As anyone might imagine, the Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg is whimsical, playful, a fantasy romp into the heart and mind of one of the most enigmatic artists of the 20th century. Home to about 2,400 works, this institution is also about passion, community and welcomes 3-400,000 visitors each year.
Scale the spiral staircase that mimics a DNA chain just above the café within the geodesic dome that looks out onto the pier over Tampa Bay for a bird’s eye view from the inside out, not unlike a surrealistic painting. Designed by architect John Weymouth, the staircase like other elements of the building, is keyed into the very heart of Dalí who was fascinated with science, nature, physics, and psychology (Freud captures the artist’s imagination in some works).
The museum, which opened in 1982 in a former marine warehouse, traces its beginnings to a love affair that started in the 1940s when a couple — Reynolds and Eleanor R. Morse – first fell for Dalí’s work. They purchased a single piece: “Daddy Longlegs of the Evening, Hope!” in 1943 and the rest is art and maybe tourism history.
Some might say it took Dalí to put the Sunshine City of St. Petersburg on the proverbial culture map. For sure, the city has a ton of its own attributes including 361 days of sunshine, a 20-minute ride from Tampa International Airport and a stunning collection of art museums within feet of each other.
Besides helping to uplift the local economy, several nearby hotels have partnered with the Museum to develop packages for guests.
The initial purchase of “Daddy Longlegs…” sparked the Morse’s passion for more; their buying spree culminated with thousands of pieces, some of which landed in their Cleveland home, were then installed in a small museum in their hometown of Beachwood, Ohio in 1971, an opening Dalí attended.
But the collection knew no bounds. An article in The Wall Street Journal, “U.S. Art World Dillydallies Over Dalí” highlighted the Morses’ search for yet another new home for their collection. Just 11 years later, the St. Petersburg community rallied around this mother lode of culture that could be credited with kicking off an art renaissance in the city on Tampa Bay.
Local leaders and citizens recognized the cultural and economic potential and spent no amount of effort to bring it home to St. Petersburg. Garnering support from the city and state, that former marine warehouse in downtown St. Petersburg was selected, renovated and transformed into a breathtaking expression of new thinking.
Now designated as a 3-star Michelin attraction, the Dalí Museum officially opened its doors on March 7, 1982. By 2000, the museum’s growing pains were evident and expansion plans had to stress functionality with a surrealistic edge that reflects Dalí’s work: an intersection of recurring themes: art, science, nature.
One of the most striking features is the “Enigma,” a large geodesic glass dome composed of 1,062 triangular pieces of glass that floods the interior with natural light. Since then, the Museum has had several iterations with more to come.
To experience Dalí and his process and personality do not skip Dalí’Alive 360, which takes visitors into the challenges he faced as an artist. Dalí Alive was co-produced by the Museum and Grande Experiences—the creator of Van Gogh Alive. The mesmerizing imagery was created specifically for the 360-degree environment. It is a $15 add-on to gallery access but is totally worth it.
Clearly, the Dalí Museum does not stop at its thick concrete, hurricane-proof walls as community programs have been developed to assist organizations, businesses and creativity from children to students to executives have benefitted from the programs.
For example, its Innovation Labs program boasts a series of classes while the Foundation Labs are three-hour interactive gallery experiences designed to provide a curated view of Dalí’s work to jump-start participants’ creativity. Additionally, the Women Empowerment program is custom-designed workshops for the clients, staff and leadership of nonprofits.
Solution Labs are a series of Dalí-inspired, creativity-driven workshop experiences in service of addressing a specific goal, wish or challenge. Following a pre-session exploration to pinpoint challenges and goals, the museum staff designs and facilitates customized labs driven by creative problem solving processes to resolve specific issue to facilitate mission and vision development, organizational change, ideation and concept development.
Offered for private groups and open enrollment, the Skills Labs trains participants in specific techniques, provides the learnable mindsets, of creative thinking and problem solving to drive organizational innovation and enhance the creative powers and efficacy of teams and individuals.
On the first Sunday of each month, the Dali welcomes families with kids ages 4-11 years old to join a tour of its permanent collection. In early May each year, teachers are treated to Celebrate Educator Appreciation Week with complimentary Gallery Admission. The Coffee with a Curator series is a monthly open event as well, where Museum staff or invited guests speak on a range of Salvador Dalí-inspired topics.
In 2024, The Dalí Museum secured a tourist-tax funded $25M grant from Visit St. Pete-Clearwater to advance expansion plans, supporting the Museum’s billion-dollar economic impact on the region. A groundbreaking ceremony is set to take place in the fall while the expansion will be opened to the public by 2028.
The expansion will introduce a striking new exterior, flexible gallery environments for experiential exhibitions that blend art and technology, a dedicated learning center serving K-12 students and lifelong learners and community-focused spaces designed to support, host and animate social, corporate and cultural events.
With an eye to a long future, the original building was engineered to withstand Florida’s hurricane-prone climate, boasting robust, hurricane-resistant walls. And the expansion will not only preserve the priceless artworks housed within, it will ensure that Dalí’s legacy remains vibrant and accessible for generations to come.
Side Dish
Naturally the Café Gala at the Museum features breakfast, lunch or mid-afternoon Latin snacks such as tapas. But after a day of rich day of inspirational art, consider walking to The Vinoy Resort and Golf Club as it has recently added one of the most talked-about dining rooms in St. Petersburg: the Elliott Aster, a grand brasserie from Michelin-starred chef Lee Wolen. Ask about the peekytoe crab tartine, beef cheek hash and house-made pastries – beware it can get busy on the weekends.
By Maria Lisella, who is a freelance writer and Queens Poet Laureate, 2015-2019; and an Academy of American Poets Fellow
