- September 9, 2024
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Everyone knows about the Great American Road Trip. Long before the NBC reality show of the same name, Mom and Dad would pack the kids in the station wagon and head for national parks, Disney or Busch Gardens, staying in Howard Johnson's or camping along the way.
But what if you're an art lover and prefer to while away the dog days of summer in air-conditioned galleries before adjourning to the museum gift shop or cafe? We've got just the road trip for you.
Five area museums — two in Sarasota, one in St. Petersburg and two in Tampa —have collaborated to bring you the freshest in Florida art. Their joint exhibition is called "Skyway," after the bridge on Interstate 275 that serves as the gateway to Tampa Bay.
Best of all, the cultural institutions — The Ringling Museum of Art, the Sarasota Art Museum, The Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, the University of South Florida's Contemporary Art Museum in Tampa and the Tampa Museum of Art — are offering reciprocal admission to members.
That means you can see all five "Skyway" exhibitions for the price of one membership. Consult each institution for details. If you don't feel like opening up your wallet, stop by USF's Contemporary Art Museum. That show is free.
To do all five shows in one fell swoop (or two), you'll want to get the timing right. The window when all the exhibitions are open at the same time runs from Aug. 28 to Oct. 27.
This is the third "Skyway" collaboration — the others were in 2021 and 2017. It also marks the first time that five museums are included in the triennial show. This year's newcomer is the Sarasota Art Museum.
The last time around, the exhibit was also held online. In-person visitors were required to wear masks and practice social distancing due to pandemic precautions. This year, you can roam free, but you have to see the show in person.
The Ringling kicked off the "Skyway" triennial on May 25. Each museum and its curators have taken their own approach to the exhibition, which attracted submissions from nearly 300 artists.
Of these, 63 artists representing Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas and Sarasota counties were chosen by the participating museums' curators with the help of guest curator Evan Garza, a curatorial fellow at MASS MoCA, in North Adams, Massachusetts.
The big difference between this "Skyway" show and earlier iterations is the breadth and quality of the works, says Christopher Jones, the Stanton B. and Nancy W. Kaplan Curator of Photography and Media Arts at The Ringling. "A lot of artists have moved to the Tampa Bay area since 2017, the year of the first exhibition," Jones says.
Some of the newcomers came to study or teach art at Tampa Bay educational institutions and remained in the area.
How did the curators decide how the works of the show's artists would be divvied up among the participating museums? It's a good question. Evidently, a bit of "horse trading" was involved, but some people in the rarified art world prefer not to call it that.
Read below for each museum's take on "Skyway," which explores such themes as identity, community and environment. The statement by the participating curators in the catalog says, "This exhibition is an investment in bold ideas, aspirational values, and resilience in the face of division."
In other words, prepare to be dazzled.
If it's scale you're looking for, The Ringling's "Skyway" installation won't disappoint. The museum has devoted its Ulla R. and Arthur F. Searing Wing West, its largest rotating galleries, to the works of 13 artists.
The multimedia exhibition runs the gamut from small pieces such as Caitlin Albritton's whimsical jewelry to Kiko Kotani's breathtaking installations of crocheted crepe satin.
Kotani has two monumental pieces in The Ringling's exhibit: "White Falls," whose flowing structure evokes reverence for nature and spirituality, and "Neon Forest," three conical structures whose lemon, lime and orange hues are plucked straight out of Florida's fruit groves.
With "State of Waters," a huge map of Florida bookended by large images of flowing currents, the collaborative team of Carol Mickett and Robert Stackhouse, of Tarpon Springs, draw attention to the state's creeping saltwater intrusion and warming waters.
Bradenton artist Jake Fernandez' "Myakka Fork" invites the viewer to get lost in its 64 wood panels spanning 88 by 154 inches. Fernandez is a conceptual artist who paints representational work termed "durational" because it emerges over a long period of time.
The grandeur of The Ringling's "Skyway" interpretation is sure to immerse viewers of all ages into a meditation on the beauty of Florida and the encroaching threats to our often paradisiacal surroundings.
Since Sarasota Art Museum (SAM), an arm of Ringling College of Art and Design, is by definition a contemporary art museum, the works of "Skyway" artists don't seem unexpected in the galleries of the former Sarasota High School.
In some ways, the "Skyway" exhibition is just another day in the life of SAM. That's not a bad thing. It's a reminder of how lucky we are to have a museum dedicated to contemporary art in Sarasota 365 days a year.
SAM's presentation isn't as grand as the "Skyway" show across town at The Ringling, but its juxtapositions of multimedia works speak to the important contributions of Florida immigrants from places as diverse as Upstate New York and Cuba.
Some of the most arresting creations are by Havana native Tatiana Mesa Paján, who uses white "puffballs" from dandelion plants to surround religious statues and other objects, one of which is called "Piedra." Although the white milky material conveys ephemerality, says SAM Senior Curator Rangsook Yoon, the plants are capable of traveling great distances.
Bradenton resident and New College professor of art Kim Anderson creates paintings that look like photographs. Her images at SAM let the viewer know that its female subjects are always conscious of the male gaze, Yoon notes.
