First-ever Tampa Art Week kicks off February 19

Tampa art insiders will tell you that any week in Tampa is great for seeing art. Beyond the Tampa Museum of Art, local college galleries are always showing something interesting for free, and Ybor City’s art scene is thriving. And that’s just focusing on the visual arts.

“I feel like almost any week in Tampa could be Tampa Art Week,” says Tempus Projects founder Tracy Midulla, who’s organizing the first Tampa Art Week. “There’s so much going on.”

So why now? Because people are more open to collaboration than they were five to 10 years ago.

“There was a time when everybody was working in a silo,” Midulla told CL. “It’s really great to see people collaborating more.”

Much of that collaboration, according to Midulla, is due to a small group of strong, productive, positive women who know how to cultivate a good, collaborative environment. Among them, Midulla lists Hillsborough Community College’’s Amanda Poss, the University of South Florida’s Sarah Howard and Margaret Miller, the Museum of Fine Arts’ Katherine Pill, TMA’s Joanna Robotham, Tampa Arts Alliance’s Michele Smith, and Liz Dimmitt of Floridarama (stylized “FloridaRAMA”) and Dimmitt Chevrolet.

“These are really powerful people that are doing really important work, and they are being assisted by really important philanthropists,” says Midulla. “We have people like the Gobioffs propelling us all forward; we have people like Darryl Shaw creating opportunities; and even at USF—I feel like there’s been a little more opportunity there lately.”

Thanks to the hard work of several Tampa Bay area arts professionals and philanthropists, Tampa’s art scene is in the midst of a renaissance, and that’s worth celebrating.

There are reasons Tampa Art Week is in February, too. There’s a lot going on in Tampa art-wise next month. And having an event like this at the beginning of the year allows arts venues to let visitors know what they’re doing the rest of the year, encouraging repeat visits.

“It’s a good way to start the year,” Midulla told CL. “It’s a beautiful way for participating venues to say, ‘This is what we do. Here are the things coming up this year. We invite you back.”

It’s also the answer to a persistent question in Tampa’s art scene, “Why don’t we have a signature event other than Gasparilla?”

“We need this kind of thing so we can highlight all of the different avenues in which people in Tampa can seek out art,” Midulla concluded.

“I think now is a good time for it, not just because of all of the people who are making changes and being more collaborative. I think we are just on the edge of another cultural boom in the city. I feel like, with all of the new residents that have come from different places and all of the development that’s happening, it’s important to highlight what we are all doing. So I think that Tampa Art Week should be a little bit about unity and celebration, but also information, like here are all the cool things you can do in Tampa.”

The first Tampa Art Week runs from Wednesday-Saturday, Feb. 19-22 and includes the most active people and places in Tampa’s art scene.

• Start at the Tampa Museum of Art (120 W Gasparilla Plaza) on Wednesday, Feb. 19 for a 3 p.m. curator’s tour of “Under the Spell of the Palm Tree.” The Cuban art exhibition features more than 80 paintings, drawings, photographs, prints, mixed media, art books, and sculptures by 50 artists.

On Thursday, Feb. 20, the party moves to Ybor City, where Kress Contemporary, HCC Ybor and the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts anchor a vibrant art district. All the art venues that normally participate in the Ybor Art Tour are invited to participate in Tampa Art Week.

• Kress Contemporary (1624 E 7th Ave.) hosts an open house from 11 a.m.-8 p.m. with a Tampa Fringe open mic at 7:30 p.m., a solo exhibition of Neil Bender’s work, a group exhibition of domestic interiors and housewares called “Staying In,” and multiple open studios.
• Doors at FMoPA (1630 E 7th Ave.) will be open from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. for folks to check out “Land Land Land,” featuring photographs by Cuban-born artist José Ney Milà Espinosa exploring Afro-Cuban spiritual practices.
• Gallery114@HCC Ybor (1411 E 11th Ave.) hosts a reception and artist talk for “Eszter Sziksz: Let It Go,” a snow-white exhibition featuring several experimental printmaking projects from Sziksz’s artist residency in the arctic, from 5 p.m.-8 p.m.
• Marcolina’s Fine Arts Gallery (1517 E 7th Ave Unit B) is open from noon-9 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 20. Stop by and see “Untamed,” an exhibition exploring the connection between nature and human emotion featuring works by Guillo Pérez III, Gabrielle Pérez, Willy Pérez, Blake Emory and introducing emerging artist Morgan Guinessey.
• On Friday, Feb. 21, head to the University of South Florida Contemporary Art Museum (3821 USF Holly Dr., Tampa) for “X Factor: Latinx Artists and the Reconquest of the Everyday,” an art exhibition featuring work by 15 Latin American artists. There’s also an artists conversation at USF School of Music Barness Hall (3755 USF Holly Dr.) at 6 p.m. followed by a dessert reception at 7 p.m. at USF CAM.

Tampa Art Week’s grand finale comes on Saturday, Feb. 22, when six Tampa artists bring interactive public art projects to three Ybor City venues—Kress Contemporary, HCC Ybor and Hotel Haya—for Now on View. The free, one-day-only public art festival features a Tampa-inspired version of Fax 727’s Poetry Alley, an original Kress-inspired play by Erin Lekovic, a dance battle, a floral galaxy, and a tribute to Tampa’s LGBTQIA+ history by Victoria Alvarez.

• Start at the HCC Ybor Performing Arts Building (1411 E. 11th Ave.) for parking and a guidebook with project locations and descriptions. You can also catch an Art & History walking tour with Best of the Bay award-winning tour guide Max Herman from this location during the festival (reservations required for tours).

Interested in knowing more about Tampa Art Week? We suggest following Tampa’s most active arts venues on Instagram/Facebook.

• Tampa Museum of Art @tampamuseumofart on Instagram and Facebook
• USF CAM @irausf on Instagram and @usfcam on Facebook
• Tempus Projects @tempus_projects on Instagram and @tempusprojects on Facebook
• Kress Contemporary @kress_contemporary on Instagram
• The Florida Museum of Photographic Arts @FMoPA on Instagram and @FloridaMuseumOfPhotographicArts on Facebook
• HCC Art Galleries @hccfl_artgalleries on Instagram and @HCCFLartgalleries on Facebook.

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This article appears in Jan 23-29, 2025.