Traveling Photo Exhibit Celebrating 20 Years of Progress Restoring Tampa Bay
Featured at South Florida Museum


Twenty images depicting the beauty and diversity of Tampa Bay are featured in “Tampa Bay: 20/20,” a traveling exhibit celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Tampa Bay Estuary Program (TBEP). The traveling photo exhibit will be on display at the South Florida Museum, May 20 – July 17, 2011. Access to view the photographs is included with general admission to the Museum.

“Tampa Bay: 20/20” features finalists from the Tampa Bay Estuary Program’s 2010 Photo Contest, as well as select additional images from local photographers. Together, the photos tell a story of Tampa Bay’s recovery over the past two decades—as shown in clearer water, increased fish and wildlife populations and expanding recreational use of the bay. The traveling exhibit was underwritten by Mosaic.

Tampa Bay was designated an “estuary of national significance” by Congress in 1990. The Tampa Bay Estuary Program came into being one year later to assist the region in developing and implementing a comprehensive plan to restore the bay. Today, water quality in most bay segments is as good as it was in the 1950s.

“We are delighted to be able to share this special photo exhibit, and the progress in bay restoration represented by these photos, with the residents who have supported our efforts since TBEP was created in 1991,” said Holly Greening, TBEP Executive Director.

The South Florida Museum, a cultural and natural history museum which tells Florida’s story from the prehistoric to the present day, is an appropriate stop on the traveling exhibit’s tour around the region. “We reflect many aspects of local ecology in our environmental wing and share the message of environmental stewardship during our daily manatee presentations,” said Matthew Woodside, Director of Exhibitions and Collections at the South Florida Museum. “This temporary exhibit complements the stories we share through our permanent galleries and ongoing programs as the public learns more about our regional bays, estuaries and marine environments.”

The pieces in “Tampa Bay: 20/20”  are accompanied by educational captions which help to shed light on the progress made in restoring Tampa Bay, the diversity of plant and animal life supported by the bay and the special connection many residents and visitors feel for the region’s signature waterway.

Tampa Bay: 20/20” opened in March 2011 at Weedon Island Preserve in northeast St. Petersburg and has already been featured at the Brooker Creek Preserve in northern Pinellas County. Following the South Florida Museum, it will be on display at Mosaic’s Riverview office in August, the South Shore Regional Library in Ruskin in Sept., and The Florida Aquarium in Tampa in Nov.