Master works

Museums have been on a rough ride over the past year, slammed first by the events of Sept. 11 and their aftermath, then by the economic slide. Attendance and donations have been down nationally. Some institutions, such as the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, have canceled exhibitions. Others, among them the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, have fired curatorial staff.

Not here. Museums are going forward with a full exhibition roster that will bring a wide range and diversity of art to this area. Take a look at some of the highlights.

GULF COAST MUSEUM OF ART

12211 Walsingham Road, Largo

(727) 518-6833 Florida Focus 2002: Inside Out, Outside In

Sept. 14 through Nov. 10

28th Annual International Miniature Sho

Jan. 19 through Feb. 2

This will probably be the museum's most popular show, with more than 900 paintings by the world's leading miniaturists.

Florida Fellowships: 25th Anniversary Survey

Feb. 15 through April 13

The state has awarded grants through the fellowship program to some of Florida's leading artists. More than 30 of them are included in this show.

In addition, through the year, the museum will show work by artist and playwright Jeff Whipple; glass artists Susan Gott, Paul Learned and Duncan McClellan; photographs by Anna Tomczak; paintings by Margaret Tolbert; an outdoor installation by Celeste Roberge, and large-scale ceramics by Barbara Sorensen.

LEEPA-RATTNER MUSEUM OF ART

600 Klosterman Road, Tarpon Springs

(727) 712-5762 Kamrowski: An American Surrealist

Sept. 8 through Oct. 27

A retrospective of the career of the American artist who embraced surrealism for decades after other artists had moved on. The show includes recent whimsical sculptures and mosaics.

Heart and Mind: The Art of Bo Breguet and Volf Roitman

Nov. 10 through Jan. 5

Side-by-side exhibitions of work by the French pop artist and Uruguayan geometric artist should produce interesting comparisons.

Expanding Expressions: Contemporary Prints from the Dorothy Mitchell Collection

June 29 through Aug. 24

Work by noted artists created at Berghoff-Cowden Editions in Tampa between 1988 and 1997.

The museum will also rotate works on paper from its permanent collection in conjunction with galleries devoted to the works of Abraham Rattner. Other special shows are by the late David Anderson; large-format, manipulated photographs by various photographers and student shows.

MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS

255 Beach Drive NE, St. Petersburg

(727) 896-2667 Red Grooms: The Graphic Work

Sept. 29 through Jan. 5

Contemporary artist Red Grooms turns his maverick eye on cultural icons and institutions to colorful and comic effect. Though he works in many mediums, this exhibition highlights his prints, more than 100, from a private collection.

Drawn Toward the Avant-Garde: Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Drawings from the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Copenhagen

Jan. 25 through March 22

The works range from 1815 to 1975, but most are from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with important names such as Cezanne, Pissaro, Manet, Degas, Gaugin and Picasso represented.

The museum will have several small shows to supplement these, including "Famous Faces: Celebrity Faces in Photography," "Artistry in Miniature: Antique Baby Rattles, 1650 to 1950," and the Penny and Elton Yasuna Collection of Contemporary Glass Sculpture.

JOHN AND MABLE RINGLING MUSEUM OF ART

5401 Bay Shore Road, Sarasota

(941) 359-5700 Rodin: A Magnificent Obsession

Oct. 12 through Jan. 5

With some of the sculptor's most recognizable works -- The Thinker, The Kiss -- among the 70 objects from the Cantor Foundation, this should be a popular show. A model of the lost-wax casting process he used, plus a documentary about his monumental Gates of Hell project, will make this instructive as well as visually pleasurable.

Chinese Ceramic Masterpieces: The Koger Collection

Feb. 1 through April 27

Part of this remarkable collection of Asian ceramics will be seen for the first time since Ira and Nancy Koger gave it to the museum.

Sacred Treasures: Early Italian Paintings from Southern Collections

May 31 to Aug. 10

Organized by the Georgia Museum of Art, these 50 oil paintings on wood include works by Botticelli, Gaddi, Fra Angelico and Rossini, and they will work well with the Ringling's collection of Baroque masterpieces.

SALVADOR DALI MUSEUM

1000 Third St. S, St. Petersburg

(727) 823-3767 Love and Death: Dali and Two French Writers

Aug. 30 through Dec. 15

Dali Objects/Dali Fetishes

Sept. 13 through Jan. 19 Permanent-collection etchings not previously shown, along with four famous objects including Dali's Lobster Telephone, will be on display.

The Shape of Color: Joan Miro's Painted Sculpture

Feb. 1 through May 4 This is the Dali's big show, a survey of Miro's colorful bronze and resin sculptures produced from the late 1960s until his death in 1983. Included are collateral materials such as sketches.

TAMPA MUSEUM OF ART

600 N Ashley Drive, Tampa

(813) 274-8130

The museum will be breaking ground on its massive new facility, but shows will go on in the current building.

Photography's Multiple Roles: Art, Document, Market, Science

Oct. 6 through Jan. 5

More than 120 20th-century photographers are represented in this show organized by the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago.

I See the Rhythm: Paintings by Michele Wood

Nov. 10 through Feb. 2

Based on Wood's illustrations for the award-winning children's book by Toyomi Igus, the show documents the musical history of African-Americans.

Magna Graecia: Greek Art from South Italy and Sicily

Feb. 2 through April 20

The museum's major show has more than 80 antiquities in the United States for the first time. The only other venue will be the Cleveland Museum of Art.

USF CONTEMPORARY ART MUSEUM

University of South Florida campus

4202 E Fowler Ave., Tampa

(813) 974-2849 USF School of Art Faculty Exhibition

Monday through Oct. 5

Some of the best local artists are teachers at USF, and a show of new work, scheduled every three years, is an important event.

The Field's Edge: Agency, Body and the African Lens

Oct. 18-21

Photography, video and film are used to explore the relationship between art and anthropology.

Unnaturally

Roxy Paine

Jan. 17 through March 15

Works by 17 international artists working in mixed-media installations, photography and sculpture look at the sometimes blurry boundaries between nature and artifice. Roxy Paine will present a special project concurrently.

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