Gala Corina: 2000
Gala Corina II, November 10, 2000, seemed to plan itself. A vacant brick building in Ybor City (built 1901) became the perfect venue.
The exhibition was held in an 6,000 square foot warehouse in Tampa’s Ybor City, where 43 artists connected with an estimated 1,500 people.
Rumors of the building once being a bath house and speak-easy during prohibition fueled us. Calvino and his brother, along with others, came up with an incredible design to break up the open space.
Using a Teflon-coated, fibergalss (that served many years as the roof of the University of South Florida’s Sun Dome) they constructed large, sail-like partitions that swept through the entire space. These would serve as backdrops for the artwork of some 43 artists; twice that of the year before.
The show was growing, and so was the energy. An estimated 1,500 people came through the night the show opened.turning ripples of energy into tidal waves and leaving the group of Gala Corina speechless.