Featured Online School

The Art Institutes offers real-world education programs in design, the culinary arts, media arts, and fashion. Here you'll get the competitive edge to succeed as a creative professional - in your field of interest! Online programs also satisfy a need for budding creative professionals.

Featured Online School

Earn your Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Communication degree with a concentration in
WEB DESIGN!
Click here to learn more.

For almost 70 years, Harrington has focused on preparing leaders in today's interior design industry. You can be one of those people. Click here to learn how!

Explore your artistic creativity with all that technology has to offer. Click here to learn more.

NYFA offers workshops in Filmmaking, Digital Filmmaking, Acting, Producing, Editing, Music Video, Screenwriting, 3D Animation, and Movie Camps as well as Bachelor of Arts and Master of Fine Arts in Filmmaking. Click here to find a location near you!

Related Sites: Career Training; Web Design Schools; Game Design Schools; Online Schools; Continuing Education; Bachelors Degrees; Masters Degrees; Online Graduate Schools; Top Graduate Schools; Working Student

The Creative Student's Guide to Tampa Art Education and Careers

...for students of art, design, fashion design, photography, film/video, advertising, interior design and other creative fields.

Visit our Complete Directory of
Tampa Art Schools and Art Colleges!

by C.J. Gustafson
ArtSchools.com Contributing Writer

art schools in Tampa The name Tampa, which many believe means "sticks of fire," goes back centuries to the Caloosa Indians, and then settlers adopted the name in the early nineteenth century. The city now has 303,447 residents living in an area of 170.6 sq. miles, though approximately one third of that is water. Tampa's weather is humid and typically warm to hot, with lows of 40°F in winter and highs peaking at 90°F in summer. It is a city of sand and surf, but also of the arts.

When people talk about Tampa, they usually mean the Tampa Bay area, which also includes St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Sarasota and others. According to Wallace Wilson, Director of the School of Art and Art History in the College of Visual and Performing Arts at the University of South Florida (USF), Tampa, this collection of different areas is one thing that makes the city so appealing. "The combination of the 'city life' of Tampa, combined with the 'getaway' aspects of the Gulf communities, is unique and exhilarating and inspiring," he said, adding that "[t]he area, with three million residents, is a cosmopolitan multi-ethnic metroplex that is home to many artists, musicians and other creative individuals."

Despite the variety of cultures and art interests, much of the activity that happens in the Tampa Bay area centers on beaches and tourism. The Gasparilla Pirate Festival is a highlight of Tampa life; every February hundreds of "pirate" boats enter Tampa Bay, docking near downtown so their crews can join a giant street parade. Busch Gardens is another popular attraction. Various types of boating activities are high on the list and the bigger beaches are usually busy, even during the week.

art degrees in Tampa Strong Commitment to the Arts

Tampa also has many cultural and arts attractions, and the city's leaders have demonstrated a commitment to the arts. A quote from Tampa's mayor, Pam Iorio, posted on the City's website for public art states, "I want to make sure that the arts are part of everything we do. We need to make sure that the arts are part of every neighborhood…" The city's public art tour includes murals, paintings, sculpture, and other forms of artistic expression displayed across the city.

Other land-based city treasures that are likely to be of interest to art students include the Greek and Roman antiquities collection at the Tampa Museum of Art, which draws thousands of visitors every year, the African-Art Gallery and Museum, and the Florida International Museum, which is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution and has exhibited some works from that collection of museums, as well as their own international displays. The Fraser Smith Carved Wood Museum is another unique venue, and the Tampa Gallery of Photographic Arts will appeal to those pursuing photography careers.

There also are several museums of note in nearby St. Petersburg, the Museum of Fine Arts, the Salvador Dali Museum, and the St. Petersburg Arts Center, which also offers art classes, workshops and studio space.

The Tampa Bay area is home to an amazing number of art studios, private galleries, photography services, graphic design studios and other businesses related to the arts. In all, the list is over 400 strong. The Clayton Galleries and Hyde Park Fine Arts are two well-known venues from this list. The large number of resources for artists is another aspect about Tampa Bay that Mr. Wilson finds appealing. He said the area offers an "…ease of finding materials, tools and people that know how to do things…"

art student in Tampa Art Schools and Programs

The schools and universities in the Tampa Bay area have a strong commitment to arts education. In addition to the College of Visual and Performing Arts, the University of South Florida also has an architecture school. The International Academy of Design and Technology - Tampa, the The Art Institute of Tampa, Florida Metropolitan University Commercial Art Program, and the University of Tampa Art Department also offer students arts programming such as Graphic Design degrees, Fashion degrees, Interior Design degrees, and preparation in photography, animation, art education and a variety of other visual art careers.

As was mentioned, many Tampa art centers and galleries also offer classes and workshops, often taught by working artists. Topics include drawing, painting, sculpture, and general art. People may think of sand, surf, and sun when they hear the name Tampa, but the area also offers a variety of educational and growth opportunities and a supportive environment for art students.

Top of Page