My Experience at the Contemporary Art Museum in Florida Essay

Located in the heart of The University of South Florida, is the home of The Contemporary Art Museum. Since it's opening in 1989, this museum has displayed over 5,000 artworks to the public. The museum is located off of USF Holly Drive and is in between The Fine Arts Building (FAH) and The Theatre Building (THR). The USF Contemporary Art Museum or often referred to as the acronym (CAM), has given not only the USF community but also the Tampa Bay community a closer look into the artworks of various artists from across the world. Since its doors open to the public, The USF Contemporary Art Museum has held exhibitions to provide the community with the knowledge of art and an opportunity to appreciate it. Their mission is to "bring to the University and the Tampa Bay community vital, investigative and scholarly contemporary exhibitions, while simultaneously contributing to the dialogue within the international arts community by organizing exhibitions, producing relevant catalogues, scheduling critically significant traveling exhibitions and by underwriting experimental projects of artists emerging on the national and the international fronts"(About).The museum strives to give an in depth experience when one enters through their doors and provide viewers with a new understanding and outlook on art. From a first hand experience, I can say they achieved this goal.
The USF Contemporary Art Museum offers a selection of tours in which a guide takes you through the museum and provides you with a more detailed explanation of each of the various artist's artwork. I visited the museum on an early Wednesday morning. At this time, I was surprisingly the only one there other than a gentleman behind the front desk. Because of this, I was not able to talk to anyone else or get their feedback on the different artworks while walking through the museum. However, I was able to truly appreciate and concentrate on the artworks in front of me without any distractions. It was quite peaceful and allowed me to think openly being the only one there. The museum is fairly small with only two separate wings. It is one of the smallest museums I have ever been to. I learned about this Museum after talking to a friend who had just taken the same HUM 1020 course last semester. She recommended that I visit The USF Contemporary Art Museum since it is easy to get to, contained unique artworks and that I wouldn't regret it. Over the summer, I visited The Dali Museum located in St. Petersburg, FL and really enjoyed it. At the time of my visit, they were holding an exhibit of work from artist Andy Warhol simultaneously. I liked both artists' artwork for they each had a very different and unique approach to their artworks that was unlike any other artists before them. Like The Dali Museum, The USF Contemporary Museum had a distinct theme that was seen through out the entire exhibition. Each form of artwork related to the others displayed beside them.