Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg

Exclusive Artist Tour | The Alchemist with Ali Banisadr
2026-04-11 09:00 - 10:00 (America/New_York) | Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, 255 Beach Drive NE, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701, United States
Exclusive Artist Tour | The Alchemist with Ali Banisadr
Be among the first to experience Ali Banisadr: The Alchemist in this exclusive tour led by the artist himself. As you move through the galleries, Banisadr will share insights into nearly two decades of his work, reflecting on the memories, sounds, and histories that shape his richly layered paintings, and offering a rare, personal perspective on the influences behind his dynamic compositions. Discover the artistic references, mythologies, and moments from world history that converge within his turbulent yet celebratory visual worlds.
This intimate tour offers a unique opportunity to engage directly with one of today’s most compelling contemporary painters and to experience the exhibition through the artist’s own voice. Capacity is limited to just 20 participants—reserve your spot early so you don’t miss out.
Exclusive Artist Tour | The Alchemist with Ali Banisadr
Saturday, April 11, 2026
9:00 AM–10:00 AM
Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg
255 Beach Drive NE, St. Petersburg FL 33701
Tickets are extremely limited! Secure your spot today.
$30 for MFA Members; $50 for Not-Yet-Members; Includes museum admission
Register

ABOUT ALI BANISADR

Born in Tehran, Iran in 1976, the artist grew up amidst the turmoil of the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88). In 1988, Banisadr left Iran with his family at the age of twelve, first reaching Turkey and then San Diego, California. While living in San Francisco as a young adult, he became involved with the local graffiti art community while studying psychology. He later moved to New York City where he earned a BFA at the School of Visual Arts (2005) and an MFA at the New York Academy of Art (2007). The artist currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Banisadr has been the subject of international solo museum exhibitions at the Museo Stefano Bardini and Palazzo Vecchio, Florence, (2021); Benaki Museum, Athens, (2020); Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, (2020); Gemäldegalerie, Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, (2019); and the Het Noordbrabants Museum, Den Bosch, (2019).
His work has also been included in major group exhibitions including the Venice Biennale (2013) and Prague Biennale (2013). Banisadr’s work is included in significant public collections including the Benaki Museum, Athens; British Museum, London; Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Buffalo; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Het Noordbrabants Museum, Den Bosch; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Museum der Moderne, Salzburg; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia; and the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT, among others.

Image:
Ali Banisadr (b. 1976), Things Fall Apart (detail), 2007, oil on linen, 44 x 50 in. Collection of Jacob Miller. Photography by Jeffrey Sturges. © Ali Banisadr

In Conversation | Ali Banisadr and Dr. Stanton Thomas
2026-04-11 11:00 - 12:00
In Conversation | Ali Banisadr and Dr. Stanton Thomas
Don’t miss this exclusive morning of art and art history! Join artist Ali Banisadr in conversation with Dr. Stanton Thomas, the MFA’s Hazel and William Hough Chief Curator, for an illuminating discussion on the ideas, experiences, and influences that shape Banisadr’s singular artistic practice.
In this rare, intimate dialogue, we explore the intersection of memory, mythology, and the sensory phenomenon of synesthesia. Banisadr and Dr. Thomas will pull back the curtain on two decades of work, decoding the dense, kaleidoscopic visual language and historical gravity that define his works.
Arrive early to pick up your copy of the Ali Banisadr: The Alchemist catalogue at the MFA Shop and get it signed by the artist after the program!
In Conversation | Ali Banisadr and Dr. Stanton Thomas
Saturday, April 11, 2026
11:00 AM–12:00 PM
Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg
255 Beach Drive NE, St. Petersburg FL 33701
$15 for MFA Members; $35 for Not-Yet-Members (Includes Museum admission)
Register

ABOUT ALI BANISADR

Born in Tehran, Iran in 1976, the artist grew up amidst the turmoil of the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88). In 1988, Banisadr left Iran with his family at the age of twelve, first reaching Turkey and then San Diego, California. While living in San Francisco as a young adult, he became involved with the local graffiti art community while studying psychology. He later moved to New York City where he earned a BFA at the School of Visual Arts (2005) and an MFA at the New York Academy of Art (2007). The artist currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Banisadr has been the subject of international solo museum exhibitions at the Museo Stefano Bardini and Palazzo Vecchio, Florence, (2021); Benaki Museum, Athens, (2020); Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, (2020); Gemäldegalerie, Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, (2019); and the Het Noordbrabants Museum, Den Bosch, (2019).
His work has also been included in major group exhibitions including the Venice Biennale (2013) and Prague Biennale (2013). Banisadr’s work is included in significant public collections including the Benaki Museum, Athens; British Museum, London; Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Buffalo; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Het Noordbrabants Museum, Den Bosch; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Museum der Moderne, Salzburg; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia; and the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT, among others.

