Artlink Takamatsu-St. Petersburg

Artlink Takamatsu-St. Petersburg History

The idea for this partnership was born in 2001, when Creative Clay representatives ​presented at a VSA Arts Conference in Taos, New Mexico about Creative Clay’s Artlink Apprenticeship program, pairing a professional artist with an artist with a disability. In the audience were Representatives from Able Art of Tokyo, who talked with the Creative Clay team about Artlink and creating a similar program in Japan.

In 2003, Grace Anne Alfiero, Danielle Sangita Rottenberg, Artlink Artist Sarah Ellen Smith, Artlink Artist David Williams and Jane Williams traveled to Japan to present the details of the Artlink program. This visit resulted in Tomoko Tano creating the Heart Art Link program in Takamatsu, St. Petersburg’s Sister City. That year, Creative Clay ​invited ​Heart Art Link to participate in an exhibit that was called Artlink Japan in St. Petersburg​ for the first​collaboration exhibit ​a​t the Florida Craftsman Gallery, now Florida CraftArt, in fall of 2003.

In 2007, Heart Art Link Founder and Director, Tomoko Tano; Mayor of Takamatsu, Onishi Hideto; and several professional artists from Japan visited St. Petersburg to conduct workshops with the artists of Creative Clay. In 2010 Heart Art Link exhibited at the famous Setouchi International Art Festival, exhibiting artwork from both art centers. In 2013, Creative Clay, led by Artlink Manager Marcy Miller, CEO Kim Dohrman, and translator Yoko Nogami, hosted a Heart Art Link exhibit featuring a giant Rabbit Balloon sent from Heart Art Link that Creative Clay inflated outside on the sidewalk at their gallery on Central Avenue. Member artists added calligraphy to the balloon and returned it to Takamatsu where it was once again exhibited with its new collaborative additions. Mayor Foster and City Arts Manager Elizabeth were in attendance. In 2016, Heart Art Link Takamatsu was again part of 2016 Setouchi International Art Festival.

In 2021, Creative Clay continued their Artlink Takamatsu-St. Petersburg collaboration 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.

In October of 2023, during the celebration of 60 years of St. Petersburg and Takamatsu being Sister Cities, dignitaries from St. Petersburg along with representatives of Takamatsu’s government visited Creative Clay to see our mission in action. Along with Mayor Onishi, the Japanese contingent also included Yoshihito Shiraishi, Masayuki Nakagawa, Kazuya Hirata, and Mirako Kimura. The representatives enjoyed visiting Creative Clay’s Art Market and musical performances by our member artists.

On October 30th, 2023, Tomoko Tano received the Cultural Encouragement Award from the city of Takamatsu. In her acceptance of the award, she stated “The award is in relation to my continued work with the Takamatsu Art Link and as a board member to the Takamatsu art museum. I believe that it is an acknowledgement of the efforts put into not just the relationship between the nonprofit work and the artists but more so due to the cultural exchange we were able to do with Creative Clay.” The program now has over 16 sites.

 In the spring of 2024, the partners began a mail art project pairing 10 artists from each organization. The works were exhibited in Takamatsu from March 5-9, 2025. They will be exibited at the St. Petersburg Museum of History in the Summer of 2025.

 This cultural and artistic exchange between Creative Clay and Heart Art Link Takamatsu that has developed over the last 24 years is a beautiful thing that Creative Clay intends to expand and continue well into the future. The many exchanges through the years have helped everyone at Creative Clay grow as artists, leaders, and human beings.

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.