St. Pete, FL

FloridaRAMA Project

Mermaid Star Motel Lobby, mixed media with Acrylic paint, ink and colored pencils

Chad Jacobs’ FLORIDARAMA diorama depicts his vision of The Mermaid Star Motel: a cross between a pastel-colored getaway and a tourist trap-style curio shack that’s stuffed to the brim with eerie oddities unique to the Sunshine State (including, but not limited to, a taxidermied skunk ape and gatorman, Robert the Doll and a Fountain of Youth water fountain). Chad says, “In my mind, our mermaid motelier and her kooky inventor partner are eccentric hucksters who occasionally stumble their way into legitimate paranormal investigations…like that of the missing Sunnymooners.” About participating in FLORIDARAMA Chad reports, “ I primarily work in pen and ink and like to work small, so FLORIDARAMA is an exciting challenge to scale up my work and present it in a 3D realm while maintaining the integrity of my style. Additionally, I’ve never utilized laser cutting in my art before, so the process of creating this diorama has presented a wonderful opportunity to add a new skill to my practice.”

Bio—
Hailing from the sunny little peninsula otherwise known as St. Pete, FL, Chad Jacobs knew from a very young age that drawing pretty pictures was something he would like to do for a living. Chad got his humble beginnings drawing Power Rangers on his homework assignments. After earning his BFA in Illustration at the Savannah College of Art and Design, he now knows to draw his Power Rangers on nice expensive paper. His preferred mediums are Prismacolor Markers, watercolors, and pen & ink. While once vehemently against anything to do with technology, you may even catch him working digitally every now and then. Upon graduating from SCAD, Chad returned to St. Pete and has since worked at a number of local arts organizations including The Florida International Museum, The Dali, American Stage and the St. Petersburg Shakespeare Festival. He is currently working as a freelance artist and graphic designer at FloridaRAMA.