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Zack Street Art Project To Be Completed Before RNC

A Tampa artist has created a colorful and elegant design for the Zack Street Promenade of the Arts.

 

Susan Gott's craftsmanship in the medium of glass will be recognized by the City of Tampa early next month when they unveil a the new Zack Street Promenade of the Arts.

Gott, the owner and creator of the Phoenix Glass Studio, was chosen for the $1.2 million project after she submitted a proposal with the design for a system of mounted glass work. The promenade will extend from Ashley Street to Franklin Street leading to Curtis Hixon Park and will mask an unsightly parking lot along the way.

"I think it's significant in that I'm getting some really great recognition from the city," Gott said during an exhibition of the work at her Seminole Heights studio on Saturday. "There will be a system where there is a trellis, then a column of six glass pieces that I've made, then another trellis and another column of glass. I took a lot of time putting together these pieces of Tampa's history, but I don't think I was aware of the significance of the project when I submitted the proposal."

The project was a massive undertaking that has taken over a year's worth of researching topics for the depictions and casting them into glass murals. It will be installed and unveiled prior the the Republican National Convention next month and is the first part of a three stage project to create a pedestrian corridor on Zack Street that will eventually stretch from Ashley Drive to Nebraska Avenue.

The city has discussed the project for years and after uncertainty over whether or not a conclusion to the project would ever be reached, local residents are looking forward to its unveiling.

"It's going to be gorgeous because of its placement it will play with the natural light that shines into downtown," said Robin Nigh, a connoseuir of Gott's work. "It's going to screen a parking lot so it's a nice urban solution to a typical kind of unsightly piece of land. I think people are going to be delighted with it. I buy Susan's work for Christmas and birthday gifts."

Related Topics: Promenade of the Arts and Zack Street

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