Dali Museum Tampa Bay Arts Scene written by Denise Gabbard

Tampa Bay Arts Scene....Really!


The Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida area is drawing art lovers from all over the country, in many cases even from around the world. Why, you ask? It’s because the area is now host to a string of trendy new galleries and museums that house must-see collections, and still have time to work on your tan.

Dali Museum
St. Petersburg boasts the new $36 million Salvador Dali Museum that has replaced the old museum and doubled the space. This is considered the most comprehensive collection of Dali’s work, even more so than the Dali Theater and Museum in his native Figueres, Spain. The original museum was founded in 1980 by an Ohio couple, A. Reynolds and Eleanor Reese Morse that donated the lion’s share of the Dali pieces. They started collecting when they got married in 1942 and amassed almost 100 of his works, and also met and became friends with Dali and his wife Gala.

The new museum, which had its grand opening the first week of January, sits above Tampa Bay and even lured Spanish realty to the Bay area for the party. It is a stunning piece of architecture, a sleek building made of concrete and waves of glass paneling that changes color with the sunshine. In the gift shop, you can find signature things like melting wristwatches that made Dali so famous as an eccentric artist.

Chihuly Collection

Dale Chihuly is a master glass worker, and the Morean Arts Center is hosting an exhibit of his works. At the Chihuly Collection, there are studio edition glass works available for sale. Also at the Morean Arts Center, you will find workshops, a glass studio, and other art classes. There are also lots of other exhibits. Currently there are several pertaining to the state of Florida: Paradise Lost/Paradise Found and Disappearing Florida.

Tampa Museum of Art

In February 2010, Tampa welcomed its new Museum of Art in the downtown theater district on Gasparilla Avenue. The museum is a $33 million building that houses permanent collections including Greek and Roman antiquities, American modernist and realist paintings, photography, and sculpture. The museum will also host a Degas exhibition from March 12 till June 19, 2011. Degas: Form, Movement and the Antique will bring a number of the French artist’s paintings, drawings, and sculptures that examined the relationship between his two dimensional works and sculpture, during a period when he explored movement and form. This exhibition will closely complement the permanent collection at the Tampa Museum of Art of the Greek and Roman antiquities that influenced Degas from his familiarity with the Louvre collections.

St. Pete Museum of Fine Arts

Renovated and expanded in 2008, the Museum of Fine Arts has a comprehensive collection of art pieces, ranging from antiquities to current day works. The current presentation is Romantics to Moderns, and it is billed as an important survey of watercolors and drawings from the UK. This exposition is lent to the museum from the Collection of BNY Mellon Wealth Management, and runs from January 22, 2011 to May 1, 2011. It is based on 70 drawings and watercolors by 48 British artists, each of them completed between the late 1700’s and early 1900’s.
As you can see, the Tampa area is no longer just a mecca for beach-goers, but it is also developing a thriving arts community. When planning a visit to the area, leave yourself a few days to check out the galleries and museums. You will not be disappointed.
This guest post was written by Denise Gabbard,
Chief of Marketing for artGalore