Arts and culture in the Sunshine State

Museums

St. Petersburg

Artist Dale Chihuly (right) walks through his Chihuly Collection in St. Petersburg. [Photo: James Borchuck/St. Petersburg Times]

» The Chihuly Collection opened downtown more than a year ago. It has quickly become a must-see for anyone living in or visiting the Tampa Bay area. The Morean Arts Center owns and operates the collection designed by Dale Chihuly, who is known for colorful glass sculptures often made from hundreds of individually blown glass pieces. Art Keeble, executive director of Arts Council of Hillsborough County, says the community has been impressed by the museum's architecture and the brilliantly lighted pieces. "It's like a stroll through fantasyland," as he puts it.

» The Dali Museum opened in a new, larger facility in January and already has seen a 50% increase in traffic. The museum, on the city's waterfront, features works from Salvador Dali's early career through his final years and is considered the world's most comprehensive collection of the Surrealist master's work outside of Spain. Visitors might consider the building itself an attraction; Architect Yann Weymouth, who had a hand in creating the glass pyramid at the Louvre in Paris, designed the museum.

Marcelle Polednick [Photo: Mario Peralta]

» With a new director, Marcelle Polednick, the Museum of Contemporary Art/Jacksonville is moving to become more edgy. Beginning in January, the museum will feature three exhibitions focusing on major art scenes and artists from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Its current exhibition is called "Shared Vision: The Sondra Gilman and Celso Gonzalez-Falla Collection Photography," one of the top 10 photo collections of the world. The museum started Project Atrium, with large-scale works of art, photography or sculpture by emerging national artists displayed in its four-story atrium.

» Last page: Museums in Tampa and Tallahassee.