The Dali Museum
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Photos: Photo: Grendelkhan, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Our take
By Matt Spaulding, Founder and writer
Reynolds and Eleanor Morse started buying Dali in 1943 and kept the collection in the Cleveland area until St. Petersburg talked it south in 1982. What sits on the waterfront runs to roughly 2,400 works, 96 of them oil paintings, held inside eighteen-inch concrete walls with a free-form glass bubble called the Enigma growing off one side. Every gallery is on the third floor, so go up first and find the masterworks, the outsized canvases Dali spent a year or more on. Worth knowing before you arrive: the melting-clock painting here is The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory, a small 1950s canvas in which the clocks break apart into floating blocks. The 1931 picture everyone has in mind hangs at MoMA in New York, and visitors do turn up expecting it. The other regular surprise is the Dali Dome, a separate geodesic structure on the east side of the building that runs 360-degree projection shows, Dali Alive 360 and Surreal Nature among them. It sells as a per-show add-on on top of gallery admission, so sort it out when you book. Crowding is the complaint that keeps recurring in reviews: weekends and the middle of the day pack the galleries, and weekday mornings are the calmer bet. Free pop-up docent tours of the permanent collection start on the half hour from late morning through mid-afternoon, when volunteers are available. Leave the backpack in the lockers by the entrance, because bags are not allowed in the galleries.
Quick facts
- How long
- Two to three hours for the galleries. Add time if you book a Dome show.
- Best for
- Adults and teens with any interest in surrealism, and a dependable rainy-day plan.
- Getting there
- Downtown St. Petersburg waterfront, next door to the Mahaffey Theater and a short walk from the St. Pete Pier.
- Parking
- Paid on-site surface lot, first come first served, card payment only. The downtown Looper trolley also stops here.
- Included
- Permanent collection, special exhibitions, the cafe, the store, the Avant-garden and the free pop-up docent tours. Dome shows are a separate per-show ticket.
- Booking
- Advance tickets recommended, sold up to 30 days out with an entry time, though gallery admission is good all day once you are in. Thursday evenings after 5pm carry reduced admission. Open daily except Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Where it is
1 Dali Blvd, St. Petersburg, FL 33701
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Check tickets →The Dali Museum FAQ
How long do you need at The Dali Museum?
Two to three hours covers it comfortably. That takes in the top-floor masterworks, the special exhibition gallery, the helical staircase and the Avant-garden outside. Add time if you join a free pop-up docent tour, and more again if you book a show in the Dome, a separate geodesic structure with its own timed entry.
Is The Dali Museum worth visiting?
Yes, if you want to see Dali's work at full scale. The collection runs to roughly 2,400 works including 96 oil paintings and a group of the oversized masterworks he spent a year or more on each, which makes it the largest holding of his work outside Europe. The Yann Weymouth building is part of the appeal too, with hurricane-rated concrete walls and the Enigma, a free-form glass form built from 1,062 triangular panels.
What is included with admission to The Dali Museum?
Gallery admission covers the permanent collection, the special exhibition galleries, the Avant-garden with its hedge labyrinth and wish tree, the museum store and access to Cafe Gala. Free pop-up docent tours of the permanent collection are included as well, starting on the half hour from mid-morning to mid-afternoon, subject to volunteer availability. The Dome shows are the exception and require a separate timed add-on ticket.
Where do you park at The Dali Museum?
There is a paid surface lot on site, steps from the entrance, sold first come first served and card payment only. When it fills, downtown St. Petersburg has street parking, surface lots and city garages within walking distance. You can also skip driving altogether, since the downtown Looper trolley stops at the museum.
When is the best time to visit The Dali Museum?
Weekday mornings are the calmest. Crowding is the most common gripe in reviews, with weekends and the middle of the day filling the galleries. Thursday is the other option worth knowing, since the museum stays open later that evening and admission after 5pm is reduced.
Are Dali's melting clocks at The Dali Museum?
Sort of. The museum owns The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory, painted between 1952 and 1954, in which the soft clocks break apart into floating blocks over a flooded landscape. The 1931 painting most people have in mind, The Persistence of Memory, belongs to the Museum of Modern Art in New York and is not in St. Petersburg. Plenty of visitors arrive assuming otherwise.