Temporary and Traveling Exhibitions
The Big Picture: A Selection of Cirkut Photographs from the Burgert Brothers Collection
January 17 - July 15
The Burgert Brothers Photographic Collection is a unique pictorial record of the commercial, residential and social growth of Tampa Bay and Florida's west coast from the late 1800s to the early 1960s. The extraordinary archive is preserved by the History & Genealogy Department at the John F. Germany Public Library in downtown Tampa for the public to view and use. A selection images from the Burgert Brothers Collection, including 22 cirkut prints, make up the heart of this exhibition. Also on view is an original Burgert Brothers ledger book, a 1904 "suitcase" camera, and other ephemera related to the collection.
A slideshow of 80 "re-photographs" from Tampa-based photographer Bryan Weinstein are also part of the exhibition. For his "Tampa Changing" project, Weinstein methodicaly reproduced the composition of original Burgert Brothers photographs, using the same location and same angle as the Burgerts’ took their original historic photographs. The only difference between the Burgerts’ photographs and Weinstein's re-photographs is the elapse of nearly one hundred years.
Circus! The Photographs of Frederick W. Glasier
May 25 - August 4
This exhibition is intended as a celebration of the extraordinary work of Frederick W. Glasier. His photographs, those that have survived to be appreciated by today’s audiences, take as their subject the humanity and spectacle of the American circus during its heyday. Although they are from a bygone era, these pictures are fresh and moving in the way that all great art can be. They vividly capture the essence of an era but also transcend it to remain relevant to new audiences.
Glasier’s affection for his subjects is palpable, as evidenced by his psychologically incisive portraits, which stand in good stead among the great portraits of photographic history. He was obviously well liked by his subjects, who opened themselves to his camera and to posterity.
The photographs in this exhibition derive from the unique collection of more than 1,700 original glass plate negatives made by Glasier between 1896 and the 1930s and preserved in the Archives of The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. Collectively they present a powerful example of an individual artist’s capacity to be relevant on a variety of levels to future generations.
The prints in this exhibition are reproductions made by an elaborate digital process that involves scanning gelatin silver prints made as contact prints from the original glass negatives and printing them with carbon-based inks on archival paper. During this process, the technicians have the ability to extract details in the images that have never been seen before, as well as enlarge the images far beyond the size that Glasier would have been able to print at the beginning of the 20th century.
Circus! The Photographs of Frederick W. Glasier has been organized by the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, the State Art Museum of Florida, Florida State University, Sarasota, FL.
Charting the Land of Flowers: 500 Years of Florida Maps
September 22, 2013 - February 16, 2014
Marking the quincentenary of Ponce de León’s landing on Florida’s shores, Charting the Land of Flowers: 500 Years of Florida Maps will tell the story of the exploration, settlement and growth of Florida and the significant role it has played in our nation’s history.
The exhibition will feature maps predominantly from the personal collection of Tom and Lee Touchton, showcasing approximately 150 maps dating from the 1500s to the present. It will be one of the most comprehensive exhibitions of historic maps of Florida ever presented.
Charting the Land of Flowers will demonstrate that much of the earliest European exploration occurred not in Virginia or New England—but in Florida. Visitors will experience how Florida’s population and environment have evolved over six centuries, transforming the peninsula to one of our nation’s most populous and diverse states.