The Werk Wants Your Nice. It Wants Your Naughty More.
The St. Pete gallery's annual holiday Call for Art asks artists to pick a side of Santa's list. Submissions close Nov. 14.
Every December, the art world collectively agrees to make things cozy. Snowflakes. Ornaments. A tasteful wreath, perhaps rendered in oil. The Werk Gallery in St. Petersburg has looked at that tradition and asked a reasonable follow-up question: what if it were a little bit saucy?
That's the premise of "Nice & Naughty," the gallery's annual holiday Call for Art, now open to artists through Nov. 14. The brief is refreshingly simple. Show them something sweet, the kind of piece Santa might carry home to Mrs. Claus. Or show them something that earns you a lump of coal. The gallery isn't picking a side, which is more than can be said for Santa, who keeps meticulous records.
The selected work goes up Dec. 4 and stays through Dec. 27, with an opening reception on Friday, Dec. 4, from 5 to 9 p.m. The promotional art, by designer Rhys Meatyard, sets the tone nicely: a vintage-style Santa sprinting off with a candy cane roughly the size of a canoe, looking like a man who has just done something he will not be discussing at the family table.
The naughtiness has a soft center, though. For the run of the show, The Werk is partnering with CASA, the organization providing domestic violence support and services across Pinellas County, on its annual holiday gift drive. A donation box will sit in the gallery all month, and everything collected goes to the families CASA serves. So you can go see something scandalous and leave having done something genuinely good, which is about the most St. Pete way to spend a December afternoon.
The Werk Gallery and Object Lab opened three years ago, born from what co-owners Fritz and Matthew Faulhaber describe as an overflowing collection. The gallery side swings between big community group shows like this one and solo exhibitions from established international artists, with outdoor art markets and craft events filling in the calendar. Next door, the Object Lab bills itself as "the world's greatest gift shop," stocking affordable prints and merch from gallery artists alongside fine art, antiques, home decor, fashion and jewelry. Whether it's the greatest is between them and the other gift shops. It is, conveniently, open in December.
If you go
Nice & Naughty: A Holiday Call for Art
Submissions due: Nov. 14
Opening reception: Friday, Dec. 4, 5–9 p.m.
On view: Dec. 4–27, 2026
Where: The Werk Gallery, 2210 1st Ave. S, St. Petersburg
Hours: Wed 12–5, Thu–Sat 12–7, Sun 12–5
Submission details: thewerk.gallery
Instagram: @thewerkgallery
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