EVENTS
Brackish Waters
Brackish Waters by Jon Seals
Reception July 30 from 6-8pm
Closing Aug 20 from 6-8pm
New Visions Art Lounge & Crosby Gallery
Brackish Waters is a place-responsive watercolor exhibition that explores painting as both journey and witness at the fragile threshold where freshwater meets saltwater, and personal memory meets shared ecological experience. Created with water and sediment gathered from the Tampa Bay watershed, the paintings evoke immersion, transition, vulnerability, and renewal through large suspended watercolors, framed circular works, and a constellation of small collaborative paintings contributed by community participants. Together, these works invite reflection on water as material, witness, and shared inheritance, exploring the relationship between individual experience, collective identity, and ecological uncertainty.
Gallery and Walking Tours
We’re excited to welcome Manny Leto of Brick Street Tours to Kress Contemporary for a special curatorial residency with Tempus Projects, beginning September 10 and presented in conjunction with the exhibition Oh Cuore Mia: Love Letters to Ybor City.
The experience begins at Kress Contemporary with a visit to Oh Cuore Mia, an exhibition of art and ephemera exploring the complicated and enduring love for this historic neighborhood. From there, Tampa native Manny Leto will lead guests out of the gallery and into the streets of Ybor City.
The walking tour explores Ybor’s past, present, and future—from its history as a center of immigrant life and industry to its longstanding role as an epicenter of Tampa’s art and music scenes. And what better place to begin than the historic Kress building, now home to a vibrant community of artists, galleries, studios, and cultural organizations carrying that creative history forward.
Manny has been leading walking tours and cultural experiences in Tampa for more than two decades, making him the city’s longest-running independent tour provider. A Tampa native with family roots in Ybor City and West Tampa, he has been an ardent advocate for the city’s history and culture and has written and presented extensively on the immigrant history of both neighborhoods.
Manny currently serves as Executive Director of St. Petersburg Preservation (Preserve the ’Burg), where he works with local stakeholders to celebrate and protect historic architecture in the Sunshine City.
Ybor City Gallery + Walking Tours
September 10–13, 2026
Tempus Projects at Kress Contemporary
1624 E. 7th Avenue, Ybor City
Each tour includes a complimentary welcome beverage and gallery tour of Oh Cuore Mia, followed by a guided walking tour of Ybor City. Multiple tour times are available September 10–13.
Start at Kress, experience the exhibition, and then head out on foot to explore the neighborhood that inspired it.
And because this is Tampa in September: dress comfortably, wear good walking shoes, and bring a hat and sunscreen if you’re joining a daytime tour.
For information and tickets:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ybor-city-gallery-and-walking-tour-with-manny-leto-tickets-1998398660188
Salsa Con Ron
Salsa Con Ron featuring Rum & Coke (Miami)
Saturday, Sept 12 from 4-9pm in the Kress Passionflower Loft
Tickets: https://tickets.venuepilot.com/e/salsa-con-ron-presents-rum-and-coke-2026-09-12-kress-contemporary-ybor-city-tampa-ca7634?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio
El Amor de Mi Tierra
El Amor de Mi Tierra: Fotos de Nuestra Isla
Photography by Daniel Almonte and Elvi Salcedo
Opening Sept 12 from 6 to 10pm
Cave Studio at Kress Contemporary
Third Thursday at Kress
Join Kress Contemporary for a monthly open house every Third Thursday of the month!
From 5 to 8pm, drop in to experience open artist studios, gallery exhibitions, pop-up performances, refreshments, and more. Free and open to the public.
CANCELLED: Strictly Critical
*** This event has been CANCELLED due to weather-related travel delays ***
Join Art Critter and Kress Contemporary for a night of debate on art’s most hate-loved topic: beauty.
Blake Gopnik and Christian Viveros-Fauné, two of our galaxy’s most eminent — and beautiful — critics, will argue opposing positions on the merits and hazards of beauty.
