With just about everything in Madrid being closed due to the coronavirus, I have been thinking a lot about the places I would like to go within Madrid, and the things I would like to do, when things go back to normal and we can leave our homes again.
Since arriving here in September, I have been to a few museums, including the Prado, but there are quite a few in the city I have not visited yet, and I hope to see them once I have the chance again, like the Reina Sofía, and the Museum of Romanticism.
Thinking about these museums also reminded me of the museums I enjoyed going to in my hometown of Tampa Bay! There are art museums of course, like the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, which I love.
There is also a museum called MOSI (pronounced Moh-zee); this stands for the Museum of Science and Industry. MOSI is a science-based museum that helps to teach both children and adults new things, while also being a fun experience!
Salvador Dalí Museum
The Salvador Dalí Museum is an art museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, which has a collection of artwork created by the artist Salvador Dalí.
Dalí was a Spanish surrealist artist, born in Catalonia in 1904. So what is surrealism? Things that are surreal can be weird or strange. They can also appear different from reality. Surreal art is art that has this quality of being strange or bizarre, or not realistic.
Watch the video below to learn more about surrealism!
1. What is the name of the French writer who started surrealism?
2. Name two (2) other surrealist artists (other than Salvador Dalí).
3. What are the two (2) main types of surrealist art?
One of Salvador Dalí's most well-known pieces of art is called The Persistence of Memory (La Persistencia de la Memoria). Dalí painted it in 1931. It is one of his most famous works, but also one of the most famous examples of surrealism in the world.
The Persistence of Memory (1931) is also sometimes called "Melting Clocks", "The Soft Watches", and "The Melting Watches". It is kept in the Museum of Modern Art, in New York City.
The Dalí Museum has the largest collection of work by Dalí outside of Europe. It includes 96 oil paintings, more than 100 watercolor paintings and drawings, and more. There is also a Museum Library, with a special collection related to Dalí's life, and the Surrealism art style, which includes video and sound recordings.
In addition to works by Salvador Dalí, the museum also features temporary exhibits of other artists. For example, I have visited the museum when they were showing collections of Andy Warhol, and Frida Kahlo.
Like many places around the world, the Dalí Museum is currently closed due to the Covid-19 Pandemic (Coronavirus). The good news, though, is that they have made a virtual tour of the museum available for free!
Click on the link below, or copy and paste it into the browser address bar, to go on a virtual tour of the Dalí Museum!
MOSI - Museum of Science and Industry
The Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa, Florida, is a science museum that aims to make learning and science accessible for people of any age
The museum has had exhibits like Gulf Coast Hurricane, the BioWorks Butterfly Garden, and The Amazing You!, among others.
Gulf-Coast Hurricane
The Gulf-Coast Hurricane exhibit allows people to experience the winds of a harmless rain storm through a category one hurricane (74miles/hour or 119km/hour). It was designed to demonstrate to people how intense storms could be.
BioWorks Butterfly Garden
The BioWorks Butterfly Garden exhibit consists of a butterfly garden and self-sustaining fish pond. The garden has over 30 species of butterfly, as well as several aquatic species. There is also the chance to observe as thousands of native Florida butterflies are raised in a publicly viewable laboratory each year. These include the zebra long wing, which is Florida's state butterfly.
The Amazing You!
The Amazing You! exhibit is about health and wellness at all ages of life. It includes educational stations about how to stay well, how to recover following illness and surgeries, and even features different medical conditions and diseases. The exhibit is broken into two phases:
1. Beginning of Life to Adolescence
2. Young Adult to End of Life
Other exhibits at the museum include:
1. Mission: Moonbase, a simulated base on the moon where children and adults can learn about space, the moon, and even farming and mining possibilities on the moon. Mission: Moonbase is partially funded by NASA, as an initiative to help facilitate education on science and technology.
2. Dinovations, where visitors can learn about the prehistoric age, look at fossils up close, and even plants that a Diplodocus dinosaur would have eaten!
