Sure, "good things come in small packages" — unless you're at the University of Tampa, where the new 30,000-square-foot R.K. Bailey Art Studios is breathing new life into a 70-year-old Florida Fairgrounds building. Included in a 1971 property exchange between UT and the city of Tampa, the facility was recently transformed, courtesy of the Bailey Family Foundation's $2 million donation.Male benefactors in the community-minded Tampa family are all memorably named R.K. Bailey; that's Ron K. Bailey the father, and two sons, R. Kyle and R. Kent. Their foundation has awarded over 200 annual post-secondary scholarships throughout Hillsborough, Polk and Pasco counties.

Following two years of renovation, the new building opened in fall 2003. The official, open-to-the-public dedication is 10 a.m. on Sat., Oct. 2, when renowned artist Miriam Schapiro is also honored. Along with the Bailey family, dignitaries include Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio, UT President Ronald L. Vaughn, and Dean Jeffrey Klepfer of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Miriam Schapiro in Tampa opens simultaneously to the public. Curated by Dorothy Cowden, director of UT's new Scarfone/Hartley Gallery and STUDIO-f, Schapiro's work inaugurates the gallery's state-of-the-art, environmentally controlled space, a distinct change from meandering gallery configurations and structural distractions. Though 800 square feet smaller, ample wall space for hanging large works to advantage is enhanced by high ceilings and natural light. Circling the studios, an interior hallway creates a long chain of additional exhibition space.

Art majors on the 90-acre campus have tripled during the last decade, now numbering between 250 and 300. Art programming also expanded significantly. With facilities stretched to the limit in old center-of-the-campus fairground buildings, expansion was a priority. Among new amenities are drawing, design and printing studios, photography laboratory and darkroom, art history classrooms and a dance studio.

Cowden, the Scarfone's director since its opening in 1977, also runs the 14-year-old STUDIO-f print facility initiated by the late Julio Juristo. Since 1999 she's invited one major artist a year for a two-week residence, creating monoprints under supervision of Master Printer Carl Cowden (Dorothy's son). Collaboration between UT and "dynamite artists" prompted Dorothy to call STUDIO-f "the jewel of the university." Miriam Schapiro will be in residence from Oct. 4 to 15.

R.K. Bailey Art Studios, sporting classy glass art nouveau front doors, are located at 310 North Boulevard (the corner of North B Street), next to the Bob Martinez Sports Center. Diagonally across from a spacious (and free) parking garage, the new location eases the public's formerly problematic access to the art gallery. Thanks to the Bailey Family Foundation's generosity, downtown Tampa's cultural health has another notch in its belt.

—Adrienne M. Golub

This article appears in Sep 29 – Oct 5, 2004.