Elisabeth Condon in University of South Florida Newsroom

New USF Judy Genshaft Honors College building to feature the work of highly regarded artist Elisabeth Condon

The University of South Florida Judy Genshaft Honors College has selected Elisabeth Condon, an award-winning artist and former USF faculty member, for a Florida Art in State Buildings public art commission. The state-of-the-art Honors College facility, designed by architecture and design firm Morphosis in partnership with FleishmanGarciaMaslowski Architecture, is scheduled to open in May 2023 and will feature two new large-scale paintings by Condon. The landscape paintings, to be installed in the public café space of the 85,000-square-foot building, will contribute to the welcoming atmosphere of the Honors College, which will serve as a hub for interdisciplinary and collaborative research and teaching activities on the USF Tampa campus.

Based in New York City and Tampa, Condon is a painter who creates vibrant, layered fields of colorful flora and fauna by manipulating pigment pours and brushwork on linen canvas to generate lush and expansive landscapes. Her work layers the historical legacy of ancient Chinese scroll painting with the Color Field and Pattern and Decoration art movements to compress and expand what she calls “liquid space,” conjuring fluidity across time, place and thought. Inspired by her global travels and immediate surroundings, Condon’s paintings, created specifically for the Honors College, incorporate vivid fields of color with gestural representations of botanical and avian species found in the south Florida region, offering imaginative landscapes for viewers to explore.

Condon has completed multiple public art projects including recent commissions by STAR Storefront Arts Recovery Initiative, NYC (2021); Metropolitan Transit Authority Art & Design Percent for Art program for the NYCT Astoria-Ditmars Boulevard Station in Queens (2018); and the Tampa Aviation Authority for the Tampa International Airport (2017). Her works are in the collections of the Tampa Museum of Art, Pérez Art Museum Miami, Hudson River Museum and the United States Embassy Beijing. She served as a faculty member in the USF College of The Arts from 2003-2014.

“The cycle of research, exploration and synthesis in making a painting corresponds with the experiential learning emphasized by the Judy Genshaft Honors College,” Condon said. “I am honored to join the team.”

Condon was selected by the Judy Genshaft Honors College Public Art Selection Committee members, including faculty and student representatives, as well as a local landscape architect and visual art experts.

“Condon’s landscapes use vibrant color and expressive patterns to generate interdisciplinary inspirations and promote diverse and multifaceted inquiry. Her work will contribute to a warm, inviting atmosphere for present and future generations of students while enhancing the art collection present on campus,” said Claire-Marie Rocke, a member of the selection committee and recent Honors College graduate.