11.6.0064 Application
University of South Florida

Applicant Information

Proposal Information

Mission Statement

The mission of the USF Institute for Research in Art (IRA) composed of the Contemporary Art Museum (CAM) and Graphicstudio (GS) in Tampa, is to make contemporary art a fundamental component of the enrichment and intellectual growth of students, faculty, the community, State and beyond, by offering emerging and established artists exceptional opportunities to exhibit and create new work.

Proposal Summary: Goals

The goals of the programs initiated by the Institute for Research in Art | Contemporary Art Museum and Graphicstudio, seek to introduce, educate and expand its mission to advance culture and the arts into the community, in tandem with the incorporation of the Florida Division's strategic plan, Culture Builds Florida. The Institute for Research in Art is committed to presenting an ambitious program of research, publishing and commissioning of new artworks, contemporary art exhibitions, and educational opportunities that reflect its mission to make contemporary art an integral part of the intellectual growth of the Tampa Bay community. The schedule of exhibitions, symposia, lectures and publications featuring a culturally diverse group of artists, curators and theorists, in addition to artists residencies and collection and Public Art development, will continue the Institute's demonstrated excellence in the discipline of research and contemporary art practice and make this distinction accessible for all members of the community and the State of Florida.

Proposal Summary: Objectives

The Institute for Research in Art has demonstrated excellence by focusing its resources on the development of research, exhibition and educational programs that are structured to introduce emerging and established artists from Florida and around the world, who are producing some of the most advanced contemporary art. The IRA will continue to initiate, organize and promote distinguished projects exploring other cultures and perspectives, by offering viewers access to a broad range of ideas, strategies and working processes that confront and illuminate some of the most challenging societal issues of today. The 2010-2011 schedule includes fascinating projects with noted artists that address such issues. This range of diverse programs promises to enhance the Institute's stakeholders' base by 20%. The IRA will also expand its audience within the 14-18 year old age group through its new educational initiative, InsideArt a web-based program that will actively engage secondary school students by incorporating curricular material specific to this age group. The Institute continues its quest and commitment to organize projects that will give Florida audiences the opportunity to experience contemporary art at the highest level of achievement and provide the metaphor to enhance our understanding of the shifts that are occurring in the areas of political ideologies, technology, economics, and communications. The Institute is recognized as an important resource for the State by circulating its exhibitions and publications both nationally and internationally, and developing innovative educational outreach initiatives.

Proposal Summary: Activities

The Institute's reconfiguration to include the Contemporary Art Museum and Graphicstudio allows for a synergistic approach to programming that more in depth introduction to the ideas and importance of socially and culturally relevant contemporary art. Acclaimed artists will be in residence to produce new work, exhibit their work at USFCAM, and increase knowledge through a series of workshops, lectures and presentations to students and members of the community across all ages groups. Graphicstudio, an internationally renown studio that offers exceptional opportunities for artists working with photography and lens-based media, as well as three-dimensional casting techniques, make the facility and their faculty artisans and staff available expressly for this purpose.

The USFCAM will continue to organize and present significant solo and group exhibitions. Two distinguished artists that will be in residence during this grant cycle are Carlos Garaicoa, (Cuba) who will be represented with a solo show (Making Amends) in CAM in August-December 2010 and Trenton Doyle Hancock (African American) with his project, The Black Brain Uprising, scheduled for January-March 2011. Graphicstudio will create new projects with a variety of artists during the grant period, including Diana Al-Hadid, Burt Barr, Arturo Herrera, Josiah McCleny and Janaina Tschape. The development of related educational opportunities will include an emphasis on visual literacy through lectures, workshops, presentations and interdisciplinary symposia to increase the understanding and enjoyment of contemporary art practice across age groups.

Narrative: Proposal Description

As stated in its mission, the Institute for Research in Art strives to identify and work with artists that can stimulate and shape cultural debate in our community and contribute to the national discourse, and actively engage audiences in educational programs including lectures, symposia, workshops and community-based projects. Exhibitions, residencies, educational programs, research and development of new work, and publications are carefully developed in direct support of its mission that addresses culturally diverse audiences and global societal issues. For example, the first program for the fall 2010 Season will focus on the exhibition, Carlos Garaicoa: Making Amends (La Enmienda Que Hay En Mí) that will premier at CAM in late August to coincide with the University's opening semester. The exhibition also is scheduled within the framework of Arte 2010, Tampa Bay's biennial Festival of the Americas, and marks the IRA's third participation in the festival, as a major cultural contributor.
Like many artists working today, Garaicoa's work incorporates a multidisciplinary approach that embraces art, architecture, urbanism, history, narrative and politics. This divergent mix of influences offers a unique opportunity to explore these themes appropriate to all audiences of all age groups; a new, web-based educational initiative, InsideArt, also is being developed using these themes, specifically for secondary school learners and educators. Carlos Garaicoa will also be commissioned to create a new project, based on Cuban migration to Florida, for CAM. He will participate in an interdisciplinary symposium featuring scholars and professionals in the areas of art, history, architecture and political science. The symposium is tentatively scheduled for the beginning of November in USF's Marshall Student Center, a new facility located in the center of the Tampa campus that serves the University population and community interests.
The second major program scheduled for the spring of 2011 is Trenton Doyle Hancock: The Black Brain Uprising. This Texas-based artist is well known for his ever-evolving, absurdist narrative executed across a wide variety of media that includes painting, collage, sculpture, print and the performing arts. Hancock's narrative is told from exhibition to exhibition in submersive and theatrical installations, which banish preconceived ideas about art while thrusting the viewer literally and figuratively into his mythic drama. At the center of this particular chapter investigated in CAM's exhibition, is a cult of wayward Vegans led by a Vegan priest - a playful and flamboyant provocateur who attempts to change the very nature of Vegankind from within, through a quasi-hippie movement hooked on seeing the world in color rather than in black and white.
Hancock's works reveal a cornucopia of sources as varied as comics, horror movies, visionary art, biblical stories, Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism, mixed together into synchronic structures where scraps and parts, belonging to other wholes or in other contexts, are recast through a layered and traced approach. The result is a fusion of overlapping structures, implying meaning and tapping issues of race, power, rebellion, and creation in a pluralistic soup of sources. The artist will be in residence with CAM during December 2010 in preparation for his upcoming exhibition in January, and develop presentations, lectures and workshops for the Institute's Artist Partnership with Howard W. Blake High School which includes a day-long field trip by Blake students to USF with tours of his show and the Graphicstudio facility, as well as other USF sites.
In keeping with the mission of Graphicstudio's program of artist research resulting in the publication of new artworks in the form of limited edition prints and multiples, Hancock has collaborated on a limited edition sculpture, a suite of four etchings, and a fluorescent, 10-color screen printed wallpaper. Hancock is one artist selected for a residency, and follows over 90 leading international artists who have created more than 650 limited edition fine art works -- prints, sculpture multiples, artist books and photographs at the studio. GS is recognized internationally for its innovative technical research into new applications of traditional print media including photogravure, intaglio, lithography, relief and serigraphy, as well as sculpture fabrication techniques. Artists that are scheduled to date for new or continuing residencies during this grant cycle include Alex Katz, Christian Marclay, Josiah McElheny, Alyson Shotz and Janaina Tschape.
In support of its mission, and in the continuing effort to advance the audience's understanding of contemporary art, the Institute will offer an array of educational components in its programs that includes talk-backs, guided tours, and symposia developed as interdisciplinary explorations of a topic so that audiences are presented with many avenues by which they can access an artist's work.
All programs of the Institute are developed in order to contribute in a significant way to the creation of new knowledge, and fulfill its mission by providing education, service and research to the field.

