An architectural photograph by Amy Martz showing A minaret at UTampa in Tampa, Florida. Captured framing through two oval cutouts in a light blue foreground structure, the top oval highlights the gold crescent finial atop a slender silver spire, while the lower oval reveals the metallic silver onion dome and arched arcade of one of Plant Hall's iconic minarets against a clear blue sky under bright daylight.A minaret at UTampa in Tampa, Florida. Credit: Amy Martz / UTampa

There’s not a local gem that shines quite like the University of Tampa. Now known as UTampa, the former Tampa Bay hotel’s minarets are the definition of iconic and could very well be a mascot for the city.

A new collection of photography by Tampa’s own Amy Martz captures what feels like every square inch of the school, including the hotel and surrounding areas, in stunning detail. On display at the Ferman Center for the Arts on N Boulevard for a year, “Railroad to River” opens Friday and showcases just a portion of a larger project that will eventually become a book (there are about 300 photos in the project so far, but just a few dozen will be on display).

A low-angle self-portrait photograph showing photographer Amy Martz inside the Sykes Chapel and Center for Faith and Values at UTampa in Tampa, Florida. Lying prone on the chapel's polished stone floor with her professional Canon camera lens pointed toward the foreground, Martz wears dark-rimmed glasses and a dark sleeveless dress while resting her chin in her hand and smiling slightly at the camera. A silver Leica rangefinder camera rests on the floor beside her, positioned before the soaring warm-wood vaulted ceilings, exposed timber arches, and tall pipe organ of the chapel interior under warm ambient light.Amy Martz inside the Sykes Chapel and Center for Faith and Values at UTampa in Tampa, Florida. Credit: Amy Martz

Martz is an architectural photographer by trade, but her work in the show enters painterly territory, thanks to the way she finds unique vantage points that frame the campus in new ways and draw attention to themes that pop up across the campus, from flower shapes, to chess pieces, and tilt-shift panoramas only Martz could capture.

“Architecture is really our most public form of art,” she told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, as she explained some of her favorite shots.

Patterns, Martz explained, kept popping up across campus, from chess pieces on the top of stair banisters, to flowers, keyhole cutouts that framed different parts of the campus, and more.

There’s no cover for the opening reception for “Railroad To River—University of Tampa in Hidden View” Photography by Amy Martz happening Friday, Oct. 2 at University of Tampa’s Saunders Foundation Art Gallery at Ferman Center for the Arts.

A wide elevated architectural photograph by Amy Martz showing Downtown Tampa and the University of Tampa as seen from inside one of the school's iconic minarets. Framed from behind white keyhole archway pillars inside the elevated minaret, light graffiti inscriptions reading "Audrey Till '25" and "Jevs 2023" are visible etched into the right column. In the foreground below, silver stainless-steel domes and spires top the brick campus roofline, while the Hillsborough River, downtown high-rise buildings, and surrounding city streets stretch out into the background under a bright blue sky filled with wispy white clouds.Downtown Tampa and the University of Tampa as seen from inside one of the school’s iconic minarets. Credit: Amy Martz / UTampa

A vertical interior architectural photograph by Amy Martz showing Inside the Sykes Chapel and Center for Faith and Values at UTampa in Tampa, Florida. Looking up toward soaring warm wooden vaulted ceiling beams illuminated by linear track lights, the shot captures a large glass wall facade reflecting the interior pipe organ and wooden pews. Through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows at night, the lit minarets and illuminated towers of Plant Hall are visible across campus in the distance.Inside the Sykes Chapel and Center for Faith and Values at UTampa in Tampa, Florida. Credit: Amy Martz / UTampa

An architectural detail photograph by Amy Martz showing Flowers like this are all over the University of Tampa. Captured in a tight vertical macro shot, an intricate terracotta flower relief carving in deep red-orange clay forms a symmetrical floral rosette surrounded by beaded circular borders, ornate scrollwork motifs, and raised geometric patterns on the exterior facade of Plant Hall.Flowers like this are all over the University of Tampa Credit: Amy Martz / UTampa

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This article appears in Oct. 01 – 07, 2026.

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