LOOKING reception
LOOKING at Reverb Gallery explores shifting boundaries between intimacy and anonymity, privacy and exposure within queer hook-up culture. The exhibition follows queer encounters through liminal spaces where bodies move briefly from unfamiliarity to physical closeness, share vulnerability, then potentially return to anonymity. From bedrooms to digital screens, showers, and outdoor sites, intimacy forms within temporary spaces, where trust, risk, taboo, and pleasure coexist and thrive.
The erotic works turn the shared space into an intimate space, obstructing the boundary between what is considered private and what is permitted to become public. LOOKING invites the audience as both witnesses and participants to observe and experience tenderness, voyeurism, and vulnerability.
Reverb is located on the second floor of Kress Contemporary.
Vinh HuynhQuang Huynh is an interdisciplinary artist, curator, and poet. Born and raised in Vietnam, he immigrated to the United States in 2017. He earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art from Columbus State University in 2024 and is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in Studio Art at the University of South Florida in Tampa, FL.
Huynh’s work has been exhibited in venues including Illges Gallery and Schley Gallery (Columbus, GA), the New York Academy of Art (New York, NY), LaGrange Art Museum (LaGrange, GA), and Wadsworth Auditorium (Newnan, GA), among others.
Ybor Ad Hoc Arts Group Monthly Meeting
The Ybor Ad Hoc Arts Group is a small group of Ybor City artists, arts enthusiasts, and creative leaders who meet once a month to share information and discuss challenges relating to the cultural scene in Ybor.
The Last Unicorn
Peter S. Beagle's timeless fairy tale, The Last Unicorn, is brought to life on stage with puppetry, dance, original music, and full cast. Follow the last unicorn accompanied by a hapless magician and a world-weary woman as they travel to King Haggard's desolate castle to free the unicorns trapped by the Red Bull.
Adapted from the original 1968 novel by a mother-daughter duo, this play is a love letter to nostalgia and an answer to the question: How do we grow older without losing our sense of wonder?
Featuring: Rick Fernandez as Schmendrick, Jessica Jacobs as The Unicorn/Lady Amalthea, Michael Pruitt as The Narrator/King Haggard, Avry Eden as Molly Grue, and Noah Krusch as Prince Lir.
This world premier adaptation was written by Arlene Jacobs and Jessica Jacobs, with original music composed by Jessica Jacobs with lyrics based on songs by Peter S Beagle.
Performances are Aug 13-23 at Kress Contemporary
1624 E. 7th Ave. Ybor City, Tampa, FL 33605
Tickets: https://theatre.tampafringe.org/events/the-last-unicorn/
Rated PG (Loud noises, dark themes, not suitable for a young audience)
Third Thursday at Kress
Visit Kress Contemporary on Aug. 20 from 5 to 9pm to enjoy a building-wide arts open house, featuring literary performances throughout the evening. Free and open to the public.
Author Paul Wilborn and actor Eugenie Bondurant will perform a series of short readings from Wilborn’s 2026 novel, The Everlasting Life of Charlie Wall. Based on a real-life Tampa mobster, the book explores Wall’s life of crime as both a love story and mafia adventure, brimming with humor and heart.
Catch performances at 7pm and 8pm in the second-floor Kress Room!
This program is held in conjunction with the current exhibition at Tempus Projects. Oh, Cuore Mia (“my heart”) is a love letter to Ybor City, an exhibition exploring the past, present, and future of a historic district in constant transformation.
Other Third Thursday highlights include an exhibition by Jon Seals in the New Visions Art Lounge, an exhibition by Kress studio artists in the third-floor Wujcik Gallery, and more. Come join us for an exciting evening of visual, literary, and performing arts!
An author, professional musician, and award-winning journalist, Wilborn is currently executive director of the Palladium Theater at St. Petersburg College. He lives in St. Petersburg with his wife, the actor Eugenie Bondurant, whose film career includes leading roles in The Hunger Games (Mockingjay Part 4), and Marvel’s Werewolf By Night.
The Everlasting Life of Charlie Wall earned a five-star review from IndieReader, which called the book “surprising and brilliant.” Wilborn’s debut novel, Florida Hustle, earned a starred review from Kirkus and was named one of the “Best Indie Books of 2022” by Kirkus.