Narrative: Culture Builds Florida's Future

1. Strengthening the Economy

   The IRA significantly contributes to strengthening the local and Florida economy on several levels in realizing its mission to bring contemporary visual art to the USF campus and the surrounding communities. The IRA's Operating Expenditures for 2008/09 totaled $2,500,825. The University of South Florida provided 55% of this amount through Salary and Expense Budgets, the remaining 45% is covered by revenue earned through the sale of Graphicstudio editions, Grants, Corporate Partnerships and charitable contributions. The sale of Graphicstudio editions accounted for 64% of the IRAs earned revenue. Graphicstudio works are sold on the local, national and international market through its website, art fairs, galleries, advertisements, subscription sales, the annual benefit sale and walk-in sales. Grants, Corporate Partnerships, charitable contributions and donations made up the remaining 36% of earned revenue.
   These funds are then expended largely in the local and Florida community. IRA brings in between 15 to 25 visiting artists from around the world each year. These artists are invited to CAM to participate in exhibitions, commissions, lectures, symposia and conduct master classes; they are invited to Graphicstudio to initiate or continue projects and participate in art education initiatives, including workshops and demonstrations. The IRA funds the artists' travel and stays in local hotels and rental apartments during their residencies, which may be as long as a semester, or 16 weeks. The IRA promotes the area's cultural amenities through its activities with these artists and plans itineraries to other cultural institutions and areas of interest and entertainment within the state, promoting tourism. The IRA purchases materials and supplies and services for the resident artists' projects, the exhibition, opening celebrations and educational initiatives from local and Florida vendors. In addition, the IRA hires artists, service personnel, and craftspeople from the local area.

2. Learning and Wellness

   The Institute places great emphasis upon the development of visual literary in our community. Visual literacy, which allows the viewer to gather the information and ideas contained in an image and place them in context, is an interpretive skill that is essential to learning and to daily life. The IRA actively engages contemporary artists who, with their focus on visual literacy, bring explorations of diverse fields of knowledge into their work. These artists provide unique access to their creative methodologies that serve to strengthen confidence and the reciprocal appreciation of cultures and ethnicities.
   Opportunities for the community to participate in IRA programs at no cost include artist lectures, symposia, demonstrations, exhibitions and guided tours. Art interpretation and educational initiatives are currently available to all visitors through the Media Gallery, on the IRA web site. These web-based programs are now being expanded with the InsideArt program, which was recently awarded a Culture Builds Florida grant for its development and implementation as a model program over two years 2009-2011. InsideArt is specifically geared to secondary school students and the teaching of visual literacy. Phase one focuses on the 2010 CAM exhibition Carlos Garaicoa: Making Amends (La enmienda que hay en mí) as the model program. The online lesson plan program is being developed in collaboration with social studies curriculum specialists from Hillsborough County schools. Teens will increase their capacity for reading, interpreting and placing images in context and address often unspoken issues that lie beneath the surface of learning about other cultures that include issues of identity, racism, resentment and perceived stereotypical behaviors. The second model is predicated upon Trenton Doyle Hancock's project: The Black Brain Uprising, scheduled for spring 2011. Concurrently, the IRA intends to increase its outreach to seniors and special needs through a targeted advertisement of services to those groups.

3. Building Leadership

   The IRA offers professional development and leadership training opportunities for careers in visual arts institutions, preparing the next generation of professional leaders in the field. In taking this initiative and responsibility, the IRA assumes a leadership role among its peers in the Tampa Bay community and in the State.
   Professional development opportunities include the Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies and internships at CAM and Graphicstudio. The Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies draws its students from the University and the greater Tampa Bay area, for those wishing to enter the field, to professionals seeking further training, or updating their career development. The multi-disciplinary certificate prepares students to work in a variety of institutions such as art, science, and anthropology museums as well as libraries. It requires academic coursework in museum studies and applied internships arranged by the IRA with institutions centered within the Tampa Bay area but available throughout the nation. These include the Tampa Bay History Center, Dali Museum, St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts Ringling Museum, Museum of Modern Art in New York, and Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, among others.
   Internships (for credit) at CAM and GS are available to all students at USF. Non-credit internships and volunteers are open to the community. Participants have the opportunity to work alongside faculty and staff in a variety of projects, including arts administration, printmaking and sculpture fabrication, exhibitions coordination and preparation, conservation and registration. Participants become acquainted with museum operations, gain valuable experience and are encouraged to consider careers in the field.

