{"id":142192,"date":"2026-02-03T17:54:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T17:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/142192\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T17:54:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T17:54:10","slug":"usfs-70-year-role-in-ybor-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/142192\/","title":{"rendered":"USF\u2019s 70-year role in Ybor City"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Paul Guzzo<\/a>, University Communications and Marketing<\/p>\n

In the 1960s through early \u201970s, there was a saying about Ybor City\u2019s main thoroughfare:<\/p>\n

“You could take a nap in the middle of Seventh Avenue and not worry about traffic,”
\n said Paul Wilborn, a 1975 USF graduate. “It was empty.”<\/p>\n

The situation was so dire that in 1970, Tampa officials proposed turning the district
\n into a bullfighting arena.<\/p>\n

Ybor was ultimately saved by bulls, but a different kind: the USF Bulls.<\/p>\n

Artists \u2013 many from what today is known as USF\u2019s College of Design, Art & Performance
\n \u2013 took over Ybor, opening galleries, staging shows and throwing parties that revived
\n the district and laid the foundation for today\u2019s entertainment and residential hub.<\/p>\n

USF turns 70 this year.<\/p>\n

And Ybor is celebrating its 140th anniversary.<\/p>\n

Though their births are decades apart, their art history remains deeply connected.<\/p>\n

“Ybor\u2019s revival started with USF artists,\u201d said Andrew Ross, director of USF\u2019s School
\n of Art and Art History. \u00a0\u201cThey transformed the neighborhood into a cultural hub.”<\/p>\n

Their connection continues.<\/p>\n

Ybor\u2019s Reverb Gallery is leased by USF and run by master of fine arts students \u2013 \u00a0becoming
\n a key space for student-led exhibitions, bridging the university with Tampa\u2019s arts
\n community.<\/p>\n

\"Reverb\"\/<\/p>\n

Reverb Gallery [Photo by Paul Guzzo, University Communications and Marketing]<\/p>\n

\"Audet<\/p>\n

David Audet, Joe Howden and their diorama [Photo by Amy Espinosa]<\/p>\n

“Ybor has always been intertwined with the university\u2019s art history,” said Sarah Howard,
\n an assistant dean of student success for USF. “Bringing students back here makes that
\n legacy feel alive again.”<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, in their second-story Ybor studio, USF alumni David Audet, \u201977, and Joe
\n Howden, \u201980, are finishing a sprawling diorama that tells Ybor\u2019s history with an oversized
\n focus on the 1970s art movement of which they were a part.<\/p>\n

“Ybor was rife with energy \u2013 bohemian art shops, artists working everywhere,\u201d Howden
\n said. \u201cIt\u2019s an overlooked part of Ybor\u2019s history.\u201d<\/p>\n

From cigars to canvases\u00a0<\/p>\n

Founded in the late 1880s by cigar magnate Vicente Martinez-Ybor, Ybor City grew from
\n scrublands into a bustling immigrant enclave powered by hand-rolled cigar factories,
\n earning Tampa the nickname \u201cCigar City.\u201d<\/p>\n

But by the 1960s, automation, labor strife and changing tastes left behind shuttered
\n factories and empty streets.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when city leaders floated a plan to build a bullfighting arena in Ybor, complete
\n with hotels, restaurants and shops. The state approved the idea, but it fizzled.<\/p>\n

USF was chartered in 1956 and opened in 1960.<\/p>\n

Eight years later, USF founded Graphicstudio, a collaborative art research studio
\n that produces limited-edition prints and sculptures with leading and emerging artists.
\n Then, in 1970, Theo Wujcik became its shop director, cementing the marriage of USF
\n and Ybor.<\/p>\n

Internationally known as a printmaker and lithographer, Wujcik lured top artists to
\n Tampa to create, guest lecture and take residencies at Graphicstudio.<\/p>\n

At Wujcik\u2019s urging, these visiting artists, like pop-art icon James Rosenquist, lived
\n and worked from studio space in Ybor.<\/p>\n

“For $200 a month you could rent a giant apartment with light pouring in,” said Wilborn,
\n who chronicled that era in his book \u201cCigar City: Tales from a 1980’s Creative Ghetto\u201d.
\n “It was the starving artist\u2019s dream.”<\/p>\n

\"Theo\"\/<\/p>\n

Theo Wujcik signing a self potrait [Photo courtesy of USF’s Graphicstudio]<\/p>\n

\"James\"\/<\/p>\n

James Rosenquist in his Ybor studio [Photo courtesy of Paul Wilborn]<\/p>\n

Wujcik and his visiting artists then introduced their students to Ybor. They followed
\n \u2013 moving into cheap apartments and studios \u2013 turning the town into a bohemian scene.<\/p>\n

“Theo was a Pied Piper for Ybor,” said Beverly Coe, who attended USF in the 1970s
\n and then worked as Rosenquist\u2019s assistant. “Where Theo went, the energy followed.
\n If you asked a USF arts student where they were going that night, most of the time
\n they said Ybor.”<\/p>\n

