The community is welcome to view the laser cutters, 3-D printers, computer numerical control (CNC) routers, large format printers, vinyl cutters and state of the art computer technology that make up The University of Tampa’s new digital fabrication lab (the Fab Lab), at an open house on Friday, March 22, from 5:30-7:30 p.m.
The open house is free and open to the public.
The Fab Lab – also known as a “maker space” – is part of the Bailey Arts Studios on campus, which have been rebuilt to be home to one of the most forward-thinking visual arts programs in the country. The studios now offer spaces for innovation and creativity amongst student and faculty inventors, designers, entrepreneurs and artists.
In particular, the Fab Lab is an entrepreneurially-focused, collaborative maker-space for students and faculty to turn their ideas and dreams into prototypes and products.
“Virtually anything can be created in a fab lab, even things we haven’t dreamed of yet,” said David Gudelunas, UT dean of the College of Arts and Letters. “Yet most fab labs are at large research institutions or affiliated with major think tanks, and it is an even smaller list of elite institutions that make these technologies available to undergraduate students.” Only four percent of colleges and universities in the country have a fab lab.
In addition to the Fab Lab, the rebuilt Bailey Arts Studio includes:
- A modernized, state-of-the art photography studio and darkroom complete with professional grade lighting studio and staging areas as well as an environmentally friendly dark room.
- Two new high-tech classrooms that encourage interpersonal and technological engagement to support the growing graphic design major and the digital arts generally.
- A re-imagined printmaking studio with safety and technological improvements that diversifies the printmaking capabilities and combines traditional processes with new emerging digital tools.
- Enhancements to the Scarfone/Hartley Gallery, one of Tampa’s premier art spaces.
The Bailey Arts Studios are located on North Boulevard next to the Martinez Athletics Center.
The University of Tampa is a private, residential university located on 110 acres on the riverfront in downtown Tampa. Known for academic excellence, personal attention and real-world experience in its undergraduate and graduate programs, the University serves approximately 9,300 students from 50 states and 132 countries. Approximately 62 percent of full-time students live on campus, and more than half of UT students are from Florida.