Image:
Ali Banisadr (b. 1976), Queen of the Night (detail), 2022, oil on linen, 82 x 120 in. Private Collection. Photography by Genevieve Hanson. © Ali Banisadr

Distant Worlds
2026-04-26 15:00 - 17:00
Join the MFA and St. Petersburg Poet Laureate Denzel Johnson-Green for an afternoon of wonder and creation as Cellist Cori Lint weaves a map to new sonic worlds. As she performs her works, the audience will be given the option to write poems inspired by Lint’s six pieces and the colored lights that hang above her. Afterward, there will be a group discussion and Q&A with the musician.
This event is free and open to the public and is part of the City of St. Petersburg’s “City of Writers” program.
Distant Worlds | Writing Poems to the Sounds of a Cello and a Lush Colorscape, with Cellist Cori Lint
Sunday, April 26, 2026
3:00 PM–5:00 PM
Mary Alice McClendon Conservatory
Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg
255 Beach Drive NE, St. Petersburg FL 33701
FREE
REGISTER
Not yet a member?
Become a member today and enjoy all the benefits membership at the MFA offers!
MFA Members enjoy free admission for an entire year, early access to special exhibitions, discounts at the MFA Shop and Café Clementine, special member-only exclusive events, and more. Bring the whole family!
BECOME A MEMBER

ABOUT CORI LINT
Cori Lint is a cellist and software engineer from Cuyahoga Falls, OH. A graduate of the University of Michigan School of Music, she is a founding member of the string quartet Thalia Strings, and co-founder of Classical Revolution St. Pete, a nonprofit that brings classical music into community spaces.
Cori has performed with many ensembles including the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra and Candlelight quartets, and has been featured in national tours for the Eagles and the Electric Light Orchestra. As an artistic administrator, Cori has worked with a wide variety of artists and organizations including Seal, Sting, Itzhak Perlman, Lynn Harrell, The Cleveland Orchestra, The Florida Orchestra, and Wintergreen Music Festival.
Cori is a software engineer with the Tessitura Network, a nonprofit software company for arts and culture organizations, and has served as Director and Mentor of Artists Who Code, supporting musicians who pursue careers in technology.
ABOUT DENZEL JOHNSON-GREEN
Denzel Johnson-Green is the fourth poet laureate of Saint Petersburg, Florida. He is the creator and editor of the poetry and art journal, Neptune, which was nominated best literary journal in Creative Loafing. Denzel is the recipient of the Roy Peter Clark Literary Prize and the creator of the free, weekly workshop/open mic, Community Poetry, founded in 2019.
Since 2020, Denzel has created several poetry readings including Getting There, The Cavern of Dancing Lights, Moonflower, Slam Sandwich, and Bonfire Poems. He is the creator and co-host of SPOK, an ongoing philosophical discussion group aimed at creating civil spaces for ordinary people to talk about difficult subjects. His works can be found in Saw Palm, Oddball Magazine, The Artisan, Art Coast Journal, and Neptune. Denzel can be seen getting pizza with friends and writing poems in downtown St.Pete.

