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| The Icon II is a piece of public art from the 1970s in front of the performing arts theatres. |
Most of the University of South Florida community are unaware of their campus that's full of art. Reporter, Milca Rivera, explores the reasoning behind the lack of awareness of the public art. While reporter, Thayesha Lewin, interviews artist Adam Kitzerow, one of the many artists displaying their work on campus.
Click here for Thayesha Lewin's story.
Art hidden in plain view at USF
by Milca Rivera
Click here for Thayesha Lewin's story.
Art hidden in plain view at USF
by Milca Rivera
TAMPA, Fla. – Most students, faculty and staff at the University of South Florida’s Tampa campus have walked by, under and through, sat on or near, and possibly even eaten on art without knowing it.
It seems most of USF’s Tampa community is unaware of the14 public art works, print shop and three art galleries located on campus.
Jessica Scharo, 21, a senior psychology major, said Tuesday she hasn’t noticed public art on campus. “I just go to my classes, and go home,” Scharo said.
According to USF’s Contemporary Art Museum’s website, “The Public Art Program focuses on site-responsive works, typically resulting in creation of places, as opposed to objects.”
In other words, gathering spaces such as courtyards and gardens are formed on campus by the creation of public art.
It seems most of USF’s Tampa community is unaware of the14 public art works, print shop and three art galleries located on campus.
Jessica Scharo, 21, a senior psychology major, said Tuesday she hasn’t noticed public art on campus. “I just go to my classes, and go home,” Scharo said.
According to USF’s Contemporary Art Museum’s website, “The Public Art Program focuses on site-responsive works, typically resulting in creation of places, as opposed to objects.”
In other words, gathering spaces such as courtyards and gardens are formed on campus by the creation of public art.
Senior Danielle Superior, 21, a public relations major at USF, said she is somewhat aware of the public art on campus.
“I know there are forms on campus, but I never thought of them as art,” Superior said. “When I think about it, I guess they are.”
Anyone in the area between Cooper and Ferguson halls and the Communications and Information Sciences building has probably walked through the black, steel rays of Nancy Holt’s sculpture, “Solar Rotary.”
Sitting in the area, Superior said she’s not sure what the art work is about, but believes it has to do something with the sun or summer solstice. According to CAM’s website, Superior is not far off.
“Solar Rotary” comes to life at noon during summer solstice which occurs around June 20 every year. The work’s shadow caster casts a circle of light around the central seat of the piece during solstice. The work also casts light on the five plaques in the ground surrounding the piece. Each plaque marks a historic day in the state of Florida and is illuminated by the sun on the day engraved on the plaque.
Members of the USF community may have also glimpsed the various curvilinear shapes of Alice Aycock’s sculpture “Maze 2000” rising up between the Psychology and Communication Disorders and Fine Arts buildings.
People walking through the rotunda of the Education building just have to look up to see the collaborative works “The Frogs: For the Children of Tampa” and “Amerika: For the Children of Tampa” by Tim Rollins and Kids of Survival (K.O.S).
According to CAM’s website, Rollins, hired in the 1980s by the public school system, formed a relationship with students who were labeled marginal by school administrators. Rollins realized the students were talented visual artists who had yet to master reading.
“Rollins made reading the classics a prerequisite and point of departure for the creation of visual images by the students,” according to CAM’s website.
“The Frogs” and “Amerika” are abstract visual representations of the stories of the same names by Aristophanes and Franz Kafka, respectively.
Doug Hollis’s “Unspecific Gravity,” located between the Physics, Chemistry, Science and Biology buildings is a site-specific piece with fountain elements, pathways and seating with a scientific theme.
The aforementioned works are only four of the 14 public art works found on USF’s Tampa campus.
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What if a person touring USF Tampa’s public art decides it’s too hot outside or is attempting to escape a sudden Florida rain shower, but wants to continue looking at art? All a person would have to do is head to the air-conditioned buildings housing the CAM, Graphicstudio and Centre Gallery.
