Emerging Artist Recipients
Jenifer Madson
I came to painting in 2022 with the same spirit of curiosity that has always guided me, never afraid to explore, experiment, and follow what feels alive. From the very beginning, I was captivated by the abstract, mystical nature of the human form. There is something timeless in the way a gesture, curve, or silhouette can hold both presence and mystery, and I love translating that energy onto canvas. Oil and cold wax have become my favorite mediums, offering depth and resonance through their layers and textures. Each painting becomes a story told slowly, built from what is revealed, what is concealed, and what emerges through patience and play. For me, art is less about representation than revelation. It’s about finding the soul within form, the connection between light and shadow, and the quiet invitation for the viewer to discover their own reflection in the work.
IG: jenifermadson
FB: jenifermadson2
Willa Tinsley
Willa Tinsley is a multidisciplinary artist, writer, and activist in St. Petersburg, Florida. She has a long dedication to street outreach and works with Streets of Paradise as well as with neurodiverse youth as an art teacher. Tinsley graduated from New College of Florida in 2022 with a degree in Humanities. She works primarily in essays, poetry, and traditional visual mediums of oil painting and pastels. Her process and subject matter honor all things slow and delicate, the unruly, the Earth, the sacred work of caretaking. Her work explores the experience of those on the margins, particularly women, lesbians, the disability community, and the unhoused. Tinsley has used her artistic voice to highlight local cultural issues of healthcare, disability justice, and reproductive freedom, police brutality and racialized climate change, and persecution of the unhoused. Her 2022 project “Some Kind of Light” was a visual and oral history of Tampa Bay’s homelessness crisis and community in their own voices. Tinsley paints and performs poetry in St. Petersburg; she has performed and shown her work most recently at The Lemonade Stand gallery’s 2025 Food Not Bombs 45th Anniversary Show to raise funds for direct street aid. IG: willa.tinsley
Luke Vest
Luke Vest is a painter and mixed media artist based in St. Petersburg, Florida. He works primarily with oil paint, airbrush, spray paint, and metal leaf, creating layered, atmospheric pieces that explore memory, myth, and the textures of everyday life. His work often bridges visual art and sound, drawing on experimental music and sampling to influence the rhythm and energy of his paintings. Luke has exhibited widely in the Tampa Bay area, including at Creative Pinellas where his work was featured in The Shape of Us. His art has been covered by local press and broadcast media, and he continues to build a presence in the community through exhibitions, collaborations, and now live performance projects that merge his visual practice with sound. Since moving to St. Petersburg in 2022, Luke has become known for his commitment to both craft and experimentation, and for creating work that connects with people in direct and unexpected ways.
IG: luke_vest_art
Troy Reamsnyder
Troy Reamsnyder is a St. Petersburg–based producer, designer, and performer with experience in set construction, costuming, directing, and choreography. He first fell in love with theater at Galaxy Children’s Theater at age 10 and later studied musical theater in New York. Troy also creates public displays around town, including the “Beetlejuice” installation at Jeeves Law Firm on Central Avenue. His recent credits include set and wig design for Legally Blonde Jr. at the Mahaffey, directing Little Shop of Horrors for a St. Pete–based theater, and award-winning set design for The Little Mermaid at a local high school. He approaches projects with resourcefulness and curiosity, often transforming simple materials into memorable stage moments. Troy is committed to collaboration and making live performance accessible and exciting for all. He is grateful to the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance for awarding him this opportunity and looks forward to bringing more creative work to his community.