Elementos
A collaboration from Cave Printing and The Space In Between — Elementos transforms Cave into an immersive earthy environment with moss, tree trunks, eucalyptus, and nature imagery. The event includes a fragrance collab drop, limited merch, and sounds by DJ Svntos.
Third Thursday at Kress
Join Kress Contemporary for a monthly open house every Third Thursday of the month!
From 5 to 8pm, drop in to experience open artist studios, gallery exhibitions, pop-up performances, refreshments, and more. Free and open to the public.
Tempus Summer Pool Party
Soak up some sun at the Tempus Projects Summer Pool Party! ☀️ Join the fun (kiddie) poolside at the Passionflower Loft in Kress Contemporary and kick off the summer season right.
Information and tickets: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/tempus-pool-party
Oh, Cuore Mia preview
Get first looks at the Tempus Projects summer exhibition, ‘Oh, Cuore Mia!’ on Saturday, July 11 during a special preview event and fundraiser.
Oh, Cuore Mia (“my heart”) is an exhibition exploring the past, present, and future of a historic district in constant transformation. Ybor City is a living archive shaped by migration, labor, resistance, and reinvention. Artists are uniquely positioned to reflect on and reinterpret these histories.
This group exhibition is curated by Tempus Projects with guest juror Jenn Ryann Miller.
Click here for more details!
Tampa Fringe Festival
Tampa International Fringe Festival
WHEN: June 10-21, 2026
WHERE: Kress Contemporary & The Commodore on 7th Avenue in Ybor City.
WHAT: This year features over 30 shows, ranging from theatre to dance, stand-up to kids shows!
Info and Tickets: https://festival.tampafringe.org/full-schedule/
Third Thursday at Kress
Join Kress Contemporary for a monthly open house every Third Thursday of the month!
From 5 to 8pm, drop in to experience open artist studios, gallery exhibitions, pop-up performances, refreshments, and more. Free and open to the public.
Salsa con Ron: Rum & Coke
DJ Kumi, Harold Fandino, and Jesus Rodriguez bring their celebration of Caribbean and Afro-Latin sounds for a Tampa debut. With a focus on the 1960s–1980s, the trio known as the Rum & Coke DJs tap into their roots — they’re from the Dominican Republic, Colombia, and Nicaragua — while spinning funk, zouk, salsa, merengue, Afrobeat, soukous, cumbia, and more.
Organizers Salsa con Ron — driven by the Sorta Pretty Good duo of Sean O’Brien and Effren Denson — have set a grown folks schedule for this party, which wraps by 9 p.m.
The get together comes complete with both chicken and yellow rice along with rum and Coke, and potential domino games. Admission is $15.
For tickets: https://tickets.venuepilot.com/e/salsa-con-ron-presents-rum-coke-2026-05-31-kress-contemporary-ybor-city-tampa-934bb4?creativeloafing
Nothing to See Here
Join Tempus Projects for the opening of Nothing to See Here, a group exhibition exploring gestures and practices that often exist outside of recognition. Featuring Anna Hemmerich, Jenn Ryann Miller, Leah Peaslee, Kaylin Price, Selina Roman, Jessi Sherbet, and Erin Titus.
Artist reception April 2 from 7 to 9 pm.
Exhibition on view through May 28.
Galllery hours weekly:
Thursday and Friday 10 am - 6pm
Satuday and Sunday 10am - 4pm
Awkward Transactions
Join Tempus Projects for the opening of a collaborative exhibition by Lisa McCarthy and Wallace Wilson.
Artist reception April 2 from 7 to 9 pm.
Exhibition on view through May 28.
Galllery hours weekly (or by appointment):
Thursday and Friday 10 am - 6pm
Satuday and Sunday 10am - 4pm
By the DOZEN
Kress Contemporary is proud to present By the DOZEN, a group exhibition in our 2nd Floor Passionflower Loft featuring 12 artists working across painting, photography, mixed media, installation, and expanded contemporary practices.
