By Hannah J. Farrow, AliveTampaBay Correspondent
Francesca Bacci celebrated her one-year anniversary as an art and design assistant professor with the University of Tampa this past August, but her background with art goes way back.
Bacci received her Curatorial Certificate and Ph.D. from Rutgers University in 2004 and worked as Curator of Special Projects at the MART museum (Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Trento and Rovereto, Italy) for five years before coming to Tampa.
Her latest project is the University of Tampa’s Scarfone/Hartly Gallery 40th anniversary show. Bacci had to pull the exhibition out of over 450 works in the collection – works produced by UT faculty, current and former students, or visiting artists.
“I had to put together all of the different needs – needs of honoring everybody who has contributed to this place,” Bacci said.
The themes of the gallery range from prostitution to the Vietnam war and the mediums range from photography to sculptures.
“Everything was produced here and is still relevant today,” Bacci said.
The gallery opened on Aug. 25 and will stay open until Sept. 23. Admission is free and the gallery’s hours are Tuesday-Friday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday 1 to 4 p.m.
Art on the Boulevard – a cocktail and silent auction – will take place on Sept. from 7 to 10 p.m. Click here to learn more about the inaugural event.