IG: ReamsnyderProductions
Website: ReamsnyderProductions.com
Established Artist Recipients
Ashley Rivers | The Nature of Fire
Ashley Rivers is a Contemporary Multidisciplinary Artist living in Gulfport, Florida. Creating unique works of art relating to the natural world and the environment, Ashley draws inspiration from the earth, our human identities, biology, and ecology. With a background in sculpture and ceramics, her work is centered around the connection we as individuals feel and have towards nature. Her contemporary style explores materials such as clay, concrete, metals, and more. Ashley Rivers received her Bachelors of Fine Arts, with a concentration in Sculpture, from the University of South Florida. Since then, she has been creating art utilizing multiple mediums and techniques. Ashley spent the majority of her life growing up in Tampa and St. Petersburg, Florida, and has worked hard to become an active member of the Arts Community. She is a mixed-raced, female artist whose work cultivates a range of mixed methods and imagery, and aims to embrace strength, wellness, and the phenomena of the physical world collectively. Ashley Rivers has participated in, and curated, numerous exhibitions and large projects within Florida and the Tampa Bay Area. She has received several awards and grants including the 2021 St. Petersburg Arts Alliance Individual Artist Grant, the 2022 Creative Pinellas Emerging Artist Grant, and she was the first recipient of the 2022 Senator Darryl Rouson Artist Grant. She has had artworks exhibited at the African Heritage Cultural Arts Center in Miami during 2022 Art BASEL, won the 2023 Gasparilla of the Arts Emerging Artist Award, won the 2023 Halo Arts Project Fellowship, received the 2024/2025 Arts Impact Fund for Visual Arts from Creative Pinellas, and was one of the Cycle 4 Recipients for the 2024 Gobioff Foundation Microgrants. Recently, she has even received the 2025 St. Petersburg Arts Alliance Individual Artist Grant for her upcoming project to assist with the restoration and conservation of the Tampa Bay Estuary with artificial oyster reef habitats.
IG: thenatureoffire
FB: thenatureoffirellc
Website: www.thenatureoffire.com
Michele Renee Stone
Michele Renee Stone is a multidisciplinary artist and creative coach based in St, Petersburg, Florida. With a background in mixed media painting, jewelry, and sculpture, she has exhibited widely and curated exhibitions across Ohio and Florida since 2001, supporting artists from Tampa Bay to Sarasota and beyond. Her journey naturally evolved from creating her own work to curating, teaching, and mentoring. Over the past two decades, Michele has taught art classes to students of all ages in Canada, Costa Rica, Austria, Tanzania, and across the United States. This global experience, paired with her local commitment, inspired her to develop masterclasses and a coaching program for emerging and mid-career artists, helping them build confidence, overcome obstacles, and thrive creatively. Brief Description of Current Project Her newest initiative, The Artist Bridge to Abundance Podcast, extends her mission of empowerment by giving St. Petersburg artists a platform to share their stories, processes, and pathways to sustainable creative careers. The podcast fosters community connection, amplifies local voices, and inspires listeners to embrace authenticity and abundance in their artistic lives.
IG: michele.renee.stone
FB: Michele Stone Masterpieces
Youtube: MicheleReneeStone
TikTok: michele.renee.stone
Jema Woody
Jema is a Tampa-based Hip-Hop rapper skillfully intertwining old school essence with the beats of the new school, pushing Hip-Hop boundaries and inviting listeners on a resonant exploration of the human experience. Hip-Hop is often described as poetry with a beat, and Jema’s artistry epitomizes this idea. The beautiful art of spoken word allows the listener to strip away exterior distractions and focus purely on the words, creating an intimate connection. This style of performance demands the audience’s undivided attention, drawing them into the heart of the message. Jema accomplishes this brilliantly, creating a sense of intimacy that pulls the listener in close, as if he is speaking directly to them. The visual begins with a powerful monologue from a true relic of the Hip-Hop genre, Cotton El Murkot, an MC who witnessed the birth of the artform and spat verses that ignited the streets of New York. His words serve as a foreshadowing of the fire Jema is about to drop.
IG: mynameis_jema
FB: Jema
Youtube: mynameis_jema
Markus Gottschlich
Markus Gottschlich is a Vienna-born, Austrian-American pianist and composer, and a Steinway Artist whose music blends jazz, classical, and world traditions into a voice both distinctive and emotionally resonant. Raised in Beethoven’s former residence and shaped by a lifetime of international experience across Europe, Asia, and the Americas, his artistry reflects breadth as much as depth. Praised by Albuquerque Magazine as “a high-energy, lyrical, and risk-taking pianist,” and as “a painter of emotions via music” by AllAboutJazz, Gottschlich has released three acclaimed albums, including Found Sounds (2020), featuring collaborations with Grammy-Award winning artists. His music has also been featured in international film and documentary projects, reflecting his versatility. Offstage, Gottschlich has served as Artistic Director for festivals and concert series from Miami to Albuquerque, curating cross-cultural programming and fostering emerging talent. A committed educator and clinician, he leads workshops, masterclasses, and artist residencies around the world.
