ST. PETERSBURG, FLA.- The Dalí Museum will reopen soon with new procedures in place designed to protect the health and safety of visitors, volunteers, members and staff. The Museum will reopen to members only June 24-28 and to the general public on July 1. Following the unprecedented closure and challenges that the pandemic brought for the Museum and the community, The Dalí’s goal in reopening is to provide solace, inspire reflection and create connections.
“We believe the arts are a tool for transformation. They can bring together a community, help us reimagine it, and arm us with the will to make it better,” said Dr. Hank Hine, executive director of the Museum. “The Dalí can serve as an essential part of the healing of our region.”
When the Museum reopens, two new exhibits will be on view. Dalí’s Sacred Science: Religion and Mysticism includes over 50 mixed-media works that showcase Dalí’s own spiritual pursuit and the universal human aspiration to connect with a world beyond. At Home with Dalí features a photographic reveal of the personal life of Dalí and his wife Gala in their homeland of Spain from five photographers.
New hours
Beginning on June 24 for members and July 1 for the public, The Dalí will be open Wednesday through Sunday from 11 a.m.-6 p.m., with special hours for seniors on Wednesday and Thursday 10-11 a.m. The Museum will stay open late until 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday and will offer half-price admission on Thursdays from 5-8 p.m. Healthcare workers receive free admission July 1-5 as a thank you for providing essential care in these trying times. Café Gala will be open during Museum hours with a limited menu.
Reduced capacity and enforced physical distancing
While the latest government orders permit Museums to operate at full building capacity, The Dalí will operate at a reduced visitor capacity for extra precaution. This will be facilitated by requiring advanced-purchase, timed tickets to enter the galleries. Physical distancing will also be directed with indicators for visitors to remain 6’ apart throughout the Museum. Staff will monitor a dedicated one-way visitor flow throughout the galleries. In addition, no public docent tours will be offered until further notice (private docent-led tours are available to be scheduled for groups of up to 10).
Health monitoring and enhanced cleaning
Temperature checks using a thermal camera will be instituted for all staff and visitors; anyone displaying a temperature over 100.4°F will not be permitted entry at that time. Plexi screens have been installed at Admissions, in the Store, and at the App Station and Café Gala counters. Hand-sanitizer stations will be available throughout the building, and increased cleaning and disinfecting protocols have been implemented.
Masks
Frontline staff and volunteers will wear masks at all times. Visitors and vendors will also be required to wear masks. Masks with a Dalí mustache will be available for purchase at reception and in the Store for $6.
No-touch and reduced-touch interactions
All payments at the Museum should be made using cards only; cash transactions will not be accepted. Guests are encouraged to download The Dalí Museum App to their own devices for self-guided tours, as no audio tour devices will be loaned to visitors. The Dalí Lives artificial intelligence experience has been adapted to be touch-free. A few areas will be closed due to size or because they are high-touch including the Stavros Education Center, Dreams of Dalí virtual reality experience and the Labyrinth. Guests may continue to make a wish by tying their wristband to the iconic Dalí Museum Wish Tree.
Exhibits
A new exhibit, Dalí’s Sacred Science: Religion and Mysticism, will be on view when the Museum reopens through Nov. 1, 2020. Dalí’s Sacred Science will highlight five mixed-media projects from the artist’s later work, rarely displayed from the Museum’s vault. Consistent with Dalí’s dedication to literature, these extended works pair images and texts central to Dalí’s own spiritual pursuit and the universal human aspiration to connect with a world beyond.
Beginning with Dalí’s Mystical Manifesto in 1951 in which he declared that atomic energy “proved the spirituality of all substance,” Dalí increasingly explored mysticism along with the traditional religion of his Spanish upbringing.
The sculptural objects and 54 prints include: Mythology (1960-64), 16 images drawn from the classical Greek and Roman pantheon; Don Quixote (1957), 12 experimental images inspired by Miguel de Cervantes’ literary masterpiece; Aliyah (1968), six portraits, battles and sacred images on the founding of Israel; Moses and Monotheism (1975), a sculptural portrait of Moses in silver, 10 images in color, and Sigmund Freud’s text on religion; and the Alchemy of the Philosophers (1979), 10 images on parchment made with ink and jewels and presented in a decorated box with symbols of mathematical perfection.
Also on view is At Home with Dalí. Portraits by photographers Horst. P. Horst, Ricardo Sans, Melitó Casals, Lies Wiegman and Robert Descharnes provide a spontaneous view of Dalí in his own environment in Spain from the 1950s and early 1960s.
The previously announced special exhibit, The Woman Who Broke Boundaries: Photographer Lee Miller, originally scheduled to open this past May, has been postponed until 2021.
