Public Art at HCC

Trinity Rivard’s “Graduation” is a vibrant and inspiring tribute to achievement, transformation, and the shared journey of higher education. Spanning an entire wall inside the cafeteria at Hillsborough College’s Dale Mabry Campus, the mural centers around a powerful image of a hawk—its wings fully outstretched, symbolizing freedom, ambition, and the courage to soar into the future.

Each outstretched wing unfurls a rich tapestry of imagery representing HCC’s diverse programs, student life, and collective aspirations.

Designed with input from the HC Dale Mabry Campus president and deans, “Graduation” honors both individual perseverance and the collective experience of the Hillsborough College community. It is a vibrant, affirming reminder that education is not only a personal milestone—it’s a launchpad for impact and opportunity.

Zulu Painter’s "Plant the Seeds and Help Them Grow" celebrates knowledge, creativity, and community through richly symbolic imagery. 

Anchored by a classical column and the phrase “Learn & Grow”, the mural begins with a watchful bird perched over a flowering Earth, representing the interconnectedness of nature, knowledge, and care. Sunflowers—often symbols of growth and positivity—blossom across the mural, flanked by geometric and pixel-like designs that nod to both organic and digital forms of learning.

A tall ship sails out of an open book, positioning stories, history, and education as launching pads for exploration and adventure. This theme is reinforced by a stack of oversized books with painted titles like "Marsha’s Garden," "Quack," and "Calm," each evoking themes of wisdom, whimsy, and social harmony.

Each outstretched wing unfurls a rich tapestry of imagery representing HCC’s diverse programs, student life, and collective aspirations.

Bright, painterly elements blend realism and abstraction—hallmarks of Zulu Painter’s style—inviting viewers of all ages to discover personal meaning in each detail. The entire mural radiates optimism, reminding students and passersby that small seeds of knowledge, when nurtured, can grow into a world of possibility.

Trinity Rivard’s “Beyond Innovation,” a 243 sq ft acrylic mural completed in late 2024 at HCC’s Ybor City Innovation Lab, is a vibrant collision of geometry, color, and meaning. Using bold, angular forms, the mural visually represents the evolution and integration of technology into human life—where innovation becomes an extension of our identity.

At the heart of the design is a stylized biometric eye—a symbol of vision, data, and surveillance—that anchors the piece both literally and conceptually. From this “eye,” geometric pathways radiate outward, weaving together motifs that celebrate HCC’s diverse academic disciplines:

• Criminal justice is depicted through emblematic shapes reminiscent of badges and protective shields.
• Firefighting emerges in fiery hues and helmet-like curves.
• Digital media and multimedia are conveyed with chip‑like grids, pixels, camera apertures, and waveforms.
• Ybor City’s rich heritage is respectfully woven into the tapestry—think vintage streetlamps, trolley silhouettes, perhaps hints of cigar‑factory reds—all harmonizing with the modern aesthetic.

The geometry converges and diverges, evoking networks, circuits, and the human brain’s synaptic dance—underscoring the symbiosis of humanity and machine. Rivard’s vibrant palette and intentional juxtaposition of organic curves with sharp, digital angles invite viewers to explore the interplay of old and new, local culture and global technology.

HCC Ybor City Performing Arts Building, 1411 E. 11th Ave., Tampa

Hotel Haya, 1412 E. Seventh Ave., Tampa

Tempus Projects, 1624 E. Seventh Ave., Tampa

Six Tampa-based artists transformed three Ybor City venues during HCC Art Galleries’ 2nd Annual Now On View on February 22, creating temporary public artworks exploring Tampa’s past, present, and future.

At Kress Contemporary, Victoria Alvarez unveiled a temperature-sensitive poster print honoring Tampa’s LGBTQIA+ history, while Erin Lekovic staged a 15-minute site-specific play.

A short walk away, outside Hotel Haya, the FAX 727 289 3069 collective built a poetry alley inspired by Tampa’s historical archives. Inside the hotel, florist Kali Rabaut welcomed visitors into an infinity booth where botanicals served as portals to memory and time.

Meanwhile, at Gallery114@HCC Ybor City Campus, Amanda Gabaldon choreographed a dynamic dance performance set within a hurricane-themed installation by artist Emma Quintana.

Rounding out the day’s events, on the HCC Ybor Building Patio, Jehoshaphat Jacinto and Tampa’s Street Dance Community energized crowds with lively demos of popping, locking, breaking, and voguing.

Eight artists converged on three Ybor City venues for HCC’s inaugural Now on View June 1, 2024. Their purpose: to create a series of temporary public artworks that invite the public to consider Tampa’s past, present, and future. The resulting artworks were displayed in a one-day public festival in Ybor City with music, food, and other entertainment.

Gallery staff documented the festival in a 30-minute long HD video, “A Journey Through Now on View,” that takes viewers through Ybor City with Max Herman of Ybor Walking Tours. Stream it on your big screen to view the art, hear from the artists, and learn some fun facts about Ybor City’s history.

Renowned artist Ya La’ford was commissioned in 2022 to create a public artwork to inspire students, staff, and faculty to envision a better tomorrow. Titled Dial the Sun, the sculpture encourages both a literal and metaphorical sense of reflection. In parallel to ancient sundials, the sculpture symbolically connects earth and sky and casts a distinctive shadow that moves with the sun, indicating the passage of time. The circular geometric form is an echo of La’ford’s previous installation with the HCC Art Galleries entitled dis·tance (2021), which utilized visual patterns to inspire audiences to consider the integral nature of connection between people across time and space. In a similar manner, Dial the Sun emphasizes concepts such as temporality, transformation, and the complexity of the shared human experience. Much like the process of learning and education, the sculpture reminds viewers to think critically, forge their own pathways, create connections, and to be open to the possibilities of the present. 

Trinity Rivard’s Generations mural celebrates Ybor City’s past and present. The layered imagery communicates the story of the city as a place where generations of families worked and grew, chased their dreams, went to school, and contributed to the rich cultural and historical vibrancy of the community. The artist tells this tale in vignettes, such as a daughter reaching for her father’s hand while a mother holds her son affectionately, yet protectively. They stand tall together, proud of themselves and their home. This scene is a direct reference to the Immigrant Statue located in Ybor City’s Centennial Park, in a heartfelt homage to the city’s legacy.

Generations weaves together the diverse history of Ybor City with the transformative impact of education. The mural highlights several of the academic pathways unique to the Ybor City Campus, such as a graceful dancer referencing the Visual and Performing Arts department or the portrait of a welder alluding to the college’s workforce programs. In another scene, Rivard juxtaposes a student working on their laptop across from a worker rolling cigars, referencing the foundational role of Ybor City’s cigar industry in the early 1990s and the pivotal role of the college within the district today. As the first male in his family to graduate from college and the first person in his family to earn a Master's degree, Rivard knows that education is a pathway to a better life. Numerous HCC student and faculty volunteers helped paint the mural, bringing the HCC community together to help Rivard realize his vision.

The Generations mural is on display at the HCC Ybor City campus, in the hallway between the YBOR and YFAC buildings.

This project was made possible with the support of: HCC Ybor City Campus Student Government Association and the HCC Ybor City Visual and Performing Arts Department.

next to Science (DSCI) and Humanities (DHUM) buildings, Dale Mabry Campus

next to Visual Arts building (YVAB), Ybor City Campus

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 College.

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