St. Petersburg’s Dalí museum has been a fixture on the downtown waterfront since 1982, but the collection is just now marking 10 years at its current, award-winning and Yann Weymouth designed home.
To mark the anniversary, the museum is hosting a private ceremony on Monday, Jan. 11 where a 40-foot, unseeded Italian loaf baked by Mazzaro’s will parade past Weymouth’s large free-form geodesic glass bubble known as the “enigma” and into Dalí’s Avant-garden.
The bread procession is a tribute to the 2011 opening day parade (pictured above), and bread appears frequently in Dalí’s work.
In 1945 the Surrealist icon wrote that bread “has always been one of the oldest fetishistic and obsessive subjects in my work, the one to which I have remained the most faithful.” Scholars have pointed out that “Dalí evidently sought an object or symbol that embodied a number of the concepts and problematics that preoccupied him and other Surrealists, but also satisfied his specific requirement of being profoundly figurative rather than abstract.”
And while the ceremony—featuring remarks from Dalí museum Executive Director Dr. Hank Hine, Mayor Rick Kriseman and other local leaders—is private, the museum has plenty planned to help the public celebrate.
A press release says on-site, and ticketed, timed-entry anniversary activities include:
- A curated display highlighting the building’s construction and the last decade of exhibitions
- Volunteers positioned throughout the Museum to share information and answer questions on the building’s architecture and garden
- Readings from the Museum’s Wish Tree from the past 10 years
- Pop-up lectures about the building’s inspiration and significant symbols in Dalí’s works
While virtual offerings are available, too.
- Community speakers, including Mayor Rick Kriseman, sharing their thoughts on the next decade in Tampa Bay (Jan. 29 at 6 p.m. via The Dalí Museum YouTube channel; Details at thedali.org)
- A discussion with USF professors Robert MacLeod and Josue Robles on the importance of architecture for communities (Jan. 11 at 6 p.m. via Zoom; Registration required)
- The Museum welcomes sharing community memories and building anniversary wishes on the Dalí’s Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages, including the opportunity to ask the architect questions about the building inspiration and design (now through Jan. 11)
- The opportunity to take a 360 tour of the Museum and Avant-garden or enjoy ‘The Dalí in the Details’ architecture tour available on The Dalí Museum App
No word is Mazzaro's is gonna turn the loaf into a 40-foot muffaletta, but I'm down to help eat it.
Support local journalism in these crazy days. Our small but mighty team is working tirelessly to bring you up to the minute news on how Coronavirus is affecting Tampa and surrounding areas. Please consider making a one time or monthly donation to help support our staff. Every little bit helps.
Subscribe to our newsletter and follow @cl_tampabay on Twitter.