UPDATE:  Earlier in the year, we produced 2 articles highlighting preliminary ideas posed by Rudy Ciccarello and Alfonso Architects for the planned Museum of American Arts & Crafts Movement (MAACM). This week, more concrete details were outlined to the city of St. Pete

The Tampa Bay Times reports that Ciccarello plans to make the museum 5 stories with 110,000 square feet of space plus a 4-story, 300-car garage. To put the mammoth endeavor in perspective, The Dali Museum is only about 70,000 square feet or 60% smaller than the buzzed about Arts & Crafts Museum. Their gallery space will take up about 60,000 square feet which is 3 times the size of any of the Bay areas 3 biggest museums. 

While the structure itself may appear to trump the collection it holds, Alberto Alfonso of Alfonso Architects does not see it that way. "Our goal is not to show off or compete with the [American Arts and Crafts] collection. When you give the piece that dignity, it enhances the value of it," said Aflonso. At its anticipated size, the MAACM will cover three quarters of an entire city block. In spite of its size, Alfonso promises that the “pedestrian scale is quite humane,” and that they’ve “only scratched the dirt” of how this new structure will comply and flow with the city.

The designers hope to break ground on the parking structure once owned by Synovus Bank within the year with an approximate completion date of the entire museum some time within the first quarter of 2017. The Museum will be located at between 3rd and 4th Streets N and 3rd and 4th Avenues North, 3.5 acres of land presently used as a parking lot. 

*Renderings via Alfonso Architects

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When news broke of a planned 90,000 square-foot Museum of the American Arts and Crafts Movement (MAACM), the city became abuzz about the major downtown addition to St. Pete's booming arts and culture scene. On the heels of the news, The Downtown Neighborhood Association (DNA) and iLovetheBurg immediatly snagged the first detailed presentation of the structure that will eventually host a $60 Million private collection from the Arts & Crafts movement. 

Alberto Alfonso, the award-winning architect behind Beach Drive's Chihuly Collection, will unveil his vision for the Musuem in greater detail for the very first time at 7pm on January 9th at the St. Petersburg Sunshine Center. 

The MAACM, to be built at 333 3rd Ave. N., will house art enthusiast Rudy Ciccarello’s 1,200-piece collection of 1900-1920’s furniture, pottery, glassware, tiles and more. When completed, the world-class Museum is expected to draw people from around the world to one of the rarest collections of its size.

The American Arts and Crafts Movement of the late 1800's and into the 1920's was an often idealistic grasp towards the handcrafted, naturally themed and humanistic during a time when machine-age modernity pervaded, and ultimately took over, most aspects of the American home and identity. Concepts like Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie School, that utilized earthy materials like wood, stone and clay, used a minimalist approach to reconnect with the land and changed the interior of the American home forever. Themes inspired by cultures outside of the mainstream, like Native American, Egyptian, Chinese and Greek, can be found as well as the natural forms of local flora and fauna. Although it lacked the guiding hand of a singular philosophy, the American Arts and Crafts movement drew its strength from the wide array of individuals whose work was unique to their diverse skills and locations across the USA, from North to South and coast to coast. (read more here).

All are welcome and encouraged to attend this exciting event. Join us to usher in a new age for the St. Petersburg art scene!

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