villain to be a woman. Then she got a call from the director, who said they'd been doing test runs of the Conjuring film and feedback from audiences was that they wanted much more of her character. So amid the pandemic they actually rewrote and re-shot much of the film to expand Eugenie's character. She got a whole new look, new lair, new backstory, more stunt work – and a DC comic based on her character, with material from scenes she played in the film. Last year she joined the Marvel universe via Werewolf By Night – as an elegant and deadly monster hunter in a fun classic horror film world, in an ensemble with Gael García Bernal and Harriet Sansom Harris directed by multi-Oscar-winning film composer Michael Giacchino. And after 25 years of teaching acting, Eugenie opened up her own acting school – Station 12 Studio. Classes take place in front of the big screen at the intimate Greenlight Cinema. She still appears in and directs local indie films and shorts, and uses her storytelling skills to bring classic songs to life with her piano-playing husband, Paul Wilborn. Eugenie shares these amazing stories – and how as an actor, she works hard to humanize the villains that she plays onscreen. A vibrant 61 years old when this was recorded, as Barbara St. Clair notes, Eugenie Bondurant is "living her best life." Arts In is produced by Sheila Cowley Executive Producer Barbara St. Clair

Dancer, choreographer, professor – and inventor – Merry Lynn Morris talks with Barbara St. Clair about her work exploring dance and disability, and how dance companies and educators are embracing a diversity of dancing bodies in performance. Published in the Creative Pinellas Arts Coast magazine on May 16, 2023 – https://creativepinellas.org/arts-coast-magazine/ Photo by Jim Lennon – Mary Lynn Morris and Dwayne Scheuneman in ML Morris choreography

Members of ThinkTank TYA's Young Artists' Ensemble Edwin Noah Perez, Kaylee Tupper Miller and Jadon Milne share their thoughts on how it feels to sing. Published in the Arts Coast magazine feature "Both Sides of the Bay Cabaret" by Creative PInellas 5/12/23.

Cindy Stovall talks with Helen French, Lauren Slone and Alexander Jones about 2023's Beacon dance celebration at St. Pete's Palladium Theater. Featured in "Beacon 2023" published in the Creative PInellas Arts Coast magazine on April 25, 2023 – https://creativepinellas.org/magazine/beacon-2023/

In a potent conversation ranging through his fascinating career, dancer and educator John Parks talks with Barbara St. Clair about his experiences touring the South with the Jose Limón Company during segregation, his inventive teaching philosophy – and how he helped the undervalued dancers in the movie version of The Wiz go on strike for equal pay and credit. . . and win. Transcript available at https://creativepinellas.org/magazine/arts-in-john-parks/ Photo by Tom Kramer

Cindy Stovall of "Beauty & The 'Burg" talks with actor Jennifer Christa Palmer, who plays Susan B. Anthony in freeFall Theatre's 2023 production of "The Agitators" by Mat Smart, and Matthew McGee, freeFall's director of community outreach.

Visual artist and creative activist John Gascot talks with Barbara St. Clair about his exploratory series of self portraits, the powerful human rights installation he created during the pandemic and inventing a Diversity Game to help teach kids that diversity and inclusion matters. He shares the vibrant work of the Pinellas Park arts community and the start of Pinellas Park's PRIDE celebration. gascot.com diversityartsinc.com pinellasartsvillage.com – photo by Laurie Elmer

Christina Bertsos shares her passion for sculpting in stone and marble with host Barbara St. Clair – and how her work with fabric and hand-crafted couture influences her creations now. She guides us through the physical hands-on craft of sculpting, explains how you find marble in Florida, and how she got started in stone through a class at the Dunedin Fine Art Center. https://www.christinabertsos.com/

Bach's "Toccata Et Fugue En Ré Mineur" performed on the University of Tampa's Ars Sonora Bell Tower – the first in the U.S. and the largest in the world. Recorded by Kurt Loft, photo by Kurt Loft. Story published in Arts Coast Online on October 7, 2022 – https://creativepinellas.org/arts-coast-magazine/

Cindy Stovall talks with Eric Davis and Matthew McGee about freeFall Theatre's 2022-2023 season and their efforts to create a safe space to gather, to escape and build community.