Even though the museum, studio and gallery are located in marked buildings and advertise their presences, the USF Tampa community seems almost oblivious to their existences as well.
The Contemporary Art Museum (CAM)
David Waterman, 48, head of security for 14 years at the CAM, said that on average the museum gets 30 visitors a day. A small number considering that USF’s student population is more than 40,000.
According to the 2010-2011 Exhibitions and Events brochure of USF’s Institute for Research in Art (IRA), the CAM “organizes and presents significant and investigative exhibitions of contemporary art from Florida, the United States and around the world.”
Previous CAM exhibitions have included the work of painter Frances Barth; photographer James Casebere; painter, drawer and sculptor Emily Cheng; visual artist Lucy Orta; and pop artist Ed Ruscha.
Graphicstudio
Located on Spectrum Boulevard near the Embassy Suites, Graphicstudio, though somewhat removed from most of the campus hubbub, is an important and interesting aspect of the USF art community.
Kristin DuFrain, 30, curator and registrar of Graphicstudio, said the studio is a non-profit print shop that, by invitation only, brings in artists from around the world.
“Artists work at a facility pushing the envelopes of print and sculpture,” DuFrain said.
Even though the museum, studio and gallery are located in marked buildings and advertise their presences, the USF Tampa community seems almost oblivious to their existences as well.
The Contemporary Art Museum (CAM)
David Waterman, 48, head of security for 14 years at the CAM, said that on average the museum gets 30 visitors a day. A small number considering that USF’s student population is more than 40,000.
According to the 2010-2011 Exhibitions and Events brochure of USF’s Institute for Research in Art (IRA), the CAM “organizes and presents significant and investigative exhibitions of contemporary art from Florida, the United States and around the world.”
Previous CAM exhibitions have included the work of painter Frances Barth; photographer James Casebere; painter, drawer and sculptor Emily Cheng; visual artist Lucy Orta; and pop artist Ed Ruscha.
Graphicstudio
Located on Spectrum Boulevard near the Embassy Suites, Graphicstudio, though somewhat removed from most of the campus hubbub, is an important and interesting aspect of the USF art community.
Kristin DuFrain, 30, curator and registrar of Graphicstudio, said the studio is a non-profit print shop that, by invitation only, brings in artists from around the world.
“Artists work at a facility pushing the envelopes of print and sculpture,” DuFrain said.
Graphicstudio offers internships and classes to students. Tours of the facility are also available to anyone who visits.
Anyone can own a piece of art created at Graphicstudio. According to DuFrain, the shop will be holding its annual benefit sale Oct. 8. Work will be discounted by 10 to 60 percent and all proceeds will go back into Graphicstudio research and development.
Centre Gallery
Room 2700 of the Marshall Student Center (MSC) is home to “the only fully student run non-profit exhibition space in the state of Florida,” according the gallery’s website.
While the gallery gets about 4,000 visitors per semester, Lauren Branzei, 22, a USF master’s student in art history and director of operations of the gallery, said that a lot of people don’t know the gallery is located in the MSC.
Branzei believes that USF does a good job of promoting the arts, but it’s difficult to reach such a large student body. Branzei also believes that fear and time restrict people from learning about the arts on campus.
“Taking a spin around this room can take two minutes to an hour,” Branzei said. “It’s really up to the person to decide how much of an interaction they want, and I sometimes think it can intimidating for people who may walk in here and look at something and say, ‘I don’t get it.’”
The gallery remedies the situation by having explanations by the artist next to art work.
One of Branzei’s favorite exhibitions was, “So You Think You Can Paint?”
“Anyone could participate and we got such a diverse amount of work from all different levels,” Branzei said. “It was really cool to see people get excited about having their stuff on the gallery walls. I just really like the energy of that exhibit.”
Branzei said the Centre Gallery is relevant to campus because it offers a great opportunity for students to encounter art created by alumni, faculty, staff and students and that any student from any department can propose a show to be featured in the gallery.
To learn where all the campus art is located, check out the interactive Google map located below.
View Art at USF in a larger map
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