Tampa Heights’ Bloom block party includes an art show inspired by the ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’

DJ Wally Rios is releasing a TMNT beat tape, and a Magnanimous beer release is on tap, too.

click to enlarge Tampa Heights’ Bloom block party includes an art show inspired by the ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’
Illustration by Chris Johnson


Leonardo. Michelangelo. Raphael. Donatello. All Renaissance master artists. All Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, too. “There are too many layers of genius to unpack, really,” Mergeculture wrote in a press release for its latest show, “Straight from the Sewer,” which opens on Friday in downtown Tampa in conjunction with the monthly Bloom block party on Franklin Street.

The show features work from a dozen artists—including Meow Wolf’s Nico Salazar and Birdcap, which painted one of the best murals in Tampa Bay—from across the country and was inspired by a conversation between Mergeculture Gallery’s co-curator Michelle Sawyer and Tampa producer Wally Rios.

Also on the artist lineup are local favorites like past CL cover artist Peachmoon, 3LB God and Alejandro Algarin (aka Maff Bug), plus a music lineup that features some of the city’s best producers and rappers (Rios, who’s already done “Naruto” beat tapes in releasing a Turtles-inspired one on Friday).

As part of the Bloom party, nearby Magnanimous Brewing is releasing new beers (“Rahzar” and “Tokka” imperial sours with vanilla plus raspberry or blueberry). Gaze Yoga is even having a dance party, and there’s naturally a pizza pop-up, too.

Straight from the Sewer. Friday, Oct. 22, 7 p.m. Bloom on Franklin Block Party outside Mergeculture. 1544 N Franklin St., Tampa. $5-$10 donation. @mergeculture on Facebook

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Ray Roa

Read his 2016 intro letter and disclosures from 2022 and 2021. Ray Roa started freelancing for Creative Loafing Tampa in January 2011 and was hired as music editor in August 2016. He became Editor-In-Chief in August 2019. Past work can be seen at Suburban Apologist, Tampa Bay Times, Consequence of Sound and The...
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