Opening May 21 in historic Ybor City, By the DOZEN brings together a dynamic collection of artists, each of whom maintains a consistent studio practice inside Kress Contemporary. Their individual approaches create a layered conversation about material, image-making, memory, abstraction, observation, and contemporary visual culture.
Featured artists include Karol Batansky, Elayna Clair, Heidi Clapp-Temple, Dave Decker, Mary-Helen Horne, Lailani Johnson, Chase Parker, Carlos Pons, Leeann Rae, Lisa Ramudo, Marilyn Silverman, and Anna Speer.
A public reception will be held Thursday, May 21 from 7 to 9 p.m., during the Kress Third Thursday open house. Join us for an evening of contemporary art in the heart of Ybor City and help celebrate the artists, studios, and creative community that continues to shape Kress Contemporary.
The exhibition continues through May 23, 2026, with gallery hours:
Friday, May 22 – 10am to 3pm
Saturday, May 23 – 10am to noon
Terrain at Reverb
Exploring transformation, abstraction, and the shifting nature of the body, Terrain presents new work by MFA students Sabrina Barilone and Josepha Yague at Reverb Gallery.
Through painting and sculpture, the exhibition explores the intersection of the physical body and form—its face, contours, internal structure, and relationship to surrounding environments. Rather than presenting the body as fixed or naturalistic, both artists deconstruct and reimagine bodily forms through their own visual language, placing them within imagined spaces shaped by nature, geometry, and fictitious atmospheres.
Using traditional media to investigate abstraction and transformation, Terrain considers what remains once the body is pushed, bent, fragmented, and reconstructed. Together, the works invite viewers into a space of wonder, recognition, memory, and ambiguity.
Reception Thursday, May 21, 6–9 PM
Gobioff Foundation Microgrants Program
Tempus Projects invites visual, performing, and literary artists, as well as curators, to join us during Third Thursday, May 21, in Ybor City for a conversation with Gianna Rendina-Gobioff and Neil Gobioff of the Gobioff Foundation.
The evening will include refreshments and socializing beginning at 6 p.m., followed by a presentation at 6:30 p.m. focused on the Gobioff Foundation’s Microgrant Program.
The Gobioff Foundation supports artists and curators through funding opportunities that encourage publicly accessible art projects and events occurring in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. The Microgrant Program awards grants of up to $500 to individual artists and curators working across disciplines and experience levels.
The program places a strong emphasis on equity and accessibility, and encourages applications from LGBTQ+, Black, Asian, Latinx, Indigenous/Native American, and disabled artists. Selected projects must take place within six months of the award date and may not be previously completed projects.
There will be time for questions and answers from the audience following the presentation. This event is free and open to the public. Afterward, visitors can enjoy a building-wide open house as artists and galleries open their doors for Third Thursday at the Kress.
REVERB Gallery presents Marginalia
REVERB Gallery presents Marginalia, a two-person show of small works in conversation with the layered modes of existence within our local habitats. Together Kenny Jensen and Lauren Nelson explore the periphery of the natural world, bypassing conventional landscapes in favor of strange and often contradictory phenomenon. Echoing the forms of illuminated manuscripts and early scientific field notes, each “page” offers the viewer a window into the artists’ real and imagined observations. Here, patterns and shapes reverberate between the microscopic and the global, the recognizable and the obscure. Some works build in dense layers, others through acts of erasure and removal. Glimpses of found materials record evidence of a human presence, inviting the viewer to look closely for moments of chaos and clarity, comfort and confusion.
Opening reception April 16 from 6 to 9 p.m.
24c x Art Noire Open Mic
Join Art Noire Gallery and 24c on the fourth Wednesday of every month for art, music, vendors, and vibes! Only at Kress Contemporary.
Coded Culture
Art Noire Gallery presents an artist panel and community discussion about the future of Black art and AI. March 22 from 3 to 5 p.m. in the Kress Room.
Pisces Party
The Pisces Party is a special event to raise funds for Tempus Projects and celebrate the one-of-a-kind Pisces people in your life.