4. Design and Development

   N/A

Narrative: Marketing and Promotion

IRA programs are marketed and promoted through variety of media: print, including announcements, invitations, and flyers, radio and electronic communication. Mailings are sent to over 7,500 for each exhibition, with an annual IRA calendar and GS brochure. Mailings are sent for artists' talks and the Director's Circle lecture series. IRA produces brochures or catalogues to accompany the exhibitions whenever possible and markets these publications in CAM and through a network of distributors including Worldwide Books and DAP.
Marketing and promotion via electronic media is increasing dramatically (up 40% over last year) and press releases are emailed to the IRA's Media List, the College of The Arts, and the College of Education Media Lists as well as to the University's central list for national exposure. Regionally, the Arts Council of Hillsborough County and tbt, (Tampa Bay Times) carry the IRA events calendar. Press releases are sent to the School Boards of Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties, where related activities, such as field trips to CAM, and tours or presentations by the Institute's visiting artists or print demonstrations at Graphicstudio may be arranged, as an even greater expansion of the secondary-school oriented, web-based project, Inside Art. Visitors to the IRA site, which number between 9,000-11,000 every 30 days, are encouraged to sign up to receive e-notifications about upcoming events and is Facebook friendly.
Radio promotion is arranged with the University, WUSF 89.7 FM, and local community radio station, WMNF 88.5 FM. WMNF also broadcasts a half-hour interview program every Friday with host JoEllen Schilke, that features performing and visual artists, and has repeatedly invited the IRA's guest artists to participate. Noel Smith, Curator for the Carlos Garaicoa exhibition, will be interviewed on his project and the history of the Institute's programming in conjunction with Tampa Bay's Arte festivals. David Norr, curator for the exhibition with Trenton Doyle Hancock, will be interviewed with the artist on the program in January, in conjunction with the premier of his show, –The Black Brain Uprising–.
Interviews with artists, curators and theorists are planned with writers for Creative Loafing, a weekly entertainment-oriented publication, the Tampa Tribune, and the St. Petersburg Times. Guest artists and curators are interviewed by the USF student newspaper, the Oracle, and personal stories about the artists may be profiled in other newspapers and magazines when possible to introduce these individuals into the community on a personal level, and to promote the programs of the IRA into the community, which may not necessarily be engaged in contemporary art practice. IRA has also developed special outreach initiatives in order to target specific groups who may have an interest in key issues addressed in an exhibition, and actively seeks to encourage new audiences. For instance, bi-lingual educational materials may be distributed to communities outside the tri-county area, and international audiences are always sought through event listings at nearby hotels.
The IRA documents all symposia and events that are planned in conjunction with projects, including brief interviews, or views of the exhibition being installed and makes these elements available on its site under Media Gallery. CAM advertises its exhibitions in the Gallery Guide, Art in America Annual Guide and Artforum. GS advertises its fine art print and sculpture multiples in these publications, as well as in Art on Paper, International Guide to Art Fairs and Antique Shows, Creative Tampa Bay, TampaBay Metro, Artnews, Applause, and the International Fine Print Dealers' Association (IFPDA). GS also participates as a publisher in art fairs, notably New York's IFPDA fair in late November, and INK, Art Basel, in Miami each December.
These marketing efforts increase the visibility of the IRA's visiting artists, exhibitions and educational programs and conversely introduce a new audience to the benefits and enjoyment of contemporary art practice.

Narrative: Personnel and Partners

Programs noted in this proposal are only made possible through the qualified faculty and professional staff which has successfully demonstrated it ability to organize and travel major exhibitions and produce outstanding publications and programs of educational outreach under the long term leadership of Margaret Miller, Director. History shows that exhibitions and programs of substance and complexity can only be realized with in depth research and collaboration by dedicated individuals. Key artistic and programmatic personnel involved in the Institute's programs also include Alexa Favata, Associate Director who has organized previous exhibitions with Noel Smith, Curator of Latin American and Caribbean Art (Garaicoa) and David Norr, Chief Curator (Hancock). Don Fuller, Curator of New Media is responsible for all print/web content. Peter Foe, Collections Curator and Shannon Annis, Registrar, provide additional exhibitions support with designer Tony Palms. Kristin Soderqvist, Director of Sales and Marketing provides all promotional support for programs. Talented faculty and artisans at GS collaborate on artists' projects, and Randall West serves as the Business Manager.
Artist Bio: Carlos Garaicoa was born in Havana, Cuba in 1968. He lives and works in Havana and in Madrid, Spain. His studies in Havana include thermodynamics at the Instituto Hermanos Gomez and visual art at the Instituto Superior de Arte. His multidisciplinary approach defies categorization and involves a broad range of materials and techniques–sculpture, painting, drawing, collage, installation, photography, video, architectural models–in investigations of history, politics, architecture, urbanism and culture. Inspired by the social, political and cultural life of Cuba, Garaicoa has adopted his native Havana as a laboratory. He charges his works with searing and insightful commentary on issues such as architecture's ability to alter the course of history, the failure of modernism as a catalyst for social change, and the frustration and decay of 20th century utopias.
Garaicoa has been actively exhibiting internationally since 1991. Solo shows include Mundus Novus: Contemporary Art from Latin America, 53rd Venice Biennale at the Arsenale; La enmienda que hay en mi, National Museum of Fine Arts, 10th Havana Biennale; Capablanca's Real Passion, ICA Philadelphia, Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, and Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles and Letter to the Censors, Art Statements, Art Basel Miami Beach. His work is in numerous collections in the US, Canada, Mexico, Cuba, England, Spain, Italy, France, Switzerland, China, Japan, and Germany.
Artist Bio: Trenton Doyle Hancock was Born in Paris, Texas and currently lives and works in Houston. His well known for his ever-evolving, absurdist narrative executed across a wide variety of media that includes painting, collage, sculpture, print and the performing arts. The exhibition, The Black Brain Uprising, will bring together paintings, wall drawings and collage works that add to Hancock's unfolding narrative.

