Mermaids, Metal Flux, and the Graphic Designer Who Changed Women’s Health

Inside The Peanut Gallery Episode 1

Grab your handheld mics, because the gallery is officially open.

In the premiere episode of The Peanut Gallery—a brand-new Tampa Bay Arts Passport production—hosts Maggie Duffy and Jana Henson are breaking down the absolute best of local culture. We aren't doing stuffy, academic art critiques here. Instead, we're taking a deep, unfiltered dive into everything making waves across St. Pete and Tampa right now, from local lore and massive museum installations to live theater that is literally making audiences gasp.

Here is your ultimate recap of what’s happening in the Tampa Bay art world.

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Immersive Magic & Mermaid Lore at Floridorama

If you haven’t been to Floridorama lately, you are missing out on some incredible new narratives. The art-meets-technology attraction just added two massive installations created by standout local artists:

• "Randomize" by Chad Mize: St. Pete's definitive muralist has taken over an entire room. It is a 360-degree, floor-to-ceiling experience featuring his signature doodle style, a custom city soundscape, and an olfactory twist. (According to Maggie, Florida smells like sunset, lotion, and beer—and honestly, she isn’t wrong).
• Brigitte Coovert's Mermaidia Lore: Mixed-media assemblage artist Brigitte Coovert has built three candy-colored, Y2K bubble-aesthetic installations. They deepen the mythological lore of Floridorama's resident mermaid, Pearl. Look closely, and you’ll find a powerful undercurrent: her work incorporates pill capsules, reflecting on the world-building that often happens when living with chronic illness.

Mark Your Calendars: Floridorama is opening its massive "One by One" mural featuring 72 artists on July 3rd (with an artist talkback on July 18th), followed by a brand-new Literary Festival on August 22nd to fill the void left by the former Times Festival of Reading.

Museum Masterpieces: The Beauty of the In-Between

Maggie and Jana noticed a beautiful, accidental theme running through the area's top museums right now: transmutation and liminal spaces.

"Alchemy" by Ali Banisadr at MFA St. Pete

Iranian-born artist Ali Banisadr draws from graffiti backgrounds and art history legends like Hieronymus Bosch. His work looks incredibly abstract from afar, but as you step closer, you realize the figures are caught in mid-flux—half-human, half-machine, reflecting the unstable state of people living through times of war.

"Silence Before Sound" by Jun Kaneko at the Tampa Museum of Art

At 83 years old, legendary contemporary ceramicist Jun Kaneko is still pushing boundaries. He utilizes one of the largest kilns in North America to create massive clay sculptures called danga (meaning "dumpling" in Japanese). His exhibit focuses on the spaces between the lines, reminding us that negative space and quiet moments can often hold more weight than what is physically there.

Why Live Theater "Hits Different"

The couch chat turned high-energy when discussing the local theater circuit. The consensus? You can watch Netflix all day, but live theater has a resonance that physical film just can't replicate.

• A Streetcar Named Desire at Studio@620: Re-examining Tennessee Williams' 1947 classic through a 2026 lens entirely shifts the perspective on Blanche DuBois. Rather than a simply flawed character, modern understandings of trauma and mental health paint her in a deeply sympathetic, dissociative light.
• Danny in the Deep Blue Sea at Jobsite Theater: This volatile, two-person play by John Patrick Shanley is so raw and intimate in the tiny Schimberg Playhouse that its shocking revelations actually caused audience members to audibly gasp and walk out.
• Dream Child at Power Stories Theater: Written and performed by the brilliant Roxanne Faye, this show transforms the theater into a Wonderland-themed space. It follows an elderly Alice (the real-life inspiration behind Lewis Carroll's book) navigating her identity, offering a perfect metaphor for the curated, fictionalized versions of ourselves we build in the social media age.

Spotlight Interview: Claireann Despain on Powerstories’ "Greater Good" Season

To close out the episode, Claireann Despain, the Executive Artistic Director of Powerstories Studio, dropped by to preview a powerful lineup of plays centered around women doing incredible things for the community.

The Headliner: Predictor by Jennifer Blackburn

This off-Broadway hit tells the unbelievable true story of Meg Crane, a 1960s graphic designer who invented the home pregnancy test.

Before Meg's invention, women had to wait days for a lab to inject their samples into female rabbits, kill the rabbits, and inspect their ovaries. Meg realized that finding a better way wasn't a science problem—it was a design problem. The play chronicles her fierce battle against corporate executives to give women bodily autonomy, all packaged inside a fast-paced, 1960s game-show aesthetic. Better yet? Meg Crane herself will be attending the production!

Also Coming to Powerstories Theater:

• Conscience: The story of Senator Margaret Chase Smith, the first senator with the courage to publicly stand up against Joe McCarthy on the Senate floor.
• The Wash: A co-production with Studio@620 detailing the massive 1881 Atlanta washerwomen's strike.
• Raising 12 on a Nickel and a Prayer: A heartwarming, holiday-perfect crowd favorite written by founder Fran Powers about the immense power and societal impact of women in the home.

Where to Watch

Want to see the full chemistry, the facial expressions, and the infamous handheld mics for yourself?

Catch the full video episode of The Peanut Gallery on the Tampa Bay Arts Passport platform, or subscribe to our channel so you never miss a deep dive into the local creative community!