By Brooke King, Entertainment Editor
From afar, the new Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg looks like any other concrete building. However, upon closer inspection, one may observe a unique work of art that can only be described as a true representation and tribute to the artist.
Outside the museum stands a charming patio and garden area, which at first glance looks like a regular courtyard. However, as well as all things Dali, things are not as they appear to be. Within the courtyard itself, resides a twisted and augmented tree that stands in front of a path leading into a maze. The maze center reveals a large upright bush that towers twelve feet into the air. Along with a statue of a mangled bench with a melting clock falling off it, the courtyard offers an outside seating area with canopied tables and chairs. The structure itself is an architectural revolution in design, leaving the north face of the building bubbled several times with 900 misshapen triangular glass panels, nicknamed the “Glass Enigma.”
“It was enlivened with a geodesic oculum by Novum Structures, which engineered and installed the free-formed glass exterior,” said Hank Hine, the museum’s Director, in a press release from January 11.
The design itself has no two panels that are alike, giving from the inside a unique look out at the bay of St. Petersburg. Famous architect Yann Weymouth designed the building.
A step into building reveals a museum immersed in the vision of Dali. The gift shop is directly after the entrance and is as equally bizarre as the outside of the museum. Within the shop stands a large blue and orange giraffe covered in lights, and an oversized praying mantis hanging from the ceiling. Replica Dali paintings line the gift shop walls, as well as posters and other trinkets to buy. Toward the ticket counter lies an old Rolls Royce with a mermaid in the back seat and a submarine diver as the chauffer. As water rains down on the inside of the car, sounds of a thunderstorm can be heard by dispensing 25 cents into a coin slot adjacent the car.
The museum itself is 15,000 square feet and three stories high.
The first floor consists of the main entrance to the museum, the museum gift shop, the ticketing counters, a small cafe, community room, Theater, classroom, and of course the garden outside. The second floor is mainly comprised of a large library, which is open to the public by appointment only and is used almost exclusively for special research. The museum has both an elevator and true to Dali form, the museum features a narrow oddly shaped winding staircase (located on the first floor) that leads to the third floor where the Atrium, Collection Galleries, Special Exhibition Gallery, Video Room, and Education Gallery are located. The galleries themselves feature movies of movies of Dali interviews and movie clips of him painting projected on one wall in each main gallery room.
“The museum hosts the largest collection of Dali’s work outside of Spain, including eight masterworks and 96 oil paintings,” said Cindy Cockburn, Director of Public Relations and Media for the Dali Museum “We currently have a total of 2,140 Dali paintings, prints, sculptures and drawings.”
The origin of the collection was donated by A. Reynolds Morse and his wife Eleanor, who were friends of Salvador Dali for 45 years. According to Dalimuseum.org, the new museum was created in order to preserve and protect the large collection of Dali art, as well as create more space to display the collection.
The new Dali Museum is twice the size of the old museum and is specifically designed to house only Dali’s work. It is also specially designed to protect the work from the elements, such as flooding. The Dali Museum’s unique design and features, as well as the pos-session of the largest collection of Dali in North America, makes it a potentially popular tourist destination.
The Dali Museum is located eight blocks north of the old museum with a new address: One Dali Blvd. St. Petersburg. Admission to the museum for students is $15 (with student ID) and $21 for Adults. For information on hours of operation, log onto the museum website at www.thedali.org.