Trenton Doyle Hancock is the 2007 Joyce Alexander Wein award winner from The Studio Museum, NY. His work was featured in In the Beginning: Artists Respond to Genesis at the Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco and in Dargerism: Contemporary Artists and Henry Darger at the American Folk Art Museum. His work was included in the Prospect.1 New Orleans Biennial; he produced a site-specific installation at the Olympic Sculpture Park at the Seattle Art Museum in 2009. In 2008 Hancock collaborated with Ballet Austin to set his story to dance; Cult of Color: Call to Color. The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, hosted Hancock's major European solo show, The Wayward Thinker. Hancock was one of the youngest artists ever to be included in the Whitney Biennial, in both 2000 and 2002. His work is included in the collections of the Brooklyn Museum, The Dallas Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, Whitney Museum of American Art, The Studio Museum in Harlem, and numerous other institutions throughout Europe.

Proposal Estimates

Estimated Counties served

• Hillsborough
• Pasco
• Pinellas

Narrative: Assessment and Planning

The Institute will assess the effectiveness of the proposed programs for 2010-2011 according to the response it generates in the local community, and the success in raising funds to support those projects. The Institute will heavily promote the exhibitions, residencies and related educational events through emails, flyers, local newspapers, as well as media coverage, resulting in an increase to its audience by new members of the community.

The programs are also critically evaluated by response from outside the local community in national art magazines. The introduction of artists Carlos Garaicoa and Trenton Doyle Hancock who will be presenting their exhibitions at CAM, and the artists in residence at Graphicstudio, Josiah McElheny, Janaina Tschape, Alyson Shotz, (and others) to the Tampa Bay community will encourage a new audience to consider the integration of contemporary art into their lives. The intent of the Institute's programs are to stimulate awareness and interest in the newest issues in contemporary art and culture with innovative and thought provoking programming that will engage the community in the function of the museum.
As demonstrated by its history of distinguished programs that have garnered the support of the Division of Cultural Affairs dating back to 1996, the Institute is committed to continuing its outreach with its 2010-2011 opportunities to originate and promote contemporary art for its audiences. Support from the Division is an indication that we are achieving our objective of developing programs that seek to extend contemporary art practice into the community. Through this latest round of programs, the IRA seeks to build an even broader network and attract new audiences within the Florida and beyond. CAM's reputation for offering significant exhibitions that are traveled to institutions throughout the United States, reflect the arts in Florida as a vibrant and significant contributor to the State's plan for building culture that extends into the broader realm. At the same time, the Institute presents exhibitions, host's residencies and develops publications and educational activities to serve the liberal arts mission of the University and enhance the cultural development of the Tampa Bay area, the state and beyond.

Narrative: Proposal Impact

The IRA coordinates its programs in keeping with its mission and the community it serves. Special initiatives that include diversity issues are incorporated into IRA programs. This allows viewers to access a broad range of ideas, strategies and working processes that illuminate some of the most challenging political and societal issues of today. In keeping with the international perspective of the region, the IRA has organized residencies, projects and exhibitions with artists representing Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, England, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, Russia, South Africa and Venezuela.

Programs of the IRA also demonstrate a sustained commitment to serve audiences of Latin America and Caribbean cultures, in response to the Tampa growing demographic of Hispanics. IRA participated in the first Tampa Bay Arte festival celebrating arts and culture from the LAC region, with the organization of an exhibition by Los Carpinteros: Inventing the World (traveled to institutions in Chicago, Cleveland and Toronto, Canada) and related educational and offered programs that included their residencies at Graphicstudio in 2005. In 2007, IRA organized Homing Devices that included two gust artist residencies, and extensive outreach that included initiatives at Blake High School and Oak Grove Middle School, and the publication of a trilingual catalogue (English/Spanish/Portuguese). Noel Smith, Curator for Latin American/Caribbean Art & Education, is currently co-curating another exhibition for CAM with Havana-based curator Corina Matamoros by Cuban artist Carlos Garaicoa: La enmienda que hay en mí (Making Amends) and planning related educational opportunities for the community that are components of this grant proposal.

IRA programs reflect the cultural make up of the Tampa Bay area. Located on the Tampa campus of the University (student population of 46,000), students are 40% of the audience. Forty-two percent of its audience comes from the Tampa Bay area, which is composed of three major ethnic groups: White non-Hispanics (58%), Black non-Hispanics (20%), and Hispanics (22%). The remainder of the Institute's audience comes from the 2.5 million visitors who make the Tampa Bay area their destination each year. Because demographics indicate that 42% of the dominant cultural/racial groups in the area are composed of Black non-Hispanics and Hispanics, exhibitions and programs relating to those minorities historically have been included in the CAM schedule since 1995, and include the exhibition and related programs with artist Trenton Doyle Hancock: The Black Brain Uprising.

USF has a similar demographic to that of the Tampa Bay area and is a culturally diverse campus with a demographic of 11.6 % Black/Non-Hispanic, 12.5% Hispanic, 5.7% Asian/Pacific Islander, 2.9% Non-resident/alien, and 0.5% American Indian, out of 43,660 total students. 132 countries are represented in the USF demographics. The USF Contemporary Art Museum is on the main campus of the USF in Tampa, 10 miles east of downtown and is located between two major avenues, Fowler and Fletcher, and is easily accessible from the interstate system (both I-75 and I-275). Its location in the North Tampa area of Hillsborough County places it geographically within 15 miles of both Pasco and Pinellas counties, therefore serving the broader Tampa Bay area, including constituencies in other counties. The Tampa Bay area is also the destination of over 2.5 million visitors each year.

