A flip of a switch Saturday will turn downtown Tampa into an extensive urban gallery of luminous outdoor art.
By ALEXANDRA ZAYAS
Published January 6, 2006
[Times photo: Daniel Wallace]
Preparing for Saturday's unveilng of Lights on Tampa, University of South Florida professor Wendy Babcox and USF graduate student Shawn Cheatham check the alignment of video projectors casting images on the windows of the National Wall Art Gallery at Ashley Drive and Kennedy Boulevard. Lights on Tampa will transform six downtown buildings using new media.
DOWNTOWN - Weeki Wachee mermaids will take long, bubbly breaths as Florida manatees lazily drift by downtown traffic along Ashley Drive. The William F. Poe Garage will offer more than a place to park, and the Tampa Museum of Art will itself become art.
Downtown Tampa will explode into an electric canvas of art and light when the mayor flips the switch Saturday for Lights on Tampa. Eight artists from as far as Paris will make up Tampa's first-ever lights display, a new public art program that will illuminate downtown.
Six displays will be unveiled Saturday: Two will be permanent; the others will be on display temporarily, ranging from one night to six months. Three more displays will appear this spring.
No one is more excited about shedding some light on downtown Tampa than the local artists selected to participate.
"It feels like a big deal," said Wendy Babcox, 42. She has spent a good part of the year working on her display from her studio at the University of South Florida.
The photography professor created a five-channel video installation that will be projected onto the windows of the National Wall Art Gallery at Ashley Drive and Kennedy Boulevard for three weeks beginning Saturday.
Babcox, who lives near Lowry Park Zoo, created an underwater-themed narrative out of footage she took of manatees at the zoo and mermaids at Weeki Wachee Springs in Hernando County. At rush hour, blue waves on windows will provide a soothing alternative to the red-yellow-green traffic lights.
"It's ... an opportunity to stop and slow down when we're sort of in a hurry, especially in a city where you're driving around, feeling kind of frantic," Babcox said.
That second glance is what Robin Nigh, the city's public art manager, hopes the project will spark. One of the goals of the $1-million public and private sector partnership is to showcase Tampa as a vibrant city that isn't afraid to embrace new technologies.
"There are many visionaries and creative people in this town, and in that sense, this program, in its edgy, cutting edge kind of way, is a great metaphor for them and for Tampa," Nigh said.
Homegrown artist Janet Echelman, 39, is always looking ahead. Next on the horizon is her transformation of the Poe parking garage into a drive-through artwork, which debuts in March and will run for six months.
Echelman, who once took private painting lessons as a teenager in South Tampa, builds large-scale sculptures that respond to environmental forces, such as wind and water, and can be seen from miles away.
Her work has transformed urban landscapes in Spain, India, Portugal, the Netherlands and New York, and Echelman is glad to bring her vision to her hometown.
"When I go to cities and other countries to do projects, I have to learn about the culture, the visual language and the meaning of the place," said Echelman, who lives in Boston. "Here, I have so much content to tap into. What is a greater treasure trove than your childhood?"
Echelman says Lights on Tampa will help the city move forward.
"It shows that Tampa is an area that cares about culture. In all the fastest-growing cities in America, culture is one of the leading reasons why companies choose to locate there. I think having a program like Lights on Tampa is part of that vision," she said.
Seminole Heights artist Jeff Whipple, 48, hopes the exhibit will expose the community to culture it hasn't experienced. His display of objects, people and place that reflect life in Tampa will be projected onto the Tampa Museum of Art this spring.
"I hope that this is another way to get attention for the visual arts and get more appreciation for what can happen in Tampa," he said. "I think the public tends to forget that there is an art scene here and it is quite large."
If artists can't get people to museum openings, Whipple says it's a good idea to bring the art to them.
"It brings the work out of the normal context of a museum where people go to," Whipple said. "And it brings it to where people are."
- Alexandra Zayas can be reached at 813 226-3354 or at azayas@sptimes.com
IF YOU GO
Lights on Tampa kicks off at 5:30 p.m. Saturday when Mayor Pam Iorio flips the switch on the illuminated display at the Municipal Office Building, 306 E Jackson St. Festivities, including live music and street vendors, will take place across the street at Lykes Gaslight Park. The Tampa Museum of Art will remain open until 9 p.m. Admission will be 50 percent off.
Displays to be unveiled
- University of Tampa, 401 W Kennedy Blvd. Title: Luminographic Concert. Running: one night. Artist: Jorge Orta, Paris. What it is: Six giant light projectors will saturate the front of UT's Plant Hall with a light and music show. Each show lasts approximately 30 minutes.
- National Wall Art Gallery, Ashley Drive and Kennedy Boulevard. Title: Taking Breath. Running: three weeks. Artist: Wendy Babcox, Tampa. What it is: Images of regional tourism and natural beauty seen through rear-screen projections.
- The News Center, 200-202 S Parker St. Title: LuminoCity. Running: five weeks. Artist: Baystage Lighting, Tampa. What it is: A light show choreographed to music.
- The Pavilion at Rivergate Tower, 400 N Ashley Drive. Title: Fade III. Running: six months. Artist: Erwin Redl, Brooklyn, N.Y. What it is: Thousands of computerized LED lights fade slowly between red and blue. These LEDs saturate their surroundings in color and give the effect that the building is breathing.
- Municipal Office Building, 306 E Jackson St. Title: Luminous Affirmations. Running: permanently. Artist: Stephen Knapp, Worcester, Mass. What it is: Reflections and refractions of light through glass, creating this painting of light.
- Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. Title: Marquee. Running: permanently. Artist: Tobey Archer, Fort Lauderdale. What it is: A pulsing fiber optic that wraps the roofline.
Displays coming this spring
- William F. Poe Garage, 800 N Ashley Drive. Artist: Janet Echelman, Boston.
- Tampa Museum of Art, 600 N Ashley Drive. Artist: Jeff Whipple, Tampa.
- Cass Street bridge. Artist: HOK/Dear Productions.
