On Saturday, Sept. 22, the Honors program went on their annual Museum Day, also known as Arts Alive, trip to explore the museums of downtown Saint Petersburg. The trip is beneficial to Honors students because the Museum of Fine Art, in particular, has several works from artists that students learn about in their Honors 150 and 250 courses, according to the Honors Program Director Dr. Jacci White.
For this event, students reserve free museum tickets to a museum of their choosing in Downtown Saint Pete from the Smithsonian website. Museum Day is a national celebration hosted once per year by Smithsonian, and anyone with an email address can reserve a free ticket to a participating museum anywhere in the country. What is exclusive to the Honors club about this event is the food transportation organized and provided by the club. The Honors Program consists of all students taking Honors courses, but the Honors club is open to any student even outside of the program. Honors club members help to orchestrate all Honors events and are welcome to attend them. Occasionally, if there is room at an event, students outside of the Honors club may attend, but priority is always given to Honors students.
On the day of the event, students met on campus, and van certified student drivers safely transported the students to Saint Petersburg by the water.
The waterfront was also the meeting spot for lunch when Dr. White arrived with sandwiches, beverages, and snacks for the students.
“It’s nice to have that social time at lunch. We often see dolphins in the water,” said Dr. White.
In the time before and after lunch, students traveled in independent groups navigating the museums. Although only one free ticket was available online, many places were just freely admitting people as they arrived until they hit capacity, so people were able to enjoy more than one museum. In that area, there is the Museum of Fine Arts, the Saint Petersburg Museum of History, the Florida Holocaust Museum, the Morean Arts Center, the Imagine Museum, the Dali Museum, the James Museum of Western and Wildlife Art, and countless galleries.
It’s a busy day, but there are a lot of great opportunities, and the atmosphere is exciting. Students look forward to the trip every year.
“It was my fourth year attending Arts Alive in Saint Pete with the Honors Program. I had a great time visiting the Fine Arts Museum and enjoyed seeing the Sculpture Garden as well as the modern art exhibit called “Not a Selfie.” We then had a picnic right on the water and had time to explore the eclectic city of Saint Pete. Arts Alive has been a wonderful annual tradition for my friends and me while attending Saint Leo and I hope the trip continues to grow in popularity,” said Senior Criminal Justice Major Jennifer Fields, President of the Honors Club.
Per the suggestion of Dr. Kathryn Duncan, the Honors Club will also visit the Tampa Museum of Art this month because materials in that museum happen to tie into the curriculum for Dr. Duncan’s Honors 250: The Humanistic Tradition class this semester. The vans will leave campus at 10 AM on Saturday, Oct. 20 for an 11 AM museum tour followed by free time to explore the museum and lunch by the river. The Honors Program is focused on providing students with various educational resources across all fields of study. If you are an Honors student or interested in joining the Honors Club, contact Dr. White or Jennifer Fields to help plan upcoming events and let your ideas be heard.
