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The conTemporary alternative artspace was initiated in the fall of 2002 as a vehicle to expose cutting-edge, innovative artists and artworks to the city of Pensacola. This project hopes to establish a standard of exploration and creativity common within larger metropolitan areas, as well as to diversify the arts options available to the Pensacola community.

The conTemporary alternative artspace is aimed at achieving several goals. The first of these goals is to introduce and familiarize the Pensacola community to art and artists that are at the forefront of the regional and national art scenes. This process can and should break down barriers to what is new and different, opening a new avenue of viable visual communication.

The conTemporary is also striving to introduce and familiarize the students of Pensacola’s educational institutions to new and invigorating art forms, thereby widening and reinforcing contemporary directions in their own art works and thought processes.

Another aim is to pull in underrepresented artists, women, and people of color, so that citizens within our city can sense a touchstone for their own creative endeavors. This would also serve as an example of diversity and equal opportunity in an area that is creatively underserved in terms of equal representation.

Additionally, the conTemporary attempts to reclaim and use vacant, derelict, or empty city spaces as impromptu creative classrooms. University of West Florida students can play a large role in transforming these empty spaces into an alternative showroom with no impact or damage to these properties. This activity energizes underutilized regions within the City of Pensacola. Also, putting centers of creativity in a neighborhood whose residents may not otherwise engage in creative activities is more efficient than trying to get them into a professional gallery or educational center elsewhere.

This alternative artspace hopes to show that higher education can be an engaging experience that is directly involved in current alternative activities, and to encourage those younger people that might otherwise not consider higher education or creative endeavors as a realistic goal to investigate and explore the options available to them.

Finally, the conTemporary alternative artspace is trying to forge new alliances and partnerships of a wider variety between the University, the City of Pensacola, Escambia County, and a diverse group of local business and civic organizations. The unification of the cultural forces in Pensacola should only benefit those who live in this region. For a listing of past and present sponsors, or to initiate a sponsorship, click here.

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