Those who like scale and color will be pleased with the works of Sue Havens, originally from Rochester, New York, and Kirk Ke Wong, who was born in Shanghai. Wong's mural, "GimGong Road," honors the contribution of an Asian American to Florida's citrus industry more than a century ago.
As is the fashion these days among museums, the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) has placed its contemporary art selections for "Skyway" within its existing galleries, allowing them to engage in "conversation" with legacy pieces.
Sometimes the dialogue is muted, as is the case with Anat Pollack's bronze-cast fertility objects inspired by the Venus of Willendorf. They seem right at home among the other pieces in the MFA's ancient Greek and Roman Galleries.
The interchange between two marriage-inspired artworks in the MFA's Baroque gallery is more animated. The two pieces in dialogue here are the 2024 acrylic painting, "27 DIC.1974 (Mothers’ Embrace" by Emily Martinez, and "The Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine" by Fabrizio Santafede.
While some of the art world's conversations between old and new seem forced and even hamfisted, these brides — one who is marrying a human and the other who is forging a spiritual union with God — communicate brilliantly, as do other juxtapositions of "Skyway" pieces within the MFA's galleries.
After conducting a tour of the MFA, Stanton Thomas, chief curator, encourages visitors to "exit through the gift shop." Of course, Thomas is riffing on the 2010 documentary about the London street artist Banksy. But he's also leading visitors in the direction of the last installation in the museum's "Skyway" exhibition.
The work is a faux museum gift shop, which Tampa artist Emiliano Setticasi calls "Department of Contemporary Art, Tampa, FL is Selling Out." Visiting the "shop" is an exercise in frustration, especially if you're a fan of souvenirs. None of the tote bags, T-shirts and other collectibles is for sale.
Perhaps selling reproductions in an installation called "Selling Out" would be anathema to the artist. Not being able to buy the tchotchkes certainly makes them more coveted and can prompt reflection on the relationship between perceived value and scarcity.
Luckily, the Museum of Fine Arts has a real gift shop where visitors can get their fix of retail therapy before leaving the museum.
Some participating museums in "Skyway" don't have a theme for their exhibition. That isn't the case for the University of South Florida's Contemporary Art Museum, which has named its exhibit "12 Ways of Looking at a Landscape."
Of the four "Skyway" exhibits I saw, this was my favorite. The USF galleries aren't as elaborate or well-appointed as some of the others in the exhibition and the show is primarily paintings, with a few multimedia exceptions.
But the kaleidoscope of colorful, large-scale images of Florida's landscape seems apt for a time when the Earth has just experienced the highest temperatures on record.
Many images by artists such as Eric Ondina and Andres Ramirez include comforting symbols of the Sunshine State like Mickey Mouse, bountiful farms and poolside cocktails. Then they're turned sideways or set against terrifying backdrops like wildfires. Paradise may not be lost yet, but it's under assault.
Still, there's much left to savor and even unexpected treasures can be found, stashed away in garages, attics and even lying on the ground.
One of the first pieces in the exhibition, "Archipelago" by Elizabeth Condon, looks like a cross between a putt-putt golf hole and a topographical map.
Among the found objects embedded in the work made from detritus, polymer and acrylic is a golden charm from a baby cake traditionally served at Mardi Gras celebrations.
Finding the baby in your slice of cake is said to signify good fortune. But it also brings responsibility because the finder is usually asked to provide the cake at next year's party. As Floridians, what is our duty to the environment?
Fans of the late Sarasota artist John Sims, who died unexpectedly in December 2022 at age 54, will want to make the trip to USF to see Keith Crowley's painting, "Mid-Morning, 1639 10th Street (Letter to John)."
Crowley's depiction of Sims' studio is definitely the artist's vision, notes Leslie Elsasser, the museum's curator of education, because the interplay of shadows seen in the painting isn't possible in real life.
Another piece by Crowley, "Dawn, Sunshine Skyway Bridge (A Letter to Strangers)," shows a closeup of the fence installed to stop suicides on the bridge. Sometimes, it's just not possible to "Have a Nice Day," despite the signature yellow smiley face and riot of flowers across the hall in Karen Tucker Kuykendall's "Everything's Coming Up Roses."
The "Skyway" exhibition at the Tampa Museum of Art doesn't open until Aug. 28. It's the only one I didn't visit. But the "Skyway" catalog includes the artists whose work will be on display, providing some clues about its interpretation of the show.
A familiar name to Sarasota residents whose work will be in Tampa is Joe Fig, the department chair of the Fine Arts and Visual Studies programs at Ringling College. His multidisciplinary works focus on artists' studios and the process of creating art. Fig is known for his miniature reproductions of artist studios.
One piece in the "Skyway" exhibition may be familiar to those who saw Marina Shalthout's show at Sarasota's Spaaces gallery in late 2023. Titled "Affirmation #1," the work is made of tile, plywood and human hair forming the words "Live Love Laugh."
Shaltout's recent installation, "Ablutions & Affirmations," takes a deep dive into what she terms the self-care industry, whose products run the gamut from scented candles and bath oils to pictures with reassuring slogans designed to calm us down.
As technology speeds up the pace of life and increases the demands upon our fragile selves, it takes more than a smiley face to keep us looking on the bright side, even in the sunny state of Florida.
