Drip! Art Lounge offers a colorful menu of activities and classes for artists in this new creative Gulfport space. Photo courtesy of Drip! Art Lounge
If walking into Drip! Art Lounge makes you want to start posting on social media, then owner Haley Christie didher job.
“We wanted to make every corner Instagram-worthy,” she said.
That meant Christie and her mom, Stephanie, had to hand-tie 48 brushes to the light fixtures hanging above a few of the lounge’s worktables.
And the tables beneath the paint brush chandeliers? Her dad made those.
Drip! Art Lounge in Gulfport
After starting Drip! Art Lounge six years ago in Winter Park, Christie decided to leave the Orlando area and bring her creative space to Gulfport. It opened to the public on June 24.
“Everywhere you turn, there’s just something that makes your face light up, and it’s so colorful,” Christie said. “I just felt like we would fit in so well here.”
Arts All Around!
The Gabber Newspaper covers live theater and art across South Pinellas and, when we find something worth the drive, in the Tampa Bay and Sarasota areas.
As someone who identifies as part of the LGBTQ+ community, she appreciated the city’s supportive atmosphere. Visit St. Pete Clearwater’s (VSPC) website said that roughly half of Gulfport’s population identifies as LGBTQ+.
“I feel very comfortable here as just someone who walks the streets, but also I felt really comfortable opening up a small business here because all the businesses are so welcoming of each other,” Christie said. “I feel like they really have each other’s backs around here.”
Some paintings turn up when the lights go off at Drip! Art Lounge. Photo by Will Riddell
A Menu For Artists
Her new location in Gulfport offers much more than her previous set up in Winter Park. According to a press release, Drip! Art Lounge “allows visitors to select their artistic adventure from a diverse ‘menu’ of arts and crafts projects.”
Additionally, the press release stated that the menu will showcase new projects every month. These projects include “acrylic on canvas, watercolor painting, fluid painting, multi-media on canvas, macramé, and more.”
There are evening classes, but individuals can also walk in at any time to scratch their creative itch.
Plus, if art is indeed food for the soul, why not give it a little sustenance.
Drip! Art Lounge, 5142 Gulfport Blvd. S., Gulfport. Tues.-Sat., 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sun., 12 p.m.-5 p.m. 727-440-6384 or 407-418-3230, dripartlounge.com.
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