By Kathy L. Collins
The Florida Museum of Photographic Arts (FMoPA) is pleased to announce that Jane Simon has joined FMoPA as the Museum’s Director. Simon will be responsible for leading the museum into its next phase of development. She will also oversee daily operations, curatorial affairs and outreach.
Bryant Martinez, Winthrop Town Artist and member of the FMoPA’s Board of Directors said, “We are super excited to have someone as talented as Jane Simon lead FMoPA.”
Prior to joining FMoPA, Simon was the Curator for the University of South Florida’s Contemporary Art Museum. While at USF, Simon organized exhibitions of the work of Mark Dion and contemporary photography. She also organized a symposium on climate change and the arts. Prior to USF, she was Curator of Exhibitions for the Madison Museum of Art in Madison, Wisconsin.
Simon has big and exciting plans for FMoPA. This summer, the museum will feature two exhibitions. One will showcase the photogravures (an intalglio printmaking or photo-mechanical process) of Edward Curtis. The other will feature three emerging artists, Sissi Farassat (an Iranian-American who photographs Americana and then embellishes the photographs), Jim Reynolds and Edmund Fountain (a Tampa photographer who has been working on a series of the former reform school in Marianna). Simon said, “I hope these exhibitions will appeal to a wide range of people because they address the distant past, the recent past and our evolving present.”
The FMoPA is a museum dedicated to exhibiting important photographic art central to contemporary life and culture. FMoPA collects, preserves and presents historic and contemporary photographic works by nationally and internationally known artists. FMoPA is also committed to myriad of outreach programs for both children and adults.
FMoPA is conveniently located at 400 N. Ashley Dr., Cube 200 in downtown Tampa. If you have never visited FMoPA, don’t let another summer go by without a visit.
For more information on FMoPA, please visit www.fmopa.org or call 221-2222.
