Was it the drippy clocks? The zippy mustache? Maybe the waterfront location won the Dali its award. But there´s a good chance some of you owe your fondness for the Dali to the well-trained team of docents. Take Jill Henaghen, for instance. She knows the artist´s work inside and out, but she´s never stuffy. Pert and blonde, she coasts among the masterpieces in a wheelchair, her comments breezy and informative, whether she´s discussing Dali´s religious iconography or sharing juicy gossip about his ¨mean-spirited, money-grubbing¨ wife Gala. (Ask about Gala´s reputed taste for village fishermen.) Henaghen also leads Saturday breakfast tours for children 6-12; you can tell she´d be good at the job because her enthusiasm for the playfulness of Dali´s work brings out the kid in visitors of all ages. (It´s only on the grownups´ tours, though, that she points out the phallic symbols.)
Salvador Dali Museum, 1000 Third St. S., St. Petersburg, 727-823-3767.
This article appears in Sep 22-28, 2004.
