Winter Park & Tampa, Florida
Marc Fornes sculpture in Tampa’s Riverfront Park
Why we were there: Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival & Gasparilla Festival of the Arts
When we were there: March 2026
Where did we go:
We attended Gasparilla Festival of the Arts for the first time this year and returned to Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival for a third year. My family (Melanie’s) lives near Tampa so usually when we go to the GulfCoast of Florida we don’t do much touristy things - we are hanging out with the family. But this year we have a few things we did, so I wanted to share them.
Gasparilla Festival of the Arts is located in the Julian B. Lane Riverfront park in Downtown Tampa. One marvelous thing that was in that park is a sculpture by Marc Fornes. His work is fantastic and full of wonder. If you are in the area please visit and spend some time under the canopy. His work is located all over the United States and the world, so even if you don’t visit this one, I wish you the good lick to find another one. I included a picture to the right.
with love, George Fredrick Kunz
Each time we attend the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival we “host” family that drive up from Tampa to spend the weekend with us. So we haven’t had the chance to do too much. But this year we finally visited The Morse Museum of Art. It is located right next to the festival in the park and boasts the largest collection of Louis Comfort Tiffany glass in the world. It truly was astounding! I mean, I love tiffany just as much as the next guy, but to be immersed was a delight. The exhibits were lit from behind and crafted gorgeously. So I guess the Morse’s went to Tiffany’s house in Long Island right after it burned to the ground and took everything of value left over. I should mention that Tiffany had passed away by this point. You can read more about that story HERE. I need to read up on the history, there are free booklets for each of the gallery rooms that I still need to reread. The museum also has art and objects from the Morse’s general collections. See the many, many photos of Tiffany Glass below in the gallery.
Also, weird synchronicity, one room was a mockup of the living room at Laurel Hall - Tiffany’s home - and there is a desk set complete with a book with an inscription signed George F. Kunz, 1916. One of my favorite books in high school was The Curious Lore of Precious Stones by George Fredrick Kunz. I went to an old school and the library was filled with falling apart books from the early part of the 20th Century. This was one of them. I was a melancholy teenager who loved to flip through the tattered pages of another time. I found a copy of the book online that you can flip through if you are interested LINK.
We also visited a few restaurants that need a call out. The first is Hot Dog Heaven that claims to have the best Chicago dogs in Florida. Its true, they are the best.
On Saturday after the show our whole family went out to Bosphorous Turkish Cuisine that is amazing. I hear this is now a Florida chain and has spread to other cities in the state. Y’all should visit.
What to visit next time:
The Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens looked interesting but we didn’t have time to visit. I did do a drive by and snapped a picture though.
Snapshots:
