The only constant in life is change. This saying is more prominent now than ever as we learn to navigate our day-to-day lives by establishing a “new normal.” Our lives at home and work have changed drastically, as a large number people have assumed remote positions to practice social distancing. Through all of this, FMoPA listened to your feedback and tailored our offerings to meet your needs.

FMoPA offers exclusive benefits for those holding membership. One of the benefits is being invited to a members meeting. These exclusive meetings provide insight about future exhibits, competitions, demographics, and other behind the scenes museum content. Members can also make suggestions about what they would like to see offered. 

Our team takes times like these to communicate and listen to our members to see how we can create a more memorable experience for them, as well as how we can best tailor our “new normal” to theirs. This may include a flexible schedule for individual and small group museum visits at a time that is most convenient for the visitors and members, as well as providing virtual experiences that you can participate in from the comfort of your home. 

Membership

Membership at FMoPA includes several benefits, such as free admission to the museum, a 10% discount in our gift shop, discounts on educational classes, and an invitation to enter a photograph into the annual Member’s Show. In addition to these benefits, memberships that were renewed while the museum was closed will be receiving a 3 month extension. New members will also receive a FMoPA t-shirt that can be selected on your next visit to the museum. 

Who Are Our Members?

Our current membership population consists of collectors (3.2%), directors (4.4%), students/seniors/military (7.6%), educators (6.8%), households (20.4%), and individuals (57.6%). 

Ultimate Museum Experience

As our interactions shifted to accommodate social distancing, the FMoPA team wanted your visit to make you feel like the VIP that you are. FMoPA is pleased to offer a new experience that is tailored to your individual visit, The Ultimate Museum Experience. FMoPA is committed to serving our visitors and members and ensuring their social and emotional wellness needs are being met during these challenging times. The Ultimate Museum Experience is a way to enhance your museum visit. We invite you to share a one-of-a-kind experience with groups of up to six people in a fun, safe, and creative environment that ensures your love for the cultural and photographic arts is shared in an unforgettable way. Your encounter with the exhibitions can be tailored to suit your interests. For more information, please visit our website or contact Events Director, Haley Searcy, at events@fmopa.org for more information. This is our way of focusing on events that are safe and fun for everyone involved. We are currently working on a way to share the Ultimate Museum Experience with you virtually, and we look forward to sharing this information with you as soon as possible. 

Exhibitions 

Just before everything started to close due to Covid-19, we put out the call for entries for our 10th annual International Photo Competition. Since then, our jurors announced the winning photographs, which are recognized on our website. Best in show went to Fazilat Soukhakian for her photo titled “Queer In Utah”, Erin & Amy, 2019. 

In July, FMoPA will display the Prodigy showcase, which is a collaboration with University Area CDC’s Prodigy Cultural Arts Program. This outreach program offers educational programming for underprivileged children to interact and engage with the cultural arts. The photos from this showcase will be displayed beginning on July 24, 2020.

In the fall, FMoPA will have three new exhibitions for visitors to view. The first is Reframed with Astrid Jahnsen, Sama Alshaibi, and Ina Jang. The photos in this exhibition illustrates the way that women are represented in photography and film. The second exhibition will be Bruce Davidson: New York, which will be introduced in September. The third exhibition will be the 2020 Member’s Show, where the photographic achievements of our members will be on display. 

Permanent Collection

In 2018, FMoPA was gifted 350 photographs by Bruce Davidson, which are being curated into an exhibit that empathizes and reflects social distancing. His New York photographs consist of several series. The exhibition has photographs dating back to his work between the 1950s and the 1990s. 

FMoPA’s permanent collection now consists of over 1,100 photographs. In 2019 and 2020, we welcomed 40 new photographs to the collection.

Bruce Davidson (American, b. 1933) USA. New York City. 1980. Subway Platform. (c) Bruce Davidson/Magnum

Online Exhibitions

There are several ways that you can still interact with your FMoPA community. Because so many of you are still practicing social distancing, we are offering virtual interactions in the form of competitions, exhibitions, lecture series, weekly museum updates, and virtual classes. 

Classes Online and Virtual

We are offering all of our classes virtually and at the museum. June classes include:

  • Storytelling Through Photography Remote Learning
  • Fundamentals of Travel Photography Remote Learning
  • Photoshop Basics Remote Learning
  • Business of Art Remote Learning
  • En Espanol Fotografia Contemporanea
  • Discovering Your Creative Photographic Path Remote learning
  • For more information about classes visit our website.

FMoPA recently conducted a brief survey with one of the questions being: “Do you prefer remote learning or in-person classes?” Responses indicated that 58% would like to see more remote options, whereas 42% were happy with at the museum offerings. FMoPA will continue to seek feedback regarding the medium in which classes are offered, as well as what kinds of classes you are interested in taking.

Demographics 

When analyzing visitor demographics, it was clear that the majority of visitors travel from outside of the Tampa Bay area (with 65.5% recorded in 2019 and 71% recorded in the beginning of 2020). Many of these visitors are not only visiting from outside of Tampa but are visiting from states other than Florida, too. In addition to local and out-of-state visitors, 5.3% of visitors during 2020 were from countries other than America. 

The FMoPA team is always happy to hear from our visitors. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please contact us at Info@fmopa.com or outreach@fmopa.com.

We hope to see you soon, but until then: stay safe, stay healthy, and stay happy.

Written by: Michaela Dooley