Narrative: Education and Outreach

CAM has made great strides in reaching constituencies that might not otherwise be able to visit the museum, yet is always attempting to attract a broader audience for its programs. CAM has taken a more aggressive marketing strategy and recently partnered with the Tampa Educational Cable Consortium and The Education Channel to actively participate in making the Institute's visiting artist's series, interdisciplinary symposia and related educational highlights available on their newest service, on their newest service, the Tampa Bay Arts Channel (TBAC.tv) and website, This partnership will allow IRA programs to viewed by Bright House network customers in the Tampa Bay area, reaching a substantial number of adult and seniors, estimated at over 400,000.
CAM has recently inaugurated an audio guide program, Guide-By-Cell, to reach a wider audience on campus and in the community and expand understanding of artworks. At no charge, Guide-by-Cell offers viewers the opportunity to use their cell phones to call prompts listed on specific works in the exhibitions and hear artists, curators, artisans or collectors speak about the works on display.
Targeted community outreach had proven to be very successful. For example, with the 2007 Homing Devices exhibition, CAM made particular efforts to reach students in K-12 to whom its themes of globalization and migration would be relevant. Haitian-American guest artist in residence Eduoard Duval-Carrie, made a presentation and conducted a mold making (3-D) sculpture workshop for 75 fifth-grade students at Cypress Creek Elementary School in Ruskin (with a heavy concentration of migrant students). A week later, the school transported 150 students to see the exhibition at CAM and then tour the campus, escorted by ambassadors from the USF Migrant Students Association. Similar strategies for direct community engagement are also being planned in conjunction with the Garaicoa and Hancock exhibitions that are part of this grant cycle.
The IRA also enjoys an important cultural partnership with Howard W. Blake High School. Last week, in its ninth consecutive year, CAM arranged for a guest artist presentation and special critique for advanced Photography students, at no charge, with Syrian born artist, Diana Al-Hadid in conjunction with her work in the exhibition at CAM, New Weather. Seventy students have since signed up for a field trip to CAM to see the show, scheduled for December 7. Students will also tour the School of Art studios and public art works on the USF campus and tour the Institute's renown print and sculpture facility, Graphicstudio where they were able to see a demonstration of the etching process. This increases the visibility of the IRA's visiting artists program and introduces a new, young audience to the benefits and enjoyment of contemporary art practice, fulfilling the museum's purpose to exhibit contemporary art and provide the educational underpinnings for the assimilation of issues for an extensive audience that includes people of all ages and levels of education.
Educational outreach for Carlos Garaicoa and Trenton Doyle Hancock's exhibitions and related projects will include interdisciplinary symposia, guest artist presentations and a workshop by Hancock to students at Blake High School, to be followed by students' visit to the exhibition at CAM. (Please see Support Material Packet. Re: Letter by Dr. Scott Rudes, Assistant Principal for Curriculum on the USFCAM/Blake partnership.) Gallery talks/tours at CAM with the visiting artists in for a more intimate look at the work in the exhibition and a one-on-one opportunity for the public to interact with the artists are also being planned. Special curator-led tours of the exhibition for special segments of the community are in the planning stage with the respective curators. Noel Smith, IRA Curator of Latin and Caribbean Art, will lead guided tours in Spanish in conjunction with the Carlos Garaicoa exhibition. David Norr will collaborate with Trenton Doyle Hancock on programs oriented toward high school students, with special emphasis on issues of race and ethnicity.

Operating Budget

Proposal Budget: Summary

Proposal Budget: Detail

Proposal Summary: Evaluation Plan

Evaluations of programs are received from a variety of sources including reviews of exhibitions and educational initiatives that provide important community-based opinions. Reviews also serve to promote programs and serve to familiarize potential audiences with contemporary art issues.

a.) The following aspects will be evaluated:
1) Artistic excellence of research projects
2) Artistic excellence of exhibitions
3) Excellence of educational events and attendance
4) Skill and knowledge development of interns and graduate assistants

b) Methods of evaluation include the following:
1) Artistic excellence of research projects–stature of collaborating artists as measured by record of exhibitions and critical reception; successful completion of projects; acquisition of publications by collecting institutions and individuals; peer/media reviews; development of new knowledge.
2) Artistic excellence of exhibitions–stature of included works as measured by artist stature, critical reception; peer/media reviews; attendance statistics as compared to prior exhibitions and web tracking.
3) Excellence of educational events–stature of speakers measured by CV and critical reception; importance of topics as measured by attendance compared to prior events, and audiovisual documentation and critique.
4) Skill and knowledge development of interns and graduate students–as measured by student journals and supervisor comparison of levels at beginning and end of students' tenure at the Institute.

c) All findings will be taken into account as factors to be considered in future projects when
1) Choosing artists and defining their projects
2) Choosing and curating exhibitions
3) Planning educational events
4) Training interns and graduate students

