Past Grounds4Art Projects

Artist: Cecilia Lueza

Location: Social Sciences Building (DSSC)

Unveiled: 2020

Inspired in part by the creation of a food relief program for HCC’s campuses, Grounds4Art commissioned Argentine-American artist Cecilia Lueza to create a large-scale mural focused on addressing issues related to food insecurity, mental and emotional health, and social and cultural inclusion. Designed with community feedback, Exuberance projects an image of inner strength and well-being. Showcasing Lueza’s trademark exploration of the visual effects of color and geometric abstraction, the mural prominently features a portrait of a young woman in profile. With outstretched arms and her gaze lifted to the skies, the figure imparts a sense of dynamic energy and hopefulness that parallels the community’s desire for perpetual growth and positive social change.

Lueza has worked on a variety of site-specific and public art projects in cities throughout the United States since 2000. Her work has been exhibited at Art Miami, Arteamericas, and Scope Miami Beach, and she has completed public art pieces in Washington D.C., Jacksonville, FL, West Palm Beach, and St. Petersburg, FL, among others. Lueza’s artwork can be found in public and private collections throughout the United States, Europe and Latin America.

Contributors: This project was made possible with the support of: The Arts Council of Hillsborough County and The Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners, HCC Dale Mabry Campus Student Government Association, Bay Art Files, and an Anonymous donor (in memory of Mary F. and Herbert O. Brennan).

Project Partners: On behalf of the HCC Dale Mabry Public Art Committee, Grounds4Art also recognizes project partners: Bay Art Files, City of Tampa, Arts & Cultural Affairs, Feeding Tampa Bay, and HCC Food Education Depot (FED).

Artist: Aya Tarek
Location: West side of the Humanities building (DHUM)
Unveiled: 2019

Sponsored by the community organization Art2Action, Egyptian artist Aya Tarek’s mural is the second public art project to be completed at the Dale Mabry Campus. Over the course of two weeks, Tarek—a prolific artist who has created large-scale murals in Cairo, Berlin, São Paolo and Portland, among others—worked on campus with HCC students and community members to fabricate the mural.

As whole, the project Painting Ourselves Visible sought to celebrate and increase the visibility of Arab, Middle Eastern/North African (MENA) and Muslim communities in the Tampa area. In service of that goal, Tarek’s mural contains elements reminiscent of multiple artistic traditions, such as portraiture inspired by Fayum mummy portraits and iconographical elements drawn from Christian artwork made during the Byzantine and Roman Empires. The project culminated in a three-day celebration of MENA culture, including an official mural unveiling, a screening of the 2010 independent film Microphone featuring Tarek, and workshops led by Art2Action founder Andrea Assaf, Syrian stage director Kholoud Sawaf and visual artist Ameena Khan. Programming also included a panel on creative placemaking featuring Neil Gobioff, President of the Gobioff Foundation, Ashley Walden Davis, Managing Director of Alternate ROOTS, and Robin Nigh, Manager of Arts & Cultural Affairs for the City of Tampa.

This project was made possible with the support of the Gobioff Foundation Treasure Tampa Grant.

This project was developed and supported by the following community organizations: Art2Action, Alternate ROOTS, City of Tampa, Arts & Cultural Affairs, Hillsborough Community College.

Artist: Michael Parker
Location: Learning Resources Center (DLRC)
Unveiled: 2019

In honor of HCC’s 50th Anniversary, Grounds4Art commissioned Florida-based artist Michael Parker to complete the campus’ inaugural public art project. The result of Parker’s vision, which included a collaboration with the HCC community that empowered students to assist in conceptualizing and fabricating the mural, was a 67-foot-long mural titled Infinite Transitions.

Meant to honor the college’s unique history along with icons representing the campus itself, the mural features layered images that reflect upon the educational journey taken by HCC’s students. Embedded in the complex composition, one will find images such as the Social Sciences building (an homage to the first building constructed on the Dale Mabry Campus), aerial maps that recognize diversity of campus programs and infrastructure, campus pride reflected through two centrally located hawks, DNA strands noting the strength of the campus’ science and health programs, and portraits at either end of the mural noting the foundational and inspirational role of our students. The mural’s fabrication culminated in a public celebration in April of 2019 that brought together diverse student groups, including performances by Spoken Word and Hip-Hop Expression and documentation by the Film Club.

Outstanding Contributors: Gobioff Foundation, HCC Dale Mabry Student Government Association, Stanton Storer Embrace the Arts Foundation, Division of Associate in Science

Major Contributors: George Anderton, Anonymous Donation in Honor of Katherine Gibson, The Dr. Lydia R. Daniel Honors Program, Deborah Leighty, Yann and Susana Weymouth

Contributors: Cecilia Carr, Herding Squirrels Writing Group, Debra Heysek, Joann Kakascik-Dye, Susann Kirchner, Karen Marra Nelson, Gayle Peterson-Palmberg, Connie and Jim Reed, Gina Ricard, Kathryn Smith, Dana Warner, Ann Menchen, Paula Porter-Smith, Gwendolyn Suarez, Beth Wyckoff