Artlink Takamatsu-St. Petersburg

Artlink Takamatsu-St. Petersburg History
The idea for this partnership was born in 2001, when Creative Clay representatives​ traveled to Japan to teach the Artlink mentorship program, which originally was the pairing of one professional artist with one member artist. Creative Clay ​invited ​Heart Art Link to participate in an exhibit that was called Artlink Japan in St. Petersburg​ for the first ​c​ollaboration exhibit ​a​t the Florida Craftsman Gallery (now Florida CraftArt) in 2003. Twice, Creative Clay representatives traveled to Takamatsu, where they participated in team meetings and discussions.​ In​ 2007, Tano San, several professional artists, and the Mayor of Takamatsu visited Creative Clay and conducted workshops with the member artists here. 2010, Heart Art​ Link began Art​link activities in Takamatsu, at the internationally acclaimed festival, Setouchi International Art Festival. In 2013, Creative Clay hosted another Artlink Japan exhibit, featuring a rabbit balloon sent from Japan. Creative Clay member artists added calligraphy to the balloon before returning it to Japan. In 2016, Heart ArtLink Takamatsu was part of 2016 Setouchi International Art Festival. Takamatsu continued the Artlink program, which has operated through today. They’ve trained arts professionals in other parts of Japan and around the world in the practice of implementing the Artlink artist-mentor program​ and have over 16 sites.

St. Petersburg-Takamatsu Sister City partnership: 2021-2022
Creative Clay continued its Artlink Takamatsu-St. Petersburg collaboration (formerly Artlink Japan) with Heart Artlink Takamatsu in celebration of the 60th ​Anniversary of the Takamatsu-St. Petersburg Sister City Partnership with an exhibit of 30 pelican paintings in October 2021 and a Lion Dance in January 2022, both at the St. Petersburg Museum of History. In Takamatsu, Heart Artlink Takamatsu artists performed the Lion Dance in October 2021 and performed both the Lion Dance and exhibited the pelican paintings at the Setouchi International Art Festival in March 2022.​ On October 14, 2021, Creative Clay was honored to have Consul-General Kazihiro Nakai of Japan attend the opening of the exhibit of the pelican paintings at the St. Petersburg Museum of History on the date of the 60th Anniversary of the Sister Cities.

Pelican Paintings:

Creative Clay sent 30 black paint marker line drawings created by Creative Clay member artists to Heart Artlink Takamatsu. In former Artlink partnerships, there were teams of artists from each city who exchange whole, finished exhibits. This iteration involved the artists from both centers working independently to share in the creation of the paintings. Rather than a one-to-one apprenticeship, think “artlink” in the first part of the project was the link directly between the artists in Takamatsu and the member artists in St. Petersburg. Click here to see the list of participating artists from both cities.

The Lion Dance:

Heart Artlink Japan sent Creative Clay rice paper, lanterns and fabric to paint. The rice paper was designed by Creative Clay member artists and sent back to Takamatsu to be hand-constructed by their professional artists. The fabric was painted as well and sent back to Takamatsu, where they used it to construct three lion costumes, one of which was sent back to St. Petersburg. In the fall of 2021, Heart Artlink Takamatsu sent videos of their dance rehearsals for the artists of Creative Clay to watch and get inspiration from. They were told to create their own dance without trying to replicate the traditional Lion Dance.

Under the direction of choreographers Helen Hansen French and Paula Kramer, Creative Clay Member Artists performed the Lion Dance at the St. Petersburg Museum of History, located on the approach of the St. Petersburg Pier. The dance is commonly performed during a new year to bring good luck and drive away evil spirits. Artists from Heart Artlink and Creative Clay painted pieces of fabric that became the final costume for a lion dance. They also sent a large lion head (one of three) using the Japanese construction method called hariko, a technique of paper construction with a hollow center that Creative Clay member artist Ali V. painted. Lanterns, and fans were also sent and painted for the props for the dance. In Takamatsu, they will perform the Lion Dance at the Setouchi International Art Festival in March 2022.

Below is a video created by Heart Artlink Takamatsu highlighting the nearly 20 year partnership between the two art centers who serve artists with disabilities.