Then came Bud Lee.<\/p>\n

Costumes, culture and change<\/p>\n

Named Life Photographer of the Year in 1967, Lee was inspired by stories of 1920s
\n Paris parties where artists and models adopted themes and lived them for a night.
\n When Lee settled in Tampa in the 1970s, he decided to start his own version.<\/p>\n

That idea came to fruition when he judged a photo contest at USF in 1977. Audet, pursuing
\n a fine arts degree, was one of the contestants. The two hit it off, and Lee recruited
\n Audet for his party concept. Other USF artists like Wilborn and Coe joined the cause,
\n and, together, they formed the Artists and Writers Group.<\/p>\n

Through the early 1990s, they hosted the annual Artists and Writers Ball at Ybor\u2019s
\n Cuban Club. Each year featured a different theme, with the building transformed and
\n thousands arriving in elaborate costumes. For the Daughters of the Bizarro theme,
\n discarded newspapers became a psychedelic jungle of flowers and vines, while the Disney-Dali
\n Cartoon Ball imagined a surreal child of Salvador Dali and Walt Disney.<\/p>\n

Revelers flocked, rediscovered Ybor, and then came back again to visit the shops,
\n bars and cafes that opened in response to the new crowds. By the 1980s, other events
\n were regular \u00a0\u2013 like jazz concerts in Ybor\u2019s Centennial Park.<\/p>\n

In 1985, Wilborn helped launch Guavaween, an annual Ybor City Halloween festival that
\n took over the district with a themed costume parade. By the 1990s, more than 100,000
\n attended each year, and marquee bands like Cheap Trick were booked.<\/p>\n

Audet also branched off, founding Hillsborough Community College\u2019s Ybor Festival of
\n the Moving Image in 2003. The annual film festival drew thousands to the district
\n and filmmakers from around the world.<\/p>\n

\"Artists<\/p>\n

An Artists and Writers Ball [Photo Courtesy of David Audet]<\/p>\n

\"Guavaween\"\/<\/p>\n

A Guavaween float [Photo couretsy of David Audet]<\/p>\n

By the early 2000s, Ybor became known as an entertainment district. More businesses
\n moved in. Apartments and condominium buildings were erected and old homes restored.<\/p>\n

The Artists & Writers Ball, film festival and Guavaween eventually faded away \u2013 but
\n Ybor never did.<\/p>\n

USF\u2019s Ybor revival<\/p>\n

\"Ybor\"\/<\/p>\n

Ybor’s Seventh Avenue as it looks today<\/p>\n

\"Ybor<\/p>\n

Ybor’s iconic gateway<\/p>\n

USF artists remained in Ybor in some capacity, but the 2024 opening of Reverb \u2013 a
\n gallery space within the larger three-story Kress Contemporary arts building that
\n includes nine galleries, a black box theater, event space and 28 studios \u2013 marks the
\n first university-approved hub there.<\/p>\n

While USF has campus galleries, the university wanted students connected to the broader
\n community, said Patrick Carew, a third-year MFA student and director of Reverb Gallery.<\/p>\n

“It puts our artists in direct conversation with the Ybor arts scene,” he said. “It\u2019s
\n a way to raise our visibility.”<\/p>\n

\"Kress\"\/<\/p>\n

Kress Contemporary [Photo by Victor Giangreco]<\/p>\n

\"Reverb\"\/<\/p>\n

A Reverb Gallery show [Photo by Patrick Carew]<\/p>\n

The gallery also provides leadership experience, with a different MFA student directing
\n it each year and curating the student shows.<\/p>\n

“The most exciting thing the school has done while I\u2019ve been here for the graduate
\n program was giving us Reverb,” said Tom Rosenow, a recent MFA graduate who served
\n as Reverb\u2019s founding director. “It empowered us to build a gallery from the ground
\n up.”<\/p>\n

And the Tempus Project, which serves as an anchor gallery in the Kress Contemporary
\n building, also partners with USF to provide internships that teach students everything
\n from installation and event management to gallery administration.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s about tapping into one of the most respected art programs in the region,” said
\n Tracy Midulla, founder and creative director of the Tempus Project. “Their faculty,
\n students and resources bring a level of rigor and creativity that elevates everything
\n we do at Kress Contemporary. Together, we\u2019re creating opportunities that prepare students
\n for real careers while keeping Ybor\u2019s artistic legacy alive.”<\/p>\n

Audet and Howden hope their diorama helps keep that spirit alive too.<\/p>\n

Titled “Tampa Town,” it showcases Ybor\u2019s founding cigar magnates, influential business
\n owners and politicians, while giving equal prominence to the artists Wujcik, Wilborn,
\n Coe, Lee, and even Audet and Howden themselves \u2013 alongside nods to the legendary parties
\n and events that shaped the district\u2019s cultural identity.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s not just a diorama \u2013 it\u2019s a time capsule,” Audet said. “Every figure tells a
\n story about Ybor\u2019s soul. It was built on creativity.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Paul Guzzo, University Communications and Marketing In the 1960s through early \u201970s, there was a saying about…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":142193,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-142192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}