Tucked just off Safety Harbor’s quiet Main Street sits the Safety Harbor Art & Music Center, known locally as SHAMc, a place that looks less like a building and more like a living piece of art. Its walls shimmer with mosaics, glass, and sculptural details, the result of years of vision and community labor. Founded by artists Todd Ramquist and Kiaralinda—partners in life and in art—the center grew out of the legacy of their Whimzeyland home, the famed “bowling ball house” that turned into a landmark of Florida folk art. SHAMc was born from the same impulse: to create a space where art, music, and community could merge into something greater than the sum of its parts.
“From the beginning, this was about building a place where creativity wasn’t just displayed—it was lived,”
“From the beginning, this was about building a place where creativity wasn’t just displayed—it was lived,” Ramquist once said, reflecting on the years of planning and fundraising that went into opening the center in 2017. The project was fueled by grants, donations, and sweat equity from local artists who literally tiled its walls piece by piece. The result is an environment that feels enchanted, yet welcoming, as if stepping into a carnival of art where nothing is too small or too strange to be celebrated.
SHAMc quickly became more than a gallery—it became a hub. Musicians from across the country have played intimate concerts there, from Grammy-winning performers to emerging folk acts. “Playing SHAMc feels like playing in a friend’s living room, if your friend also happened to live inside a mosaic,” one touring artist joked after a show. Poets, puppeteers, storytellers, and experimental performers have all found a home here, blurring the lines between genres and audiences. The founders call it “a space for all the arts,” and it has lived up to that promise.
Today, SHAMc hosts a constant rotation of events that keep Safety Harbor buzzing with energy. Workshops range from mosaic-making and painting to songwriting and spoken word. The center’s monthly Safety Harbor SongFest, once held on a larger scale in the city’s parks, has found a more intimate rebirth within its own walls, drawing nationally known songwriters for weekends of music and collaboration. Even the pandemic, which shuttered so many venues, couldn’t silence SHAMc—artists and volunteers adapted, shifting events outdoors and online until the community could safely return.
Locals describe it not just as a venue, but as a heartbeat for Safety Harbor’s cultural life. The building itself is a beacon, with its rainbow-colored façade catching the Florida sun. Inside, no two nights are alike—you might stumble into a jazz trio one evening, a mosaic workshop the next, or a raucous poetry slam that has people spilling out onto the street. “It’s the kind of place that makes you believe in the power of art to bring people together,” said one regular visitor.
In its relatively short history, SHAMc has become synonymous with the city’s identity. Safety Harbor, once known mostly for its historic spa and sleepy small-town charm, is now on the map for its creative energy, much of it radiating from this kaleidoscopic center. Its future looks just as lively. With continued community support, grants, and the vision of its founders, SHAMc is poised to remain not only a gathering place for artists but also a model for how art can transform a town. •
