This exhibition is not only a celebration of artistic practice in Tampa Bay but also an exercise in collaboration as it is shared between three institutions: the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota; the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg; and the Tampa Museum of Art. Working together, curators from these institutions will provide context for the diversity of art being made in Hillsborough, Manatee, Pinellas, and Sarasota Counties within the past year.

After an open call for artwork, nearly 300 entries were culled down to 57 artists. Final selections were made by curators from each institution as well as guest juror Diana Nawi, Associate Curator at the Pérez Art Museum Miami.

“This is an opportunity to focus on and celebrate Tampa Bay-area artists in an unprecedented way. It’s important to us as curators to provide context for the diverse work being made in our region,” said Katherine Pill, Curator of Contemporary Art for the MFA. “This area is home to several premier arts organizations and schools, which create a nurturing environment for contemporary art practice. I have long been aware of the significant community of artists here, but was extremely impressed with the level of work submitted,” said Christopher Jones, Associate Curator of Exhibitions at The Ringling. This sentiment was echoed by Joanna Robotham, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Tampa Museum of Art, “as a newcomer to the museum and Tampa, it has been exciting to see the breadth of artistic talent in our region. Skyway will give visitors a sense of the extraordinary work made in the Tampa Bay area.”

It is the very first time the three leading art museums in the area have worked in such close collaboration to simultaneously provide a single exhibition. “I hope that this exhibition will help to make the museum a place for dialogue, both within Tampa and across the region with our colleagues in St. Petersburg and Sarasota,” remarked Seth Pevnick, chief curator and Richard E Perry curator of Greek and Roman art at the Tampa Museum Art.

Skyway Artists:

Robert Aiosa, Caitlin Albritton, Wendy Babcox, Nathan Beard, Neil Bender, Pat Blocher, John Byrd, Amra Caus, Elisabeth Condon, Keith Crowley, Kate Cummins, William Douglas III, Santiago Echeverry, Taylor Finke, Becky Flanders, MK Foltz, Ben Galaday, Corey George, Gregory Green, Jason Hackenwerth, April Hartley, Sue Havens, Bryce Hudson, Ezra Johnson, Bahareh Khoshooee, Kate Kinder, Cassia Kite, Akiko Kotani, Dominique Labauvie, Jason Lazarus, Ya Levy-La’ford, Bruce Marsh, Cynthia Mason, Noelle Mason, Walter Matthews, Jennifer Miller, Christopher Minot, Desiree Moore, Chris Otten, Charles Parkhill, Anthony Record, Babs Reingold, Selina Roman, Claudia Ryan, Edgar Sanchez Cumbas, Gary Schmitt, Rebecca Sexton Larson, Nathan Skiles, Rob Tarbell, Peg Trezevant, Denis Versweyveld, Kirk Ke Wang, Matthew Wicks, Chasity Williams, Joo Yeon Woo, Michael Wyshock, Marie Yoho Dorsey.

This exhibition is sponsored by The Stanton Storer Embrace the Arts Foundation, the Gobioff Foundation, and Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLC.

In honor of our groundbreaking Skyway collaboration, Big Storm brewed up a craft beer to celebrate the exhibition. Each museum will serve Yellow Cable at their Skyway openings and events; the beer will also be available at our respective restaurants and cafes.

A huge thank you to our staff – Anna Glenn, Margaret Murray, Katherine Pill and Mary Szaroleta – who played a huge role in bringing this beer to life, as did Daniel Mrgan, our Beer Project artist who designed the label, and Jenn Petrini-Lovelady of Great Bay Distributors.