South Tampa Gallery was founded by Tampa-based businessman, Eric Polins. The site features his artwork along with his mother's, Anna T. Reinstein-Polins. Both bios are viewable below.

Eric R. Polins

Born in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, but grew up in every state on the east coast do to his father's consulting career. As a young boy he turned out 8mm features spliced for home movies with such titles as Monkey on Fire (not to be confused with Man on Fire). The son of an engineer and illustrator, young Polins was trained for a career in art and became so proficient he was published by age 12.

Because of his families extensive moving, Polins begged his parents to send him to military school after seeing the movie Taps. During a move his family made in the 11th grade, his father died suddenly of congestive heart failure. Polins would return to Camden Military Academy in Camden, South Carolina for his senior year to graduate third in his class with honors. Polins attended The Pennsylvania State University as a journalism broadcasting major in 1987.

He tackled the arts vigorously both in and out of the classroom. By the age of 20, he had emulated Jackson Pollock, Mark Chagall and his distant relative, Frederick Remington. While at Penn State he contributed to the campus radio and television station. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps during the summer of 1990 and spent 13 weeks at Parris Island. Do to a knee injury and surgery he would later receive an honorable/medical discharge within a year. He then left college in 1992 with three credits short of his B.A. in journalism.

He moved to northern Virginia for a much needed job with his brother writing radio ads and press releases for his franchised weight loss corporation. Shortly after, his brother sold the business and moved to Florida. Jobless and confused, Polins would try several different careers. They ranged from radio stations to magazines, but he always remained in the arena of communication. It is at this time, the darkest of times, he would write various works of award winning poetry and a children's book that would later be illustrated by his mother and published in 2004. He returned to Pennsylvania to complete his remaining three credits and graduated from Penn State with a B.A. in Journalism Broadcasting in 1993.

In 1995 Polins moved to Tampa, Florida and tried his talent as an actor for two years. He was an extra, stand-in and feature in everything from pilots and TV shows to mainstream blockbusters. He would eventually reach a few speaking roles in some "B" low-budget films; however, He remained unfulfilled.

After two years in the Florida film industry, Polins served on the creative team of two Tampa-based advertising agencies. In 1999 Polins accepted a position with a Tampa-based Internet Incubator. There, Polins served as the Marketing Director and created the brand platform for The Agency Applet™, for which he was featured in Adweek Magazine. Polins also negotiated the Web site design and implementation of Nokia Latin America and was directly responsible for securing the first interactive Addys Web site project for the American Advertising Federation.

In early 2000, Polins co-founded Coniglio Polins, an interactive firm based in Tampa. Coniglio Polins would later merge with marketing consulting veterans Hill & Associates to form Hill, Coniglio, Polins & Associates in 2003. At HCP, Polins serves as a managing partner and a senior consultant for broadcast/film, IT solutions, and creative direction.

Polins is in the process of producing three films in the next four years with Gulf+Atlantic Films. As an offshoot of the Descansos project, he recently teamed with Director Joe Kipikash to launch RoadsideTributes, a free posting service for friends and family members who would like to create tributes to lost love ones, not on the roadside, but on the Information Superhighway.

Polins has been married eight years to his beautiful wife Maria. The two were best friends during college, but never actually dated! Maria is an Internet Consultant and restores and sells homes for a living. They live in south Tampa in a 100+ year-old original Bayshore home that was moved in the 1940s one block inland. They have a St. Bernard named Winfield and three cats. Together they enjoy home renovation, art, film, antiques, and kayaking.

Federal Affairs Committee, Tampa Chamber, 2007
Florida Motion Picture & Television Association, Professional Member, 2007
Feed the Felines Fundraiser, Founder/Chair, The Big Cat Rescue, 2007
Business Committee for the Arts, Tampa Bay Member, 2007
Emerge Tampa, Mentor/Protégé Program, 2007 Mentor
The Florida Aquarium, Arts Committee, 2007
Rotary International Australia Group Study Exchange 2006
Hillsborough Education Foundation, Marketing Committee, 2006-present
Tampa Museum of Art, PR/Marketing Committee, 2006-present
Gasparilla Film Festival, Volunteer/Donor, 2006- present
Renaissance Center for the Arts, Board Member, 2005-present
Susan G. Komen 3-Day Cancer Walk, Team Leader 2005
Leadership Tampa Alumni, Graduate 2005
Sierra Club, Professional Member, 2005-present
American Marketing Association, Member, 2004- present
Tampa Bay Advertising Federation, Member, 2000- present
Tampa Bay Penn State Alumni Club, 1996- present

Anna T. Reinstein-Polins

Born on June 26, 1935 in a farmhouse in Royersford, Pennsylvania, Reinstein knew from a young age that she would be an artist when she grew up. Visits to her grandfather's home in Philadelphia would give her exposure to the beautiful artwork and sculpture of distant relatives Frederick and Claude Remington. On more than one occasion, Reinstein would tell her parents that someday she too would paint like them. Her parents however had musical plans for young Reinstein. She would not have this and knew she had art in her veins and remained persistent in her love for a life of art. After many discussions at the dinner table, it was decided that Reinstein would enter Moore College of Art for Women in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She majored in Fashion Illustration, but upon graduation decided to sacrifice a career in New York after meeting Eugene Robert Polins, a young industrial engineer that had recently attended the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business,. The two actually met during their daily train commutes to and from school. At 24, Reinstein married Polins and they would eventually have two sons, eight years apart; Greg and Eric.

Her first job was as a fashion illustrator with Hess Brothers in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Two years later, Polins switched gears and became an art teacher at Phoenixville Senior High School in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. While teaching high school art, Polins returned to college at Kutztown University in Kutztown, Pennsylvania for state certification in art education.

Polins would later travel most of the east coast living in various states, due to her husband's engineering career. However, no matter what small town or city they lived in, Polins never stopped teaching art.

While living in Statesville, North Carolina, her beloved husband of 31 years died from congestive heart failure at the tender age of 52. Polins returned to Pennsylvania in 1987 with her youngest son, Eric, who attended Pennsylvania State University. Polins taught art for the next ten years at Reading Central Catholic High School in Reading, Pennsylvania. During this difficult decade, Polins would return to Kutztown University to receive her masters in art education. She graduated Magna Cum Laude. She also illustrated a children's book her son wrote in 1989 that was eventually published in 2004; entitled The Slamina Moon.

Over the years, Polins has received many awards for teaching and creating art. In 1997, Polins followed her sons to Tampa, Florida with her beloved Siberian Husky named Shasha. Polins is currently in her 32nd year of teaching art at Northside Christian School in Saint Petersburg, Florida. Recently, Polins started painting heavily again in order to exhibit at various shows and galleries with her youngest son, Eric, who is also an artist.

"Everything is beautiful in its own way."
Ray Stevens