One of the premier annual cultural events on St. Petersburg’s outdoor calendar will return on Saturday, April 5th, from 9 am to 6 pm and Sunday, April 6th, from 10 am to 5 pm in Vinoy Park. Considered to be one of the best art shows in the country, more than 100,000 visitors are expected to flock to the festival to engage with artists, purchase quality works of art, enjoy art experiences, as well as local food and live musical entertainment. Admission is free and no tickets are required.
The show features over 250 juried fine arts and crafts exhibitors, competing for $60,000 in Prize Money with a $10,000 award for Best of Show. This year will feature a special $5,000 award in honor of the anniversary.
Mainsail is a non-profit organization, and the festival is produced by an all-volunteer committee.
Each year, a participating artist’s work is chosen to represent the festival, appearing on posters, tote bags and T-shirts that are for sale at the event. This year’s piece is a painting by artist Anne Zimmerman Briand, who is also a regular contributor to St. Pete Life.
“Anne was selected as the 2025 poster artist based on her artwork shown in the 2024 festival. She paints evocative landscapes using vibrant, contemporary colors and rich textures in oil. She lives in Tierra Verde and we wanted to choose a local artist for our 50th anniversary of our art festival,” explains Jane Ferguson, past co-chair of the festival committee. “Her art showcases local waterfront scenes that highlight our beautiful area.”
The title of this year’s commemorative poster is "Emerging into the Light" based on Briand's 60x48-inch original oil on canvas.
We chatted with Briand about the experience.
Tell us about creating this piece.
I wanted it to be really powerful and have an epic vibe. The painting is of the sunshine coming out over the city and the storm clouds receding, so it is kind of the symbolic representation of the aftermath of the storms and coming into the light. It is about renewal and resilience.
What were the most challenging and rewarding aspects?
The most challenging part of creating this piece was landing on a viewpoint to capture. I knew that I wanted it to be of the pier with the sun rising behind it. I also wanted it to be a high view, so I started studying different video footage, asked friends who knew people in condos to send me any photos of their views and I put together a compilation from my research.
Then I created this scene based on my drawings, some plein air color studies that I had done at sunrise, along with color palettes I wanted to work with. I really wanted to see the sort of luscious green down below, the lights twinkling and the storm clouds. I wanted to get a few of the buildings in to suggest a sort of humming vibe of the city and a warm, hazy and exotic, but powerful view. This is our beautiful city! It feels like an awakening, a rebirth. That's the reward for me, that it feels like I wanted it to feel.
The original, as well as stretched canvas reproductions, will be available for purchase in my tent and online.
Go to mainsailart.org to learn more. For more information on Briand, visit annezimmerman.com
