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Football casts shadow on Tampa's art ambition

The city's lights display was planned to be center stage. Then came the Bucs' playoff game.

By JANET ZINK
Published January 4, 2006

	[Times photo: Daniel Wallace]
	Lights on Tampa is a collection of six public art installations, which are set to be illuminated at 5:30 p.m. Saturday. The Bucs play at 4:30 p.m.

TAMPA - David Lubin was all set to head downtown at 5:30 p.m. Saturday to photograph the launch of Lights On Tampa, an ambitious public art project designed to showcase the city's urban core with dancing lights.

All set, until the Tampa Bay Buccaneers made it to the playoffs with a game at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.

"It's just one of those things - do you go to your friend's wedding or the finals of the Stanley Cup?" said Lubin, a Tampa doctor.

Lubin said he'll still check out Lights On Tampa - after he watches the game.

City officials and arts supporters are hoping thousands of people will be downtown Saturday when Mayor Pam Iorio flips on the switch for Lights On Tampa, which has been billed as a cutting-edge, one-of-a-kind art exhibit. But the Bucs' schedule had them scrambling Tuesday to find ways for lovers of football and the arts to get their fill of each.

Possibilities include setting up monitors in downtown storefronts so people at Lights On Tampa can monitor the game. Emcees at exhibit sites will give score updates.

Organizers also are inquiring about getting images of Lights On Tampa on the big screens at Raymond James Stadium and on national television during game breaks.

"It's a wonderful opportunity," said Robin Nigh, Tampa's public art manager, offering a glass-half-full perspective.

The exhibit features six downtown buildings illuminated with videos, fiber optics and lights set to music. Two of the displays are permanent. Others will be up for several weeks or months.

But a piece by Paris-based artist Jorge Orta is a one-night-only event on Saturday. Orta will bathe the University of Tampa's Plant Hall with a colorful light show accompanied by music. He's an internationally known artist who has done similar projects on a volcano in Japan and on Machu Picchu in Peru.

Bucs fever, however, is likely to diminish attendance for the ceremonial start of Lights On Tampa.

"What a shame," said Art Keeble, executive director of the Arts Council of Hillsborough County. "I want everybody in town to be at Lights On Tampa, but 65,000 people will be at the stadium, and a lot of people will be watching (the game) at home."

City officials want football fans to know that Lights On Tampa runs until midnight, and downtown restaurants will be open late, giving people a place to celebrate or, perish the thought, commiserate after the game.

"Instead of congregating in the middle of surface parking lots, they can come and look at art," said City Council member Linda Saul-Sena.

Skeptics who question whether the sports and arts audiences overlap might consider this:

A 2004 survey conducted by Scarborough Research showed that 38 percent of the people in the Tampa Bay region who went to a professional sporting event went to an art museum the same year. That's a higher percentage of museum visitors than in the general population.

Stan Lifsey, a real estate broker, is one of those who describes himself as both an art enthusiast and a football fan.

He had planned to go to Lights On Tampa, but now he's not certain when he'll get there.

"If it was a regular season game, I would go to the Lights On Tampa for sure," he said.

For those torn between the options, Peter Hobson, inside counsel for Pepin Distributing Co., says Saturday's scheduling conflict is "life in the big city."

"Our city has an NFL playoff football game at the same time we're having an opening of a first-of-its-kind, world-class art exhibit," he said. "How many cities in the United States have this problem this weekend? None. We're it. It's a win. Every city would love to have this complaint."

Pepin has a box at Raymond James, and Hobson said he could be going to the game. But his company contributed $50,000 to the $1-million bill for Lights On Tampa, and he helped plan it. So he'll be with the mayor at dusk.

"There's no doubt in my mind I'll be curious as to how the game is progressing as we're walking around," he said.

"The important thing to me isn't that I'm at the game. The important thing is whether the team wins. There will be plenty of people to cover for me and yell and scream," he said. "There's only one kickoff, no pun intended, for Lights On Tampa. There will be plenty of kickoffs for the Bucs, even this year. Because they'll win."

Janet Zink can be reached at 813 226-3401 or jzink@sptimes.com

[Last modified January 4, 2006, 01:23:02]