The St. Petersburg Arts Alliance (SPAA) is excited and honored to welcome Andrida Hosey to our Board of Directors!

Andrida McCall Hosey is a Tampa Bay Area arts educator,  actress and choreographer. She is the former lead Theater  Instructor of the Fine Arts program at John Hopkins Middle  School. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Theater Arts from  Marquette University and was the first African American female  to graduate from that program.  

In addition to starting several Bay Area liturgical dance  programs, she is the founder and director of the liturgical  movement ministry for Bethel Community Baptist Church, a  position she has held for 25 years.  

During her early career in the 80’s, Andrida found work in  the Milwaukee and Chicago area with Hansberry-Sands  Theatre Company where she received rave reviews for the role  of Cat in the play “Nights Alone” and Abbie Putnam in the play  “Desire Under The Elms.” Later in that decade, She primarily  worked in the Pittsburgh area where she was raised, with the  University Of Pittsburgh’s Kuntu Repertory Theatre and The  Three Rivers Shakespeare Company. She received rave reviews for her portrayal of the character Millicent in Red Barn  Theatre’s production of the South African play “Exclusive  Circles.”  

Recently Andrida performed in American Stage's production of  “White Rabbit Red Rabbit.” In 2022 she performed in the  stage reading of the play, “Brown Girl in the Ring" at American  Stage. She is a perennial collaborator with the local story telling organization, Your Real Stories, and she was also an  artistic contributor to the critically acclaimed “Songs of the  Civil Rights Movement” directed by September Penn. She was  an original cast member of a local Christmas production of  “Black Nativity, directed by Bob Devin Jones. Andrida herself  directed over 20 musicals at John Hopkins Middle School,  including “The Wiz” in 2011. 

She has been recognized by several community organizations  including the St. Petersburg Alumnae Chapter Delta Sigma  Theta Sorority award for “Arts and Letters Commission”; the  Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority “Footprint Service” award and the  Gathering of Women “Art, Cultural & Heritage” award. In 2022  Andrida received the Community Impact Award from American  Stage. Andrida along with her husband Boyzell, received The  2023 Studio Honors Impact Award for inspiring arts in the  community. In November 2023 Andrida received the Brilliance  Award from The Well for Life organization. Recently Andrida  and her husband received the 2024 Gwen Reese Lifetime  Award. 

Currently, Andrida is enjoying retirement by pursuing film,  commercials and voice- over acting in addition to stage  production and custom designing artistic curriculum and  programming geared toward inspiring youth and adults alike.  

Andrida is the wife of Boyzell Hosey, Senior Editor of Visual  Storytelling for ProPublica and co-founder of the Tampa Bay  Collard Green Festival. They have two children and three  grandchildren. Her passion is to help students gain personal  self-confidence through the theatrical arts. The motto she strives to live by is, “I can do all things through Christ who  strengthens me.” 

SPAA is excited for Andrida's contributions to help us strengthen and sustain the art and cultural community in St. Petersburg through collaboration, economic growth, education, and consistent funding.