Narrative: Applicant History

The Institute for Research in Art, composed of the Contemporary Art Museum (CAM) and Graphicstudio (GS), is a unit in the College of The Arts, on the USF Tampa campus. The IRA presents, commissions and publishes contemporary art as an integral part of the academic programs on the campus of a large metropolitan university (46,000 students). The 2001 configuration of the Institute for Research in Art, allows for a synergistic approach to programming that offers the University and Tampa Bay community an in depth introduction to the ideas and importance of socially and culturally relevant contemporary art.
USFCAM organizes, presents and circulates vital and investigative exhibitions of national and international significance and commissions new works that explore major issues of our time. USFCAM uses its collections, innovative learning programs and temporary exhibitions to stimulate, inspire and challenge students and visitors to think creatively and globally about the times in which we live through talk-backs, symposia and targeted outreach initiatives. CAM serves as visual library and center for interdisciplinary dialog that teaches visual literacy and promotes creative and critical thinking. USFCAM maintains and circulates a collection of over 5,000 works with a focus on graphics, photography and sculpture multiples (many published by GS) and prepares students for careers in museums through its Graduate Certificate Program. USFCAM is accredited by the American Associations of Museums.
Graphicstudio is an internationally recognized fine print and sculpture multiple facility open to the public for organized tours of its studios and demonstrations of printing processes where visitors may meet and observe artists working. GS has collaborated with over 100 artists to date. The accessibility of the studio, its researchers and artists in residence are integral to the development of young studio artists and faculty members from the School of Art and Art History and artists and scholars in the community.
In the past two years alone, the IRA has presented the work of over 95 artists in exhibitions or hosted them in residences. These include distinguished art luminaries James Rosenquist, Alex Katz and Christian Marclay, as well as Los Carpinteros, Patty Chang and Teresita Fernandez, numerous Florida artists including Robert Stackhouse and Roger Palmer, to emerging artists, including Diana Al-Hadid, Iva Gueorguieva and Robyn O'Neil, to name only a few.

Educational and outreach programs, including lectures, symposia, workshops and an active Artists' Partnership Program are designed to introduce and encourage diverse audiences to become engaged with contemporary art and artists exhibited and published by the IRA. New technologies has provided unique opportunities to extend educational programs though the Media Gallery on the IRA site that features artist's interviews, technical demonstrations and symposia to the and has Facebook pages for CAM and GS. The IRA has enhanced its programs to comply with ADA regulations and has recently incorporated an audio program for museum visitors, Guide-By-Cell, that uses curators/artists to present information about the artworks on display that provides knowledge and source material to the viewer. The IRA adds richness to the Tampa bay community and to the region as one of the only programs on the Gulf Coast of Florida dedicated to the research, production, presentation and interpretation of contemporary art.

Narrative: Sustainability

Sustainable funding for its General Programs is sought through corporate sponsorships, foundation grants, community partnerships and individual contributions. Other sources of revenue are earned to support the operations and programs of the Institute. For instance, each year Graphicstudio holds a one-day only (24 hours) benefit sale to support research and development and artists' residencies and educational programs. A percentage of sales dollars are used to assist projects that focus on artists in residence and the day-to-day research that evolves into the finished publications. CAM's Corporate Sponsorship program provides an important funding source for exhibitions and related educational components. Selected exhibitions that CAM organizes and offers to other museums for presentation also provides funds to support the exhibition program, and advances the reputation of the Institute as an important cultural provider in the national arena. Circulating exhibitions are traveled with scholarly publications authored by scholars and critics and advance knowledge in the field
of contemporary art. The faculty of the Institute for Research in Art actively seeks to identify, apply for and secure additional grant and foundation support to fund and sustain programs on a continual basis. Faculty also work with the departments of Sponsored Research and Development at the University to research and find ways to promote its programs and opportunities, and actively participate in interdisciplinary forums to network with other areas to investigate collaborations.

The University provides critical infrastructure basically in the form of salaries for faculty and administrative staff of the Institute. Other staff member's salaries are supported through grants and other revenue streams to the Institute.

The Institute's programs and initiatives described in this application attest to the mission of the Institute, its Long Range Plan and the Culture Builds Florida's Future strategic plan, and include letters of support from individuals, artists, and organizations as it engages the arts and culture programs in schools and community organizations and agencies, and creates effective partnerships. (A brief summation of the Institute for Research in Art's Long Range Plan is included in the packet of support materials sent to accompany this electronic application.)

Narrative: Fiscal Stability

As part of the University, the Institute for Research in Art receives on average approximately 40% of its operating budget from the state of Florida. This allocation is almost entirely used to support permanent, full-time staff. Included in this percentage is approximately $100,000 used to support the administrative operations of the IRA. The remaining annual need is earned through artwork sales, endowment funds, donations, and grant funds.

The CAM is project oriented rather than program oriented and all projects require supplemental funding. This situation challenges museum staff to develop exhibitions that not only remain in keeping with its mission, but that can also successfully compete for grant, foundation, and private support. Grant funds are administered through the USF Division of Sponsored Research and private contributions are administered through the USF Foundation, Inc. In addition, CAM also receives critical services from the University such as utilities, custodial services, security, grounds keeping, parking services, vehicle maintenance and emergency response. The Library, Central development, and sponsored research are other provided service that would otherwise be costly.

CAM is the beneficiary of the Leavengood Endowment Fund. This Endowment was established by a patron in 1989 and now carries a current value of $1,200,000 which is administered by the USF Foundation, Inc. The proceeds of this fund are used in part to support the various research functions of the museum, visiting artists, and exhibition costs.

CAM has historically earned significant support from prestigious granting agencies. Grants have been received from The Warhol Foundation, The Lannan Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation, the American Center Foundation, and the Nimoy Foundation. This year the CAM received $20,296 from the Arts Council of Hillsborough County and $20,000 from the Nimoy Foundation to help fund its exhibition and related educational programs in support of the project, New Weather. Also, CAM was also the only institution in the State of Florida to receive a grant through the NEA: Arts and the American Recovery Act program in the amount of $50,000 to support two critical positions: registrar and preparator.

Graphicstudio earns revenue mainly through its subscription program and the sale of editioned prints and sculpture multiples. These funds are used to finance the research, development of artist projects and education programs. The Subscriber Program is the critical component to ensure the continuing success of GS as a vital center for art making, research and education. It allows internationally distinguished artists to experiment with new ideas and techniques in an environment free from the pressures of a commercial workshop. This also allows GS to contribute one edition of every artwork produced to the USF collection which can be valued at as much as $200,000 annually.

