If I told you that two local street artists recently graffitied the northeast façade of the Tampa Museum of Art, you'd probably assume I was describing a heinous act of vandalism, right?
But a massive collaborative mural by BASK and Tes One — two artists who grew up under the influence of graffiti in St. Pete — that stretches from the museum's entryway to its northern terminus, and is visible from Ashley Drive, is just a fraction of the subversively contemporary activities going on at the museum right now. All of it is officially sanctioned — and all of it goes on view Friday night.
First, an explanation: The "old" museum is gone. The staff, along with the TMA's collections of antiquities, studio glass and 20th-century prints, photographs and the odd painting, has moved to a temporary location at the Centro Español in West Tampa. Come February, the Ashley Drive structure will be demolished, while construction on Stanley Saitowitz's new LED-clad box (projected to open in 2009) launches an adventure that will help shape Tampa for decades to come.
Lucky for us, the Tampa Museum of Art has decided to exit downtown with a bang. Last year, the museum's board of trustees agreed to turn over the Jan. 18 Art After Dark — a monthly Friday-night art party geared to the Gen X/Gen Y set and the last event scheduled to be held in the old building — to Avant Garde, the museum's young professionals group. Avant Garde, with its infusion of fresh blood and new leadership, is determined to be regarded as more than a group that uses the museum as a pretext for cocktails, explained Brad Lunz, a member of the AG steering committee and one of the organizers of Retro Perspectives.
The ambitious Art After Dark is the group's coming-out party, and they've integrated into the festivities serious proof of their investment in the museum: a graphic timeline of TMA's history (culled from many documents that had never before been digitized for storage) and a video "toast" to the museum compiled from segments by 100 local art enthusiasts (myself and CL editor David Warner included) that will be projected during the event.
In addition to serving the museum, this new incarnation of Avant Garde is also committed to catering to local artists. They pushed hard for permission (from both the museum and the city, which owns the building) to give BASK and Tes One free rein. Inside, most of the museum's exhibition space has been given over to local artists — far more than at any other Art After Dark. When I stopped by for a preview last week, walking through the empty building reminded me of childhood fantasies about arriving at school only to find that the teachers have disappeared. In jeans and T-shirts, artists and members of Avant Garde lugged pieces around and relished the prospect of dismantling vitrines. The patients were running the asylum.
For artists, the empty museum presents a tantalizing prospect: a chance to work on a grand scale. Many of the works on view are site-specific installations generated specifically for this opportunity: the venerable Theo Wujcik's "artist's nest" as well as (coincidentally) a large white nest and egg sculpture by Anthony Zollo and Lynda Bostrom, two talented students from Ringling College of Art and Design. Alongside BASK and Tes One's larger-than-life mural, Tampa artist Jeff Whipple will screen an 80-foot-long by 15-foot-tall video (a technical feat accomplished by synching five projectors) on the exterior of the building. In a gallery devoted to so-called "lowbrow" art — pop surrealist and representational art inspired by graffiti, tattoo and printmaking — Josh Pearson will construct a physical representation of the hybrid "octo-phant" creature that appears in his paintings.
Experimental Skeleton's Joe Griffith will take over an area in the former antiquities gallery near a display of new, modular paintings by Edgar Sanchez Cumbas that may be rearranged by visitors. And many, many artists will display their work on the museum's walls: Brandon Dunlap, Jen Saavedra, Marina Williams, Tracy Midulla Reller, Mitzi Gordon, Lazlo Horvath, Jason Fondren, Laura Mae Dooris and Daniel Mantilla are just some of the participants.
Sketchbook
Not to be outdone, Florida Craftsmen Gallery also pulls back the curtain on a show filled with exciting, emerging talent this weekend. Highly Recommended features craft-based work by 15 up-and-coming Florida artists recommended to the gallery by artists, teachers, gallery owners and other arts professionals throughout the state. Two of the 15 earned the accolade “most highly recommended” from juror and Tampa Museum of Art curator Elaine Gustafson. They’ll get solo shows — their first — at Florida Craftsmen Gallery. Work by Liliana Crespi of Watson will go on view during Highly Recommended in a smaller gallery, while Sean Erwin, a graduate student at USF, will wait until September. Erwin’s hilarious and painstaking ceramic Virgin Mary water fountain (complete with yellow rubber ducky) won him the honor. Other highlights to watch for include “burn books” by Martin Casuso (Miami), highly personal visual narratives bound to a circular “spine” of incense sticks that invite catharsis through burning; intricate lamp-worked glass and metal jewelry by Haley Holeman (Ft. Lauderdale); whimsical sculpture by Judith Salmon (Gulfport); and the kinetic constructions of Scott Fleenor (Wesley Chapel), a frequent participant in shows at the West Tampa Center for the Arts. An opening reception takes place Fri., Jan. 18, 6-9 p.m.; for more information, go to floridacraftsmen.net.
Have you ever dreamed of creating large-scale, commissioned public art — or just wondered how the process unfolds? Hillsborough Community College has the symposium for you. On Wed., Jan. 23, at 6:30 p.m., the college offers a free evening of insight into the process of creating public art. It’s geared to artists of all levels, though art aficionados may also find it fascinating. Melissa LeBaron, project coordinator of art programs for the city of Tampa, moderates a series of presentations. They include artists Leslie Fry and Tobey Archer (whose latest fiber-optic light installation goes on view in the HCC Ybor gallery Jan. 24); arts administrators Vincent Ahern, director of public art at USF’s Institute for Research in Art, and William Iverson, project manager for Hillsborough County Public Art. The symposium takes place on HCC’s Ybor campus in the performing arts building auditorium. For more information or to R.S.V.P., contact Carolyn Kossar at 813-253-7674.
This article appears in Jan 16-22, 2008.