History

The MFA was founded by art collector and philanthropist Margaret Acheson Stuart (1896–1980). The Margaret Acheson Stuart Society, the Museum's independent support organization, is named in her honor. The city provided the four-acre waterfront site for the construction of the original building and The Junior League of

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

offered resources for The Great Hall. The building was designed by John Volk and Associates of Palm Beach, with a curving colonnade on Beach Drive. Volk stated that "a museum should give a feeling of permanence and that is what I have tried to do with this building." Chartered by the

State of Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to th ...

in 1961, The MFA opened its Beach Drive doors to the public in 1965–the first art museum in St. Petersburg. An expansion broke ground on Monday, December 4, 2006 and more than doubled the size of the museum. The new 33,000 square-foot Hazel Hough wing, on the north side of the building, was finished in 2008. The expansion included a new cafe, an enlarged library and a bigger museum shop, all since removed. Today, the museum offers programs for adults and families. For adults, the MFA offers recurring monthly programs and special lectures, gallery talks, cinema screenings, and music concerts. Families can also enjoy the museum through monthly programs such as Kidding Around

Yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consci ...

and annual events such as Painting in the Park. On June 23, a Bahamian artist Gio Swaby celebrated Black women at Museum of Fine

Collection

The museum's exhibitions have included: ''Chihuly Across Florida: Masterworks in Glass'' (2004); ''Monet’s London, Artists’ Reflections on the Thames, 1859–1914'' (2005), and ''Ancient Egypt: Art and Magic, Treasures from the Fondation Gandur Pour l’Art/Geneva'' (2011–2012), ''Moon Museum: Art and Outer Space'' (2018), ''Syd Solomon: Views From Above'' (2018-2019), and ''Art of the Stage: Picasso to Hockney'' (2020).

References

External links

* {{authority control Art museums established in 1965 Art museums and galleries in Florida Museums in St. Petersburg, Florida 1965 establishments in Florida