Tampa Museum of Art
Encyclopedia
The Tampa Museum of Art is located in Downtown Tampa
, Florida
. The museum exhibits 20th-century fine art, as well as Greek
, Roman
, and Etruscan
antiquities
. It opened in 1979 on the banks of Hillsborough River
.
However, in 2006, the museum board and the city of Tampa agreed to use public and private funds to construct a $33 million, 66000 square feet (6,131.6 m²) new museum in redesigned Curtis Hixon Park as part of Mayor Iorio's Riverwalk project along the Hillsborough River
. The building, by architect Stanley Saitowitz, is designed to look like "a metal box sitting on a glass pedestal" and makes use of aluminum, glass, and fiber optic color-changing lights in the exterior walls to "make the building itself a work of art". A new home for the Tampa Children's Museum (now known as the Glazer Children's Museum) was built next door.
The former museum building had to be torn down to make way for the current one. In the interim, the Tampa Museum of Art was temporarily moved to the historic Centro Espanol
building in West Tampa, which had been vacant for several years. Groundbreaking for the project took place on April 18, 2008, and the grand opening of the new Tampa Museum of Art took place on February 6, 2010
Downtown Tampa
Image:Tampa_Skyline.jpg|thumb|right|350px|Downtown Tampa looking from the Hillsborough Riverpoly 2403 537 2441 500 2488 483 2516 455 2566 439 2597 410 2649 390 2682 358 2803 315 2949 342 2956 362 3068 383 3074 406 3202 431 3204 447 3332 473 3350 484 3485 1616 2446 1587 Wachovia Centerpoly 1745 1216...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. The museum exhibits 20th-century fine art, as well as Greek
Art in Ancient Greece
The arts of ancient Greece have exercised an enormous influence on the culture of many countries all over the world, particularly in the areas of sculpture and architecture. In the West, the art of the Roman Empire was largely derived from Greek models...
, Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
, and Etruscan
Etruscan civilization
Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to a civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany. The ancient Romans called its creators the Tusci or Etrusci...
antiquities
Antiquities
Antiquities, nearly always used in the plural in this sense, is a term for objects from Antiquity, especially the civilizations of the Mediterranean: the Classical antiquity of Greece and Rome, Ancient Egypt and the other Ancient Near Eastern cultures...
. It opened in 1979 on the banks of Hillsborough River
Hillsborough River (Florida)
The Hillsborough River is a river located in the state of Florida in the USA. It arises in the Green Swamp near the juncture of Hillsborough, Pasco and Polk counties, and flows through Pasco and Hillsborough Counties to an outlet in the city of Tampa on Tampa Bay. The name Hillsborough River first...
.
Museum History
Since its inception, museum planners knew that the Tampa Museum of Art's original building was too small for its collection. Proposals for expansion or relocation were the subject of discussion and controversy for years. Several different plans were proposed either by the city of Tampa or the museum board, including:- in 2001, architect Rafael VinolyRafael ViñolyRafael Viñoly is an Uruguayan architect living in the United States.-Biography:He was born in Montevideo, Uruguay to Román Viñoly Barreto, and Maria Beceiro ....
designed a dramatic $76 million building which would have included a huge metal canopy overhanging nearby city streets. The project proved too costly and perhaps unsafe in a hurricane. - From 2003 to 2005, Tampa Mayor Pam IorioPam IorioPam Iorio is an American politician and author, who served as mayor of Tampa, Florida from 2003 to 2011.Her first book, Straightforward, is expected to be released in November 2011...
proposed that the museum be relocated to one of several abandoned or underutilized buildings downtown, including an old federal courthouse and a small office tower. However, the museum board was unenthusiastic about the choices. As it turned out, converting the courthouse into usable museum space proved too expensive and disagreement over the appraised price of the office tower scrapped those plans as well.
However, in 2006, the museum board and the city of Tampa agreed to use public and private funds to construct a $33 million, 66000 square feet (6,131.6 m²) new museum in redesigned Curtis Hixon Park as part of Mayor Iorio's Riverwalk project along the Hillsborough River
Hillsborough River (Florida)
The Hillsborough River is a river located in the state of Florida in the USA. It arises in the Green Swamp near the juncture of Hillsborough, Pasco and Polk counties, and flows through Pasco and Hillsborough Counties to an outlet in the city of Tampa on Tampa Bay. The name Hillsborough River first...
. The building, by architect Stanley Saitowitz, is designed to look like "a metal box sitting on a glass pedestal" and makes use of aluminum, glass, and fiber optic color-changing lights in the exterior walls to "make the building itself a work of art". A new home for the Tampa Children's Museum (now known as the Glazer Children's Museum) was built next door.
The former museum building had to be torn down to make way for the current one. In the interim, the Tampa Museum of Art was temporarily moved to the historic Centro Espanol
El Centro Espanol of West Tampa
The El Centro Español of West Tampa is a historic site in the West Tampa neighborhood of Tampa, Florida, United States. It is located at 2306 North Howard Avenue. On July 30, 1974, it was added to the U.S...
building in West Tampa, which had been vacant for several years. Groundbreaking for the project took place on April 18, 2008, and the grand opening of the new Tampa Museum of Art took place on February 6, 2010
Artist exhibitions
- Worlds Apart: Myth & History, Gods & Mortals, Heroes & Hybrids
- Realism: Selections From the Martin Z. Margulies Collection
- Syntax: Text and Symbols For a New Generation
- The Hillsborough River: From the Green Swamp To the Bay