Paint 22, Tropical Home Gallery Partner To Create Ybor City Creative Hub

TAMPA, FL — After years of bringing art classes and creative programs to veterans wherever the organization could find space, Paint 22 finally has a place to call home.

The Tampa Bay nonprofit, founded by Belicia Adams in 2018, is partnering with Tropical Home Gallery, a new 5,000-square-foot gallery in Ybor City.

The partnership will give Paint 22 a dedicated place for workshops, artist development and art therapy programs, with a particular focus on veterans and their families.

“Now we have a house. We have a home,” Adams told Patch.

Paint 22 began in 2018 through the University of Tampa's entrepreneurship program.

Adams, an artist and military veteran, initially took the organization's art workshops to different locations around the Tampa Bay area.

The mobile approach worked, but it also came with limitations. As Paint 22's programs grew, finding appropriate space for classes and other programming became increasingly difficult.

The new Ybor City space allows Adams to build out programs she has wanted to offer for years.

She'll primarily focus in three areas: art therapy, creative arts programming and artist development.

Paint 22 will continue to offer hands-on classes, including projects such as painting, seashell jewelry and wood staining. Over the years, the organization has intentionally offered activities that allow participants to make something they can take home, she said.

She also wants to help artists, particularly veterans, figure out how to turn their creative work into careers. That could include helping artists establish businesses, obtain an EIN, build a website and learn how to generate income from their work.

Adams knows first-hand how creativity can be an important part of the transition out of military service.

Though she was an artist for most of her life, while serving in the military, she found it more difficult to make time and find the materials she needed for visual art.

She turned to poetry instead, often writing with fellow service members.

“My battle buddies,” Adams said, adding, “Everybody has something creative in them.”

So, when she left the military, she had to start over again in the arts.

"I know how hard it can be," she said.

The new gallery partnership came together somewhat unexpectedly.

Adams had been looking for a permanent space for Paint 22 and stopped by Tropical Home Gallery after seeing it promoted on social media. She met the gallery's owner, Francesca Escoto, and learned about her ex-husband’s connection to the military.

Escoto had been looking for a gallery where she could showcase her own work. When existing galleries weren't the right fit, she decided to open one herself, Adams said.

The result is Tropical Home Gallery, which combines artwork with furniture and other home furnishings.

Adams said she was immediately interested in the space and impressed by Escoto's willingness to make room for other artists and community programming.

Under the partnership, Paint 22 will have office space at the gallery and room for its programs.

The gallery also plans to offer a 24/7 collaborative studio space for artists for $150 a month. Paint 22 will offer grants to veterans to pay for this membership.

Artists who participate will have opportunities to exhibit their work, with plans for four shows a year.

“I couldn't believe it when she told me it was only $150,” Adams said. “You see these studios going for hundreds of dollars. I was like, ‘Are you sure?’”

Keeping studio and exhibition space affordable is important to Adams, who said artists are often asked to shoulder the costs of participating in events.

“Everybody usually abuses the artists and uses us to make it,” she said.

Paint 22's regular programming at the gallery is expected to begin around mid-September, as the organization is currently establishing its programming for the space, which will include seashell jewelry making, clay art, family photo shoots, art and yoga, and open mics.

The Ybor City space will also make it easier for Paint 22 to pursue grants and other funding, which Adams hopes eventually will allow the organization to bring on additional staff.

Beyond this new gallery partnership, she dreams of Paint 22’s further expansion.

Adams owns property in Bradenton that she hopes will eventually become a larger home for the organization. Her vision for the land includes gallery and classroom space, and areas for events and art therapy.

The project has already made it through the architectural-design stage but is currently on hold after she had difficulties with contractors.

She purchased the property with proceeds from selling her own home, viewing it as a long-term investment in Paint 22's future.

For now, though, Adams will focus on the Ybor City space.

The partnership's first public events will take place this weekend as Tropical Home Gallery opens its doors to the community.

A ticketed Plant Bingo Brunch, hosted by Low Key Lush, is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday. Sunday will feature an open house from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Paint 22 will be part of the weekend's activities as it begins settling into its new home.

After eight years of adapting the organization to whatever space was available, having a permanent location will elevate what Paint 22 can accomplish, Adams said.

It’s about more than simply giving people a place to make art; she envisions a space where veterans, their families and artists can come together “to create freely, develop their artistic practices and connect with other creatives,” she said.