Chamber of Commerce Holds Cover Art Contest

You may or may not have noticed, but the Safety Harbor Chamber of Commerce is perhaps the only such organization in the Tampa Bay area to sport a work of art on the cover of its directory.

In fact, of the 34 directories throughout the state handled by Heron Publishing of Spring Hill, none has a piece of art as its primary cover image, and only a handful use anything other than a photograph of a local landmark.

Safety Harbor broke the mold last year, when Chamber official Normajeanne Anderson noticed postcards created by local artist Carol Zieres sitting in the office; the marketing whiz immediately realized the art would make the perfect cover image for the organization's directory.

"We had always used photos, like everyone else does," Anderson said. "But when I saw Carol's postcard I thought it would make a great cover, and everybody agreed."

The 2012-13 book was such a success - Anderson says only a handful remain of the original shipment of 6,000 units - that they decided to use art on the cover again for the next edition.

But this time, there would be a twist to the selection process.

"We reached out to representatives of the Public Art Committee, SHAMc and The Exhibiting Society of Artists and asked them to submit entries for the 2013-14 book," Anderson said. 

"The submissions have to be in by May 17, where they will then be judged by a panel of people including past judges of juried art shows."

Anderson thinks the shift to artwork on the cover of the directory is coming at a key time.

"I think it accompanies a trend that has been developing gradually and is finally taking off - art appreciation."

She believes the love and passion for all forms of art is starting to gain momentum not just in the community, but throughout the entire Tampa Bay area.

"I read somewhere that there's more money spent on performing and visual arts in the Tampa Bay area than on all the sports franchises combined," she said.

"These directories are like moments frozen in time," she added. "We hope they will help people become more visual arts conscious."

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