If you missed the first Skyway exhibition of local talent in 2017, don’t despair. It’s time for the second iteration of this well-received show, and there’s a call for artists to submit proposals for Skyway 2020, a collaborative effort to celebrate the arts and artists in the Tampa Bay area.
Following the success of the initial Skyway: A Contemporary Collaboration, four local museums are staging a joint exhibition once again. The exhibition will feature works from selected artists who live in the five counties served by the museums.
“We’re very excited to be included in the exhibition this year,” said Sarah Howard, curator of public art and social practice at the University of South Florida in Tampa. “This year we’ve expanded to add Pasco County because we want to include the entire region.”
The exhibition will display the selected works at The Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, the Tampa Museum of Art, and the University of South Florida Contemporary Art Museum in Tampa. The first show featured three museums; the new show features the addition of USF’s CAM.
Skyway 2020 is also inviting artists’ collectives to submit proposals to include some non-traditional works that may feature multimedia collaborations.
“We want to explore the breadth and depth of art in the area,” said Howard. “The mission is to get an overview of what’s out there in our region, so we’re eager to have multimedia presentations as well as more traditional art.”
Curators from the four participating museums will select the works, which can be from many disciplines, including works on paper, painting, sculpture, photography, video, performance, sound, research-based art, and site-specific installations. Artists can also submit examples of works and past projects that show the artist’s skills, but only original works of art completed after December 2017 will be considered for the exhibition. Artists and art collectives throughout Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, and Sarasota counties may apply for the exhibition.
The selections will not be limited to a specific locale, but could be displayed in any of the four venues.
“The curators choose what they like, but it doesn’t have to be from an artist in their specific area.” said Howard.
The curators of the four museums really enjoy the collaboration required to bring the show together.
“I’m excited to collaborate across institutions again,” said Katherine Pill, curator of contemporary art at the MFA, St. Pete. “It’s such a pleasure to work with curatorial counterparts from across the Tampa Bay area.
“In the last iteration of Skyway we exhibited artists who were in varied stages of their careers — emerging artists along with more established ones,” said Pill. “I hope that continues, as it’s exciting to see a true mix of what’s happening [here].”
At the Ringling, Christopher Jones, curator of photography, likes to see the diversity Skyway generates.
“In the first Skyway there were nearly 300 submissions,” he said. “It was great to see such a response, but only 57 works were selected for the show, which makes the selection process difficult.”
Jones says in 2017 there were a variety of submissions, from emerging artists just beginning to experienced photographers well along in their careers.
“We had work from students who’d just gotten their BFAs to a professor emeritus,” he said. “We encourage everyone to participate… we’re expecting a larger response than last time.”
Because the exhibition is spread across four museums, Skyway is able to showcase a broad spectrum of local talent.
“We don’t have a set number of artists for each venue,” said Pill. “Each institution has carved out a significant amount of space for Skyway, but we hope to exhibition multiple works by each selected artist so that we provide significant context for their individual practices.”
Artworks and projects for the exhibition will be selected by participating museum curators including Joanna Robotham, curator of modern and contemporary art at the Tampa Museum of Art; and Ola Wlusek, the Keith D. and Linda L. Monda curator of modern and contemporary art at The Ringling. The upcoming exhibition has a guest juror, Claire Tancons, an independent curator and scholar whose practice takes a global focus on the conditions of cultural production. Tancons has curated biennials around the world, including Prospect.1, New Orleans; the 2008 Gwangju Biennial in China; and the 2019 Sharjah Biennial in the United Arab Emirates.
“Claire truly adds a global aspect to the show,” said Pill.
Fnd out more about Skyway 2020 and view submission guidelines. The submission deadline is September 3. 2019.
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This article appears in Jun 27 – Jul 4, 2019.