A $10 advance ticket includes one free drink, plus entry to a dreamy dance party, Tempus art galleries, Dave Decker's photo booth, the Softies Crying Corner, and karaoke room. Bring extra tips for the Mystic Reader and cash bar. It's a perfect way to honor the watery season and support a great cause for the night.
Information and tickets: www.tempus-projects.com
Third Thursday @ Kress
Join Kress Contemporary every Third Thursday from 6 to 9 p.m. for our monthly Arts Open House! Studios, galleries, and collectives throughout the building keep their doors open late for this special event, making it a great way to tour and get a taste of Kress culture. Each month serves up something different! Expect opening receptions and light refreshments, music and performance, open studios and other surprises. Free and open to the public, no RSVP or tickets required.
Ybor Arts Tour
A biannual, self-guided experience, the Ybor Arts Tour brings together a diverse range of galleries, performance spaces, and commercial and hospitality venues that hold space dedicated to the arts year-round. The event highlights visual art, live performance, and literary expression throughout historic Ybor City and is free and open to the public—offering an immersive look into Tampa’s vibrant and growing creative community.
Art Noire: Tuesdays Are Made For Art #TAM4A
Every second Tuesday, Art Noire Gallery presents their Signature - Tuesdays Are Made 4 Art (TAM4A) Night Market + Open Gallery—a curated evening celebrating art, culture, and community.
All I Ever Want is Just to Fall into Your Human Hands
Tempus Projects is pleased to present All I Ever Want Is Just to Fall Into Your Human Hands, a juried group exhibition that critically engages artificial intelligence and the human condition, reflecting on a cultural moment in which AI is both omnipresent and deeply contested.
The exhibition runs from January 15 to March 19, 2026, at Tempus Projects in the historic Kress Building, 1624 E. 7th Ave, Ybor City.
www.tempus-projects.com
From All Sides of the Page at Once
Tempus Projects is pleased to present From All Sides of the Page at Once, a group exhibition on view from January 15 through March 19, 2026, in the Tempus Projects Flash Gallery.
This exhibition brings together artists whose practices engage both traditional and experimental approaches to printmaking, featuring a wide range of techniques, including monotypes, cyanotypes, woodcuts, etchings, and other mixed-method printed works. Together, these works center printing as a practice of physical labor, repetition, reversal, and layered meaning—where process is as present as image.
www.tempus-projects.com
Third Thursday @ Kress
Join Kress Contemporary every Third Thursday from 6 to 9 p.m. for our monthly Arts Open House! Studios, galleries, and collectives throughout the building keep their doors open late for this special event, making it a great way to tour and get a taste of Kress culture. Each month serves up something different! Expect opening receptions and light refreshments, music and performance, open studios and other surprises. Free and open to the public, no RSVP or tickets required.
Kress Kringle
Join us Dec 12 from 6-9pm for a memorable evening of art, treats, and celebration — all for a great cause. Kress Kringle is a collaborative fundraiser benefiting Kress Contemporary, Fringe Theatre, FMoPA, Tempus Projects, and TampaRep. A $12 suggested donation at the door is your ticket to making merry! Check in at FMoPA and stroll through the Kress to enjoy a Winter Wonderland photo booth, popup art market, Krampus Karaoke, festive carolling, sinful hot chocolate, and more! Limited VIP areas are available for booking. Email mitzi@kresscontemporary.com for details!
Tempus Projects 12 x 12
Join Tempus Projects for a special Art Auction Fundraiser this holiday season.
Bid on artwork sized 12-by-12 inches and give the gift of art to your loved ones! Tempus members and sponsors are welcomed from 5-6pm, followed by the general public.
Stick around for our Kress Contemporary Kress Kringle celebration, and tap into holiday cheer!
Bazar A La Carte
Bazar A La Carte brings their artful night market to Kress Contemporary! Featuring 30 vendors selling clothing, jewelry, art, and sweets, alongside workshops on pottery, screenprinting, and sewing. PLUS a music lounge inside Fringe Theatre, open studios, zines, DJ booths, and much more!
Tickets cost $5 and are available at at www.thehowbazar.com.