For three weeks in August, Tampa’s Amalie Arena was home to “The Beach.”
The Vinik Family Foundation, created by Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik and wife Penny, brought the art installation to the team’s home arena. The free activity allowed attendees to frolic in an ocean of 1.2 million recyclable white plastic balls on the arena floor.
“We’re big believers that art is not just the 15th-century painting or an amazing sculpture,” Jeff Vinik told the Tampa Bay Business Journal.
Vinik, who is involved in creating a mixed-use development near the arena, said, “The community that we’re going to be trying to create here … we’re going to have many activities.”
“We could look at this as a small down payment on that,” he said.
PHOTOS BY SCOTT AUDETTE
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Penny and Jeff Vinik at “The Beach.” Penny Vinik got the idea after visiting a similar installation in Washington, D.C.
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Brooklyn-based Snarkitecture designed the installation. About 100,000 tickets were distributed, and the arena said it was at or near capacity for the full three-week run.
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