How Tampa’s Graphicstudio became the printmaking matrix for 20th-century art legends.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Paris, London, New York City, and … Tampa Bay. In what seems a world away from the marquee cities that have long been synonymous with fine art, Graphicstudio at the University of South Florida (USF) – and their renowned master printers – have been assiduously impacting art culture since the studio’s inception in 1968. Robert Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Mapplethorpe, Alex Katz, and many more of the brightest, boldest artistic minds of the era have added to Graphicstudio’s portfolio along the way. 

What is it about Graphicstudio that has continuously lured some of the most reputable names in modern art to a public university’s nonprofit studio in southwest Florida? The answer is multifaceted and as organic as the creativity that is fostered there, and best told from the beginning. 

Chuck Close’s ‘Georgia Fingerprint I’ will be auctioned at Myers Fine Art on April 30. Image provided by Myers Fine Art

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