CW in Florida

From October 14 to 21, Carl Weese will be artist in residence at The Firehouse Cultural Center in Ruskin, Florida. There will be talks, demonstrations, and two digital photography workshops. More details are available here. Anyone near the Tampa Bay area might find some of the activities interesting.

Carl writes: "During the weeks before and after the residence I'll be finding and photographing drive-in theaters on the final leg of The Giant Road Trip. I have a good handle on the surviving theaters in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida and will be working out a route for them. If anyone knows of closed but still standing theaters anywhere in this area, please let me know. They are harder to work with because, while there are lists of closed theaters readily available, only a tiny fraction of them are still standing. Finding those needs sheer luck, or tips from local informants."

(Carl writes for TOP.)

Mike

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Comments

[Bob Rosinsky]

The Silver Moon drive-in in Lakeland is still showing movies. If you make it to Lakeland, Carl, give me a shout if you need anything. I've been a big fan of yours for years.

[Ian Fairchild]

Sorry if this seems obvious Carl, but have you tried Google Earth to see if those closed theaters have anything standing? Good luck!

[carlweese]

Bob, the Silver Moon is on my list, with a notation of a great marquee though I don't have much else on it. Thanks for confirming it's up and going. I also see it's just inland from where I'll be doing the residency so I may go for an evening shoot during the week I'm at Ruskin.

Ian, that's a good idea that I use when I learn that a theater is "recently closed" to try to find out if it's still there. But there were once over 4,000 DI theaters, now fewer than 400, so the numbers are against searching randomly. Other problem is that the distinctive arc of the field shows up well in satellite imagery if it hasn't been covered by a WalMart, but it's much harder to tell if the screen tower or other structures are still there.

[Bill Mitchell]

http://www.swinginmidwaydrivein.com/
Open for business

[Aaron Moller]

Here's a standing screen near Spartanburg, SC. It's operating as a mulch yard, so you'd have to get permission to shoot. http://goo.gl/maps/s8FHE