IG: markusgottschlich
FB: markus.gottschlich.10
Website: www.markusgottschlich.com
Nancy Sears
Nancy Sears is the founder and artistic director of Sears Studio Performing Arts Academy, where she has been teaching and inspiring artists of all ages for over 35 years. She also taught high school theatre for more than 20 years, guiding students in both performance and personal growth. Her passion for education and community has shaped countless performers through musicals, show choirs, and theatre productions.While her primary focus is nurturing the next generation of artists, Nancy has also enjoyed a career performing on stage and in film and television. As a writer and producer, she brings her love of storytelling into every project, believing deeply in the power of the arts to connect, uplift, and transform lives. Honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award for Florida Secondary Theatre, she continues to dedicate her life to creative expression and education.
IG: searsstudioperformingarts
FB: Sears Studio Performing Arts Academy
Website: www.searsstudioarts.com
Onlyonetwo | Two
Onlyonetwo (also known as Two) is a versatile artist, musician, and creative director from St. Petersburg, Florida. His passion for music began early, leading him to study the craft and business at the University of Central Florida and intern at KDS Studios in Orlando. As Onlyonetwo, he developed a unique sound that blends hip-hop, trap, rock, and soul, characterized by deep basslines and introspective lyrics. Beyond music, he has showcased his versatility in digital storytelling as a writer and creative director for Spoken Reasons, creating content that has reached millions. Influenced by industry pioneers like Russell Simmons and Steve Rifkind, Onlyonetwo combines technical skill with cultural insight to connect with audiences through every project.
IG: onlyonetwo
FB: onlyonetwo
Delisa Drake | DarLuz The DJ
Best of the Bay 2025 nominee, DarLuz is more than a DJ, she’s a sonic architect building unforgettable atmospheres for the melanated and marginalized. Known for effortlessly blending House, RnB, Hip-Hop throwbacks, and soulful grooves, DarLuz brings both energy and intention to every set. Whether she’s commanding the room at a themed event or setting the tone for a drag show, her ability to read the crowd and elevate the moment is unmatched. Based in Tampa and always ready to travel, DarLuz curates inclusive musical spaces that honor Black and queer culture. As the creator of How to DJ101, a course empowering women, LGBT+, and neurodiverse communities, she’s making waves behind the booth and beyond.
IG: darluzthedj
Alexander Jones
Alexander Jones, founder and artistic director of the downtown St. Pete international nonprofit dance+ company projectALCHEMY, is a graduate of University of South Florida, recent MFA graduate Hollins University studying dance. Jones received training from the LINES Ballet BFA Program under direction of Marina Hotchkiss. He has had the opportunity to work with Alonzo King, Bill T. Jones in Serenade/The Proposition, and Doug Varone in The Rite of Spring. He has performed in Tunisia, Africa with the University of South Florida on behalf of the American Embassy and the Tunisian Dance Federation. A native Floridian, Jones is a proud member of the Actor’s Equity Association and current performer at Walt Disney World in stage shows such as Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular, A Totally Tomorrowland Christmas, Dream Along with Mickey, Beauty and the Beast Live On Stage . He is an alumnus of ArchCore40 in NYC and works closely with choreographer Jennifer Archibald as her choreographer assistant in the Florida Dance Festival. In 2012, he choreographed and directed his first evening length work entitled First You, Then The Rest at the Studio@620 in St. Petersburg, FL. In the Spring of 2013, Jones joined Yow Dance Company and had the honor of choreographing works for the company for both Spring Into Dance and the Orlando International Fringe Festival. Later that Fall, he returned to the Studio@620 to premiere his second evening-length work, Contact. Jones participated in Project GenYes! at the Studio@620 made possible by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation premiering his third evening-length work, Uncovered: Power of the Being at the Studio@620. In 2016, Jones became the Artistic Director of Collective Soles Dance making it his mission to connect the Tampa Bay area through collaboration. The following year Alex was one of the resident choreographers at the Florida Dance Festival where he premiered his latest work behind the Front. Jones is on faculty as an adjunct professor at the University of Tampa teaching techniques classes that help students prepare for both concert and commercial stages. Community and collaboration are at the forefront of Jones’s dance works with the company, as well as in and around St. Pete. He served as the Dance Artists in Residence at the Studio@620, assisting in dance programming alongside Bob Devin Jones.
IG: ajonescreates
Website: ajonesdance
If you have any questions, please reach out to Charlene at [email protected].
2024 Individual Grant Recipients
2023 Individual Grant Recipients
