Downtown Tampa has a joyful reason to linger a little longer at the Tampa Museum of Art. Avant Garde: Remarkable Women in the Permanent Collection, on view from February 26, 2026 through April 4, 2027, celebrates the growing presence and impact of women artists in the museum’s collection, bringing together voices from across generations and around the world.
The exhibition shines a spotlight on recent acquisitions, starting with five artists with roots in the Tampa Bay area: Selina Román, Ya La’Ford, Nneka Jones, Wendy Babcox and Lorraine Genovar. Around them, visitors will meet artists new to the museum’s holdings, including Tau Lewis, Mika Rottenberg, Hannah van Bart, Kirsten Hassenfeld and Quisqueya Henríquez, alongside beloved names such as Alma Thomas, Niki de Saint Phalle, Marisol, Mernet Larsen and Elisabeth Condon.
Organized into seven sections, the show invites visitors to wander through themes of home, self, history and womanhood, expressed through figuration and abstraction. Sections such as Our Bodies, Ourselves, Florida!, Abstraction and Gesture, Artist to Artist, Home and Mythologies each offer a different way in — from radiant Florida landscapes to bold explorations of identity, memory and belonging.
It is a bright, uplifting walk through creativity, courage and community, and a wonderful excuse for a culture-filled day on the riverfront in Tampa.
Photo: Tampa Museum of Art
