{"id":550,"date":"2025-10-13T21:36:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T21:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/550\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T21:36:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T21:36:08","slug":"usfsp-students-and-alumni-dream-of-a-new-future-for-harbor-hall-the-crows-nest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/550\/","title":{"rendered":"USFSP Students and alumni dream of a new future for Harbor Hall\u00a0 \u2013 The Crow’s Nest"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Matthew McGovern<\/p>\n

Amidst a community that prides itself on being a bustling hub for the arts in central Florida, the graphic arts program at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg is housed in a building that is often described by students as derelict and unwelcoming.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A dual irony exists in the physical appearance and history of Harbor Hall.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Until 1982, the building was used as a marine warehouse where boats were stored and repaired. From 1982 to 2011, it was the Dal\u00ed Museum, which moved to its permanent home in 2011.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"The future Harbor Hall building in 2011, shortly before the relocation of the Dal\u00ed Museum.\u00a0
Courtesy of the USF Library Archive\u00a0<\/p>\n

While grievances are plentiful, students current and former have directed their energy to envisioning a new future for Harbor Hall.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Former graphic arts student Gavin Hadro spent his time at USF St. Petersburg pondering what Harbor Hall could be in its most glorious form before graduating in spring 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI had always thought about making a new Harbor Hall as a project,\u201d Hadro said. \u201cPeople always say the place looks like a murder shack, a hospital, and all around just sterile.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The building lacks the pizzazz and \u2018artsiness\u2019 that arts buildings usually bear at other universities,\u00a0 Hadro said. He also detailed how the strange layout began to make more sense once he and his fellow students found out more about the history of the building.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"The entrance to Harbor Hall used to be the entrance to the Dal\u00ed Museum.\u00a0
Courtesy of the USF Library Archive<\/p>\n

For his senior project, Hadro created what he called \u2018the craziest Harbor Hall possible.\u2019. The renderings he produced with the input of over 20 other graphic arts students reflect what students in the program would hope to see, given the opportunity to significantly overhaul the space.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Hadro\u2019s presentation for a re-imagined Harbor Hall.\u00a0
Courtesy of Gavin Hadro\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the ideas I came up with in the project were from John Stanko, Erica Greenberg-Schneider and David Watts,\u201d Hadro told The Crow\u2019s Nest. \u201cI found out that they have been trying to get more funding for the building to no avail.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Instructors have continued to encourage students like Hadro and Montana Smith, a senior in the graphic arts program, works tirelessly to take what she and other students have been given inside of Harbor Hall.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On top of being a teaching assistant and employee at Greater Public Studio<\/a>, Smith has taken it upon herself to work with instructors and fellow students to revamp Harbor Hall in lieu of receiving funds from the university to properly update classrooms.<\/p>\n

\"\"Smith organizes student work in Harbor Hall.
Photo by Matthew McGovern<\/p>\n

\u201cDavid [Watts] and a lot of the other professors have been advocating for more funding and redoing a lot of our classrooms for a while,\u201d Smith said. \u201cWe got some new chairs recently, but I know it has been really hard for them to get us new tables that are made for drawing that don\u2019t hold on to things like ink and charcoal.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Smith told The Crow\u2019s Nest that in addition to hindering the creative process of students in the program, the lack of consistent renovation has slowly created a divide between upper and underclassmen.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She describes having met several friends who are new to the program from being a teaching assistant, but understands that not all students are given the opportunity to make these connections, citing a lack of communal spaces as the root of the issue.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe professors can teach us so much, but I feel like it is also important for older students to be able to share their portfolios with students who are new to the program,\u201d Smith said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

From sanding tables and reclaiming silkscreens to uncovering archived reference materials left behind by students and instructors, she hopes to leave Harbor Hall a better space than it was as her spring 2026 graduation date quickly approaches.<\/p>\n

\"\"Archived reference material has been made readily available for students by Smith in Harbor Hall.
Photo by Matthew McGovern<\/p>\n

Smith\u2019s various undertakings differ from the large-scale dreams of students like Gavin Hadro\u2019s, but professors are welcoming every effort toward the building\u2019s long-awaited transformation \u2013 no matter how small the step.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re in a space for so long, it\u2019s hard to reimagine it,\u201d Smith said. \u201cThey\u2019re excited that there\u2019s someone that can do something \u2013 even if it\u2019s just sanding down tables.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\t\t\t\t Post Views: 37 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\"More<\/a>
Written by: Matthew McGovern<\/a> on October 13, 2025.
Last revised by: Julia Ferrara<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Matthew McGovern Amidst a community that prides itself on being a bustling hub for the arts in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":551,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550","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=550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}