IRA also receives in-kind services such as equipment loans and consultations from local businesses and individuals. The most extraordinary non-cash contribution comes from Graphicstudio, USF's own atelier. Another major non-cash contribution came from Robert Stackhouse, when he named CAM as his official archive. CAM also works to seek and maximize available community resources with continued support from corporations, which include: Audio Visual Innovations (AVI), Central Florida Eurocars, Verizon Data Services, Inc., JP Morgan Chase and Raymond James Financial. Several local businesses receive curated exhibitions from the USFCAM collection that are shown in public spaces through the Corporate Sponsorship Program.

Narrative: Collection Summary (GPS Collecting Museums only)

The permanent collection is comprised of over 5200 works with exceptional holdings in graphics and sculptures multiples by internationally acclaimed artists. Areas of strength include over 875 works produced during the last 30 years at Graphicstudio, USF's renowned print and sculpture atelier. GS publications, initiated in the late 60s, established a core collection of extraordinary examples of contemporary printmaking by leading American artists of the time. Early projects were produced with Vito Acconci, Arakawa, Chuck Close, Jim Dine, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Mapplethorpe, Robert Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist, Miriam Schapiro, Hollis Sigler and Philip Pearlstein. Many of the projects undertaken are technically experimental. Photogravures by Robert Mapplethorpe, waxtype produced with Roy Lichtenstein, a mixed media sculpture by Nancy Graves, resin-cast sculpture multiple by Roxy Paine and a basalt-cast multiple by Keith Edmier are examples of new techniques developed in collaboration with artists.

CAM's collection has been enriched by the internationalism of GS programs: prints and multiples by Mexican artists Leonora Carrington, Jose Restrepo, and Graciela Iturbide; Cuban artists Ibrahim Miranda, Abel Barroso, Esterio Segura and Los Carpinteros; Argentinean Guillermo Kuitca; Brazilian Vik Muniz and German/Brazilian Janaina Tschape; and German Jurgen Partenhiemer. Other projects of note include the production of work by Burt Barr, Leslie Dill, Alex Katz, Lorna Simpson, Kiki Smith, Keith Sonnier and William Wegman.

In a concerted effort to build a comprehensive and historically significant collection CAM has focused acquisitions in the area of graphics, works on paper, and contemporary photography. Selected examples include Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe and Mao Tse-Tung, Barnett Newman's The Moment, Claes Oldenburg's Tea Bag, Roy Lichtenstein's Sweet Dreams Baby and prints by David Hockney, Jasper Johns, Pat Steir, Malcolm Morley and Sam Gilliam. Work acquired in the '90s includes prints by George Baselitz, Alighiero Boetti, Leslie Dill, Peter Halley, Robert Motherwell and Dennis Oppenheim, and a pint archive by Robert Stackhouse.

A small collection of non-Western works includes Pre-Columbian artifacts, Central African sculpture, Guatemalan textiles, and Asian/Pacific Islander sculpture and masks. These objects are used as a direct part of the classroom experience in both Art History and Anthropology courses. In 1990 the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. established an archive of all GS publications. An exhibition of GS editions was presented at the National Gallery in 1991 and a catalogue documenting two decades of publishing was produced. This exhibition provided GS and CAM with national recognition and created a sense of pride in the local community.

Public art projects are another important facet of the collection. CAM administers the Art in State Buildings Program, and is actively engaged in commissioning and purchasing works for the USF campuses. Significant, site-responsive public art works have been commissioned with Dale Eldred, Doug Hollis, Nancy Holt, Gary Moore, Tim Rollins & K.O.S., Ned Smyth, Elyn Zimmerman and most recently, Stacy Levy. USF's Public Art program received national attention for its projects (ranked top 10 University based programs in 2006 by Public Art Review) and in 2002 dedicated works by Alice Aycock and James Rosenquist.
CAM's Collection Management Policy addresses all aspects of acquisition, care, conservation, maintenance and security was officially defined in 2002. CAM protects its collection through a strict maintenance of optimal temperature and humidity levels, both in the galleries and the collection vault. Every work in the collection is meticulously researched and catalogued on an electronic database, EmBARK, backed up with remote server and hard copy information.
USFCAM actively loans the collection to accredited institutions, as well as corporations that meet the standards for display of the collection. CAM is accredited by the American Association of Museums (AAM).

Applicant Accessibility

Narrative: Accessibility

All programs of the Institute are accessible to students, faculty, the community and visitors to the State, as well as to an international audience via its web presence. In the Institute's continuing effort to advance the audience's participation and understanding of contemporary art, it regularly brings in artists, theorists, and scholars so that its constituents can be connected directly to artists working today. This provides an advantage for the community to have unfettered access to artists' creative methodologies that demonstrate how they translate and express their individual cultural experiences. These unique opportunities are important, interdisciplinary explorations of topics so that audiences are presented with many avenues by which they can access an artist's work and subject matter.

CAM organizes, presents and circulates vital and investigative contemporary exhibitions of national and international significance and commissions new works that explore major issues of our time. These exhibitions are fully accessible to the museum audience, and related educational programs in the form of artist and curators' interviews, artists working in the galleries during installation, talk-backs and symposia, are accessible to a world audience through the Institute's Media Gallery, on the Institute's web-site.

Through its innovative learning programs and exhibitions, the Institute strives to stimulate, inspire and challenge students and visitors (Tampa Bay area 3.7 million; 20% 18-24 age group) to think creatively and globally about the times in which we live through workshops, talk-backs, symposia and targeted outreach initiatives. As a university-based museum, CAM serves as visual library and center for interdisciplinary dialog that teaches visual literacy and promotes creative and critical thinking. CAM maintains and circulates a collection of over 5,000 artworks with a focus on graphics, photography and sculpture multiples (many published by Graphicstudio) and prepares students for careers in museums through the Institute's Graduate Certificate program.

