Tempus Projects Call to Artists:
Oh, Cuore Mia

Ybor City is a living archive shaped by migration, labor, resistance, and reinvention. Artists are uniquely positioned to reflect on and reinterpret these histories. Submit your work and contribute to this evolving love letter to Ybor City in Oh, Cuore Mia.

Oh, Cuore Mia, is a juried exhibition exploring the past, present, and future of a historic district in constant transformation. Tempus Projects invites artists to submit work for this group exhibition, curated by Tempus Projects with guest juror Jenn Ryann Miller.

Oh, Cuore Mia—“my heart”—embraces the idea that the only constant in Ybor is change. This open call seeks works that engage the layered histories, identities, and lived experiences that continue to shape historic Ybor City neighborhoods.

Rather than focusing on familiar imagery, we encourage artists to move beyond surface representations. This is not an exhibition about cigars, lamp posts, Cuban sandwiches, chickens, or flamenco dancers as tropes—unless they are approached through deeper, personal, or critical frameworks. We seek work that engages the forces, stories, and lived experiences that produced those icons.

We welcome submissions that:

● Explore personal or familial connections to Ybor City

● Reflect on generational memory and cultural inheritance

● Engage creative lineages, mentorship, and creative communities in Ybor City

● Examine immigrant histories and cultural intersections

● Engage Afro-Cuban, Caribbean, and diasporic influences

● Reveal hidden or overlooked histories, particularly of women and working-class communities

● Explore labor, industry, and the social fabric of Ybor’s past

● Reflect the spirit of resistance and political organizing embedded in Ybor’s history

● Offer contemporary perspectives (1970s–1990s to present) on the evolution of Ybor’s creative culture

● Evoke a strong sense of place, belonging, and emotional connection—what makes Ybor feel like Cuore Mia

Important Dates
Submission deadline: May 15, 2026
Artist notifications: June 5, 2026
Artwork delivery: June 19–21, 2026
Exhibition opens: July 2, 2026
Public Opening Reception: July 16, 2026
Exhibition closes: September 10, 2026

Eligibility: All media are eligible, including drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, video, installation, performance, sound, text-based work, and interdisciplinary practices. Collaborative submissions are also welcomed.

Submission Guidelines:

● Up to 3 artworks (images, video/audio links, or proposals) per $20 submission fee

● Submission fees are accepted through Venmo at @TempusProjects

● Multiple submissions are permitted

● Include a brief artist statement (max 300 words) responding to the exhibition theme

● Submit all materials, and a screenshot of your Venmo payment, via email to submissions@tempus-projects.com

● Selections will be made in collaboration with the guest juror

We encourage:

● Work rooted in lived experience and personal narrative

● Projects that move beyond symbolic or touristic imagery

● Thoughtful, research-driven, or community-informed approaches

● Works that reflect complexity, contradiction, and change within Ybor City

About the Guest Juror:

Jenn Ryann Miller serves as guest juror for Oh, Cuore Mia. She is an artist and educator based in Tampa, Florida. Her practice and pedagogy engage museum education, visual literacy, and the intersection of art, craft, and material culture. Working primarily in mixed media sculpture and painting, she investigates traditional craft materials and processes while fostering critical engagement with contemporary art through experiential learning and public programming. She has held teaching appointments across multiple institutions, with a focus on ceramics, sculpture, and foundations, and brings extensive experience in arts administration and nonprofit management. Miller holds a BFA from the University of Connecticut and an MFA from the University of South Florida, and currently serves as Curator of Education and Public Art at the University of South Florida Contemporary Art Museum.

About Tempus Projects:

Tempus Projects is a nonprofit visual arts space based in Tampa, Florida. Since 2009, Tempus Projects has supported the careers of emerging and established artists through exhibitions, residencies, screenings, performances, and special projects. The organization is known for curating thoughtful, challenging, and community-responsive programming. Tempus Projects is located inside Kress Contemporary, a multidisciplinary arts complex in the historic Kress building in Ybor City. Kress Contemporary offers more than 25,000 square feet of studios, galleries, project rooms, and event space, serving as a hub for experimental, collaborative, and community-engaged cultural production.