The Hillsborough College Art Galleries are seeking proposals from artists and creatives for Now on View, an ephemeral public art festival taking place in Ybor City tentatively scheduled for Saturday, February 21, 2026.
The committee defines art in a broad sense, and encourages applications from artists working in the visual arts as well as in literary, dramatic, performance, dance, interactive, time-based, and other media.
Artists must be available for the festival to be eligible to participate. Five (5) selected applicants will receive a $1,650 stipend to activate Now on View by designing temporary art installations specific to Hillsborough County (especially Tampa/Ybor City) and participating in the festival.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The purpose of Now on View is to create a thoughtful series of temporary public artworks that invite the public to consider Tampa’s past, present, and future. Local artists* will be selected through an open call to create site-responsive artworks that speak to Tampa’s rich history while also considering concepts of representation, presence, and connection. The resulting artworks will be displayed in a one-day public festival in Ybor City with music, food, and other entertainment.
*Artists must reside in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Polk, Pasco, Manatee or Sarasota County in order to be eligible.
Above: Kali Rabaut's interactive Flower Bike installation, Now on View festival 2024.
Tampa Bay is among the fastest growing areas in the nation. Artists of all backgrounds have historically played a crucial role in Tampa’s development by defining the city’s character and driving economic prosperity. Currently, neighborhoods across Hillsborough County are seeing broad transformations in terms of both built and human environments. As the region undergoes immense change from rapid development, we can yet again look to artists as navigators across shifting landscapes. In this pivotal moment in Tampa Bay history where large-scale projects such as the proposed Gas Worx community in Ybor and the expansion of Downtown Tampa’s Riverwalk will have generational influence, questions of representation, sustainable growth, and inclusivity are perhaps more relevant than ever. An ephemeral art festival like Now on View sheds light on these important topics by creating a space for critical dialogue that is culturally engaged, community driven, and accessible to a wide range of audiences.
The project’s steering committee will be looking for artwork that reflects the cultural vibrancy of Hillsborough County by encouraging artists to craft proposals that relate to various backgrounds, traditions, and historical narratives of the region. As a reminder: we welcome applications from artists working in the visual arts as well as in literary, dramatic, performance, dance, interactive, time-based, and other media.
Above: Dancers perform in collaboration with installation by Emma Quintana, Now on View festival 2024.
Successful proposals will fit the project’s themes of representation, presence, and connection in consideration of Tampa's past, present, and future, demonstrate an ability to complete the work as proposed, align with HCC’s core values for public art, and show feasibility. A total of five proposals will be selected to host installations over the course of one day at select venues in Ybor City, which will be determined in collaboration with community partners for the project. Once proposals are selected, artists will be curated in pairs and assigned the venues that best fit each proposal. The gallery's support staff will also be on-hand for guidance and mentorship to ensure the success of your project.
RESEARCH: OTHER PROJECTS
For examples of previous artist installations included in Now on View, potential applicants can review information on the college's Grounds4Art website under Past Projects: "Now on View 2 - 2025" and "Now on View 1 - 2024."
For other examples of similar projects that emphasize site-specific, short term exhibitions with a strong focus on community impact, you can view the following links. Browsing the examples can give you a sense of the types of projects suitable for a one-day ephemeral arts festival.
LUMA (Downtown Binghamton, New York)
*This program is generously supported by the Arts Council of Hillsborough County through their Community Arts Impact Grant (CAIG) program for Colleges and Universities.
https://hillsborougharts.org/