USF Theatre professor Fanni Green talks with USF English professor Gary Lemons about his aim as the June 2022 guest editor of the Arts Coast magazine – Community Healing through Artistic Transformation. Published in https://creativepinellas.org/arts-coast-magazine/.

A profile of 13-year-old violinist Eunice Park and the all-volunteer Tampa Bay Symphony, which includes 70 musicians ages 18 to 80 and serves as a platform for people who want to play part-time, but still tackle challenging works. "The beauty of our group lies in the members," says double bass player Paul Kurtz. “It’s a beautiful blend of young, old, Black, white, brown, yellow, straight, gay – basically, come as you are. And to me that is a true reflection of community." Voiced by Susan Giles Wantuck. Written by Kurt Loft. Originally published in the Creative Pinellas Arts Coast Magazine on May 5, 2022. https://creativepinellas.org/arts-coast-magazine/

An audio version of Kurt Loft's story, "Master Chorale Offers Musical Balm in Times of Stress," voiced and produced by Susan Giles-Wantuck. Published in the Creative Pinellas Arts Coast Magazine on March 23, 2022, https://creativepinellas.org/arts-coast-magazine/. Music by the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay, https://www.masterchorale.com/.

An audio version of Kurt Loft's conversation with pianist Susan Cahill about her performance series "The Future is Female," focused on works for piano written by historic and contemporary women. Voiced and produced by Susan Giles-Wantuck, as published in the Creative Pinellas Arts Coast Magazine – https://creativepinellas.org/arts-coast-magazine/.

Susan Giles Wantuck voices the story she wrote for the Creative Pinellas Arts Coast Magazine, exploring the wonders of Replay Amusement Museum in Tarpon Springs FL – where the visitors and staff are equally passionate about pinball and retro video games. Published December 17, 2021 in https://creativepinellas.org/arts-coast-magazine/

Public artist Douglas Kornfeld tells the fascinating tale of how he created vibrant public artworks in New Orleans that became symbols of the city, part of parades – and will hopefully save lives if a major storm hits. Kornfeld talks with Barbara St. Clair about what it truly means to be an artist – and what it means to make work on a monumental scale, along with the logistics of massive installations. He shares how he found his way to large-scale public sculpture and explains how figuring out Photoshop at a time when people barely knew about it revved up his career. You can explore the work of Douglas Kornfeld at http://www.awaka-inc.com/. Published in the Creative Pinellas Arts Coast Magazine on November 23, 2021. . . https://creativepinellas.org/arts-coast-magazine/

Abstract artist Kirk Ke Wang teaches at Eckerd College and his work is known internationally. His boldly abstract creations are colorful and striking – moving through painting, sculpture, photography, video, conceptual, performance and installation art. “Although oscillating between them, I intend to weave a tapestry of my vision of the world, led by a consistent thread – the fear of inexorable cataclysm.” Still, Kirk Ke Wang’s work often appears joyous. He shares the details behind several large-scale installations, and talks with host Barbara St. Clair about how he grew up in China during the cultural revolution – and learned both visual art and music from professors locked up in a labor camp, using water instead of ink to paint, and playing a keyboard drawn on a table while the professors sang the notes. Published in the Creative Pinellas Arts Coast Magazine on November 19, 2021. . . https://creativepinellas.org/arts-coast-magazine/

Famed photographer Clyde Butcher tells how he didn't let a water moccasin bite stop him from taking a photo of a Ghost Orchid, for an audience of reporters at the Clearwater Public Library. The free exhibit, "America's Everglades Through the Lens of Clyde Butcher," runs through May 31, 2022. Featured in "Clyde Butcher’s Photography Inspires Visitors at Clearwater’s Main Library," published November 17, 2021 by the Creative Pinellas Arts Coast Magazine. https://creativepinellas.org/arts-coast-magazine/

Susan Giles Wantuck reads "Tarpon Springs Oboist Plays on the Need for Reed," a profile of oboe player Amy Collins, written by Kurt Loft and published in the Creative Pinellas Arts Coast Magazine.

Susan Wantuck reads "Keyboard Kinetics," a story by Kurt Loft that was published in the Creative Pinellas Arts Coast Magazine on October 29, 2021. Featuring music by John O'Leary III and Shaun Martin from O'Leary III's upcoming CD produced by Martin. https://creativepinellas.org/magazine/keyboard-kinetics/