How Tampa’s Graphicstudio became the printmaking matrix for 20th-century art legends

Chuck Close’s ‘Georgia Fingerprint I’ will be auctioned at Myers Fine Art on April 30. Image provided by Myers Fine Art
Chuck Close’s ‘Georgia Fingerprint I’ will be auctioned at Myers Fine Art on April 30. Image provided by Myers Fine Art
Chuck Close’s ‘Georgia Fingerprint I’ will be auctioned at Myers Fine Art on April 30. Image provided by Myers Fine Art

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Paris, London, New York City, and … Tampa Bay. In what seems a world away from the marquee cities that have long been synonymous with fine art, Graphicstudio at the University of South Florida (USF) – and their renowned master printers – have been assiduously impacting art culture since the studio’s inception in 1968. Robert Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Mapplethorpe, Alex Katz, and many more of the brightest, boldest artistic minds of the era have added to Graphicstudio’s portfolio along the way. 

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