Pics: O&A Hard Hat Tour of Dali

nearly 80 o&aers donned hard hats and toured the $36 million dali museum expansion, marveling at the spectacular features of this architectural wonder.

as the first of an o&a series of art events, o&a partnered with the dali museum to offer this unique look inside the construction of the new museum space. it sits on the beautiful waterfront in downtown st. petersburg, and nearly doubles the size of the current museum, which houses the largest collection of works by the spanish surrealist salvador dali outside spain.

the west side of the building presents one of the most striking features, “the glass enigma,” made of approximately 900 geometric-shaped pieces of glass and steel struts. it pays tribute to dali’s juxtaposition of the euclidean perspective and sense of depth. wrapped within it is a three-story box-shaped museum with 18-inch thick concrete walls and more than 66,000 square feet of meeting and exhibition space. all of it, including the glass, is built to withstand a category 5 hurricane. dali’s art will hang on 18-foot high walls on the third floor, safe from any flooding. along with artificial light, seven separate light canons installed in the ceiling and topped with bullet-proof glass will focus reflected natural light onto selected paintings in the gallery below. on the first floor, the atrium will house a gift shop and a cafe. and in the middle, stretching from first to third floors, is a spectacular glass and concrete spiral staircase resembling the shape of a nautilus shell. at this stage of the construction, no photographs are allowed, building the anticipation toward the final unveiling. the grand opening is scheduled for  11:11 a.m. on 1/11/11, in tribute to dali’s sense of the surreal.

o&a’s hard hat tours were led by dali museum guides and featured a docent giving a poster talk, views of architectural renderings, and even a special appearance by a dali impersonator.  the event also included a mingle over fruit smoothies and snacks prepared by tropical smoothie, tickets for one free visit to the existing museum space, and an exclusive discount on dali museum membership.  last but not least, we drew for our wear & win raffle prize, a massage gift certificate – congratulations to our lucky winner, ed!

warm welcome to our 15 new o&a members – jennifer, tracy, brian, lawrence, robert, julie, sarah, debbie, scott, allen, mary, collette, sean, william, and sherry. we look forward to taking many more adventures with you in the future!

special thanks to mitzi, peter, patty, and the entire staff at the dali, along with tropical smoothie cafe!

details coming soon on the next of o&a’s art events, sponsored by jim conlin and the belleair office of raymond james