What's happening in Tampa Bay art: Tampa Museum of Art photos, origami at Museum of Fine Arts

PHOTO OP: Tableau and Transformation

Tampa Museum of Art curator Joanna Robotham has a fun job. She gets to go through the museum's extensive permanent collection to pull exhibitions together, which must feel like Christmas morning. That's what she has done for "Tableau and Transformation: Photography From the Permanent Collection," which opens Thursday. It's rich with 20th century photography by renowned artists including James Casebere, Cindy Sherman and William Wegman, whose image is pictured. Many of the works haven't been on view for 25 years. The exhibit also includes works from the collection of Trenam Law and highlights artists' darkroom effects and studio practices to create new narratives. Remains on display through Oct. 6. $15, $7.50 seniors, military and Florida educators, $5 students, free for college students with ID, children 6 and younger and members. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Wednesday and Friday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursday with pay-what-you-will admission. 10 a.m.-8 p.m. fourth Fridays. 120 W Gasparilla Plaza. (813) 274-8130. tampamuseum.org.

PAPER ART: Above the Fold

Origami is always an art form to marvel at, but the artists showcased in the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg's "Above the Fold: New Expressions in Origami" exhibition have kicked it up to mind-bending. Contemporary artists use the ancient Japanese art of paper folding to create dramatic installations that will hang from the ceiling and conceptual works that address social and cultural issues. Father and son Martin and Erik Demaine use science and math to create their intricate pieces, one of which is pictured. The traveling exhibit is the first to give North America exposure to this kind of artwork. As part of the exhibition, guests are invited to fold paper cranes or other patterns, with the goal of sending 1,000 to the Children's Peace Monument in Hiroshima, Japan. It opens Saturday and runs through Sept. 29. $20, $15 seniors, students, military and Florida educators, $10 children 7-17, free for children 6 and younger and members, $10 after 5 p.m. on Thursdays. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursday, noon-5 p.m. Sunday. 255 Beach Drive NE. (727) 896-2667. mfastpete.org.

GROOVY, MAN: The art of Marty Balin

Creative people tend to dabble in various art forms. Count Jefferson Airplane founder, lead singer and songwriter Marty Balin among them. Balin, who died in 2018, loved to paint the people who inspired him, like Janis Joplin. Some of those paintings are on display at the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art in "Comin' Back to Me: The Music and Spirit of '69." The exhibit also includes personal artifacts of Balin's, including instruments, awards and psychedelic concert posters. Viewers will feel like they've gone back to the psychedelic era when they visit the "chill lounge," where a blacklight illuminates '60s-inspired graffiti and posters on the wall. A liquid light show created by Bob Pullum, who made them for Jefferson Airplane and others, will keep the vibe groovy. The exhibit opens to the public on Sunday, with a gallery talk at 3 p.m. with Susan Joy Balin and Jennifer Edwards, Balin's wife and daughter. It remains on display through Sept. 22. $10, $8 seniors, free for members, students with ID, 17 and younger and active military. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday and Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Friday, 1-5 p.m. Sunday. 600 E Klosterman Drive, Tarpon Springs. (727) 712-5762. leeparattner.org.