Images:
Cori Lint — photo by Denzel Johnson-Green
Denzel Johnson-Green — photo by Jared Morgenstein

Art & Nature Sunset Tours with the MFA & Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Center
2026-04-26 15:30 - 20:15
Spend your Sunday immersed in art and nature! This unique program invites visitors to embark on a journey that celebrates the awe-inspiring beauty of nature and the role it plays in sparking human creativity. Begin the afternoon at the MFA with a guided docent tour of the collection galleries, looking closely at artworks from throughout history and across the globe that were inspired by nature. From majestic landscapes to delicate still lifes to ancient sculptures, each artwork highlights the deep connection between artists and the natural world.
The experience continues at the St. Pete Pier, where you’ll board a sunset cruise with Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Center’s expert marine science educators. Enjoy guided wildlife watching, a visit to a local bird sanctuary, learning about our area’s history, and the beautiful scenery as the sky changes colors over the downtown skyline. There will be optional opportunities to get creative, with all supplies provided, and you’re encouraged to express your inspiration from the experience.
This partnership highlights how each of us contributes to protecting Tampa Bay and the environment as a whole. By showcasing the artistic and ecological importance of our region, we aim to inspire a greater appreciation for nature’s beauty and encourage a lasting commitment to its preservation for future generations.
Art & Nature Sunset Tours with the MFA & Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Center
Sunday, April 26, 2026
3:30 PM–8:15 PM
$45 ($5 MFA Member discount offered)
Children under 3 free
Tour includes admission to the MFA and TBWDC
Art & Nature Docent-Led Tour begins at the MFA at 3:30 pm
Sunset Tour with Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Center begins at 7:15 pm
TICKETS

Writer’s Workshop | The Garden of Your Mind
2026-04-30 17:30 - 19:30
Celebrate National Poetry Month at the MFA! In partnership with poet Ariana Kija Matondo, the MFA is hosting a three-part poetry workshop series focused on ekphrastic poetry—the art of writing descriptive and imaginative poetry inspired by visual art.
In the third workshop of the series, participants are invited to consider how art exists beyond museum walls. What happens when we listen to the world around us, not just ourselves? Led by poets Ariana Kija Matondo and Kallie Blakelock, this session will move between the galleries and outdoor spaces for guided journaling. Participants will practice mindfulness while gathering sensory notes from the environment around and within them, deepening the connection between observation, place, and poetic expression.
Special addition: Gio from Giostypos will be on-site from 6:15 PM–7 PM with typewriters for participants to use during the workshop.
No prior poetry experience is required, and all ages are welcome. Just bring a journal and an open mind to experience visual art in a new way. Please wear clothes suitable for being outdoors and comfortable walking shoes.
Writer’s Workshop | The Garden of Your Mind
Open to all ages
Thursday, April 30, 2026
5:30 PM–7:30 PM
Mary Alice McClendon Conservatory
Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg
255 Beach Drive NE, St. Petersburg FL 33701
Free for MFA Members; $16 for Not-Yet-Members (Youth 17 and under are Free!)
SOLD OUT
The workshop is included with Art After Dark admission, so participants can enjoy the program and explore the museum after hours for the same ticket price.
MFA ART AFTER DARK ADMISSION
Not yet a member?
Become a member today and enjoy all the benefits membership at the MFA offers!
MFA Members enjoy free admission for an entire year, early access to special exhibitions, discounts at the MFA Shop and Café Clementine, special member-only exclusive events, and more. Bring the whole family!
BECOME A MEMBER

ABOUT ARIANA KIJA MATONDO

Ariana Matondo (they/she) is a queer, disabled Tanzanian-American poet, editor, and teacher based in Tampa, Florida. They are the winner of the Zora Neale Hurston Award for Poetry (2025) and were previously named a finalist for the Disquiet Prize for Poetry (2025). Their honors also include the Sundress Publications Fellowship (2025), Vermont Studio Center Fellowship (2024), Light for Public Health Poetry Prize (2024), and the Bettye Newman Poetry Prize (2024–2025). Ariana’s work has been published and is forthcoming in Light Magazine, Honey Literary Magazine, The Common, and others. They serve as Poetry Editor for Creation Magazine and CM Editorial House and are currently pursuing an MFA in Poetry at the University of South Florida. Learn more at arianakijamatondo.com.
ABOUT KALLIE BLAKELOCK

Kallie Blakelock is a current MFA student in poetry at the University of South Florida. She worked as a high school teacher for five years before packing up her Pontiac and moving to Tampa, Florida. Far from the quiet Eastern Shore of Maryland where she grew up, Kallie explores the world—and herself—through poetry.

EXPLORE ALL WRITER’S WORKSHOP SERIES EVENTS
Writer’s Workshop