The new Inside Art initiative, the Institute for Research in Art seeks to build an even broader network for educational outreach activities geared to the secondary school student, that includes special needs. The Institute is compliant with the American Association of Museums, University, State and Federal statutes and completed its most recent ADA Survey in March of 2008.
Inside Art is being developed so it exceeds current requirements and will take into measure the newest advances in Assistive Technologies and Adaptive Strategies, now offered through the University of South Florida's Technologies Unit, to review web programs developed by New Media professionals and curricula specialists within different departments. The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) provides strategies, guidelines, and resources to make the web accessible to people with disabilities. Scenarios have been developed that address specific needs that can be addresses through careful development. These include features developed for teens that may be seeing or hearing impaired, or students with dyslexia.
The Institute makes every effort to make its programs accessible to all audiences, for the benefit of all the communities it serves.

Letters of Support

1. Howard W. Blake High School
Scott Rudes, PhD., Assistant Principal, Magnet Curriculum

2. Life Enrichment Center
Ronna J. Metcalf, Executive Director

3. The Education Channel
Lucy Griggs, Program Director

4. Community - Unsolicited letter of support
Peppi Elona, Visitor

Images - Work Samples, Artists, and Studios

5. Trenton Doyle Hancock
Various Ossi Units and Good Vegan Detritus, #6, 2007. Mixed media on paper, 10 x 5 inches
The Bad Promise, 2008. Mixed media on canvas, 84 x 108 inches

6. Trenton Doyle Hancock
Crest of Civil Unrest, 2008. Acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 60 x 60 inches
Heretics Harvest, 2007. Acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 60 x 60 inches

7. Trenton Doyle Hancock
Flower Bed II: A Prelude to Damnation, 2008. 10-color screen printed wallpaper with fluorescent inks,
27" x 5 yards. Produced at USF Graphicstudio.
Hancock working at Graphicstudio, and Flower Bed II activated by UV light.

8. Trenton Doyle Hancock tours USF School of Art and Art History MFA Graduation Exhibition, then visits MFA's studios talking with them about their work.

9. Carlos Garaicoa
Untitled (Billboard 5 / Valla 5), 2008
Untitled (Billboard 7 / Valla 7), 2008
Untitled (Billboard 2 / Valla 2), 2008
colored ink on black and white photograph mounted on gator board, 49.2 x 68.9 inches

10. Carlos Garaicoa
From the series The Word Transformed (The Bad Seed), 2008
artist cutting mat, hand cut adhesive tape, 47.2 x 35.4 inches
From the series The Word Transformed (Lightbox I), 2009
From the series The Word Transformed (Lightbox II), 2009
black and white duraflex photograph, adhesive tape, lightbox. 25 x 35.6 x 4.1 inches
I Have Never Been a Surrealist, Until Today, 2008
Wood, cardboard, artificial greenery, metal, cables, electric lights, 11.8 x 63 x 94.5 inches

11. Teresita Fernandez install her work in Blind Landscape at USF Contemporary Art Museum.
Below Left: Drawn Waters (Borrowdale), 2009. Natural and machined graphite on steel armature,
121 3/16 x 43 ½ x 86 inches. Right: Portrait (Blind Landscape), 2008. Precision-cut stainless steel and enamel, 56 ½ x 136 x 4 5/16 inches. Produced at USF Graphicstudio.

12. Teresita Fernandez, Portrait (Blind Landscape) in production at USF Graphicstudio.
Master Printer Tom Pruit leads a demonstration for visitors in the production area at Graphicstudio.

13. Visitors tour the open gallery and studios during USF Graphicstudio's annual Benefit Sale.
Associate Director Alexa Favata leads an interpretive tour of USF Contemporary Art Museum.

14. Artist Christian Marclay works in the darkroom at USF Graphicstudio.
The finished work: Christian Marclay, Allover (Rush, Barbara Streisand, Tina Turner, and Others), 2008. Unique cyanotypes, 51 1/2" x 100". Produced at USF Graphicstudio.

Art Reviews

15. "Drawing on nature"
Creative Loafing | Wednesday, August 19, 2009 | p.30

16. "Perception meets reality"
St. Petersburg Times | Sunday, August 23, 2009 | p.3L

17. "USF museum finds a way..."
St. Petersburg Times | Sunday, June 7, 2009 | p.3L

18. "Portrait of a Trendsetter"
The Tampa Tribune | Sunday, June 22, 2008 | p.7

19. "A smashing good time"
Creative Loafing | September 3- September 9, 2008

20. "Bringing life to art"
USF Oracle | Wednesday, August 27, 2008 | p.6

21. "Turn on, power up, and drop into CAM"
USF Oracle | Wednesday, November 5, 2009 | p.6

22. "Museum pieces; the year's best visual exhibits"
Creative Loafing | December 25-30, 2008 | p.15

Organizational Information

23. Advisory Board

24. Board of Trustees

25. Organizational Chart - Contemporary Art Museum | Institute for Research in Art

26. Organizational Chart - Graphicstudio | Institute for Research in Art

27. Long Range Plan

Supplemental Printed Material

28. 2009–2010 Exhibitions and Events calendar | USF Institute for Research in Art

28. 2008–2009 Exhibitions and Events calendar | USF Institute for Research in Art

29. GRAPHICSTUDIO brochure | USF Institute for Research in Art

30. New Weather brochure | Contemporary Art Museum | USF Institute for Research in Art

31. Teresita Fernandez: Blind Landscape brochure | Contemporary Art Museum | USF Institute for Research in Art

32. Torolab: One Degree Celsius catalogue | 2008 USF Contemporary Art Museum

33. Audience & Avatar catalogue | 2008 USF Contemporary Art Museum