Thieves steal $6,800 worth of artwork from Florida Craftsmen

ST. PETERSBURG -- Sometime between 6:30 and 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, the two men broke into the gallery at 501 Central Ave. through a never-used outside door to executive director Maria Emilia's office and made a beeline for two glass sculptures -- a Duncan McClellan vessel worth $5,200 (pictured) and a $1,600 Chuck Boux vase.

[Photo courtesy Florida Craftsmen Gallery)

The two thieves knew exactly what they wanted. They weren't concerned with the laptop in the director's office. They avoided the multicolored jewelry that lay in clear cases and other one-of-a-kind works of art that fill the Florida Craftsmen Gallery downtown.

They broke no windows and didn't trash the place. They didn't even go near the cash register set up barely 20 feet from the pieces they took.

Their moves were so smooth that no one even noticed at first that anything was gone.

"None of the things that you'd obviously steal were missing," Emilia said this morning. "It wasn't until I looked up and saw the empty pedestals that we realized."

Now, the nonprofit that represents artists throughout the state is offering a $500 reward for information about the robbery, which was caught on surveillance video.

A person who was outside the store at the time alerted authorities after hearing an alarm and noticing the two men, Emilia said.

"When something like this happens, it's substantial," she said. "It just creates a really unsettling atmosphere."

This isn't the first time someone has taken something from the gallery. A large glass sculpture disappeared at the end of August.

"We thought it was just an isolated thing," Emilia said. "Now that we've had two other glass things stolen, we're beginning to think somebody's building a collection from our artwork."

Kameel Stanley, Times Staff Writer

Comments

[Dave]

As an artist, I am glad to finally see some interest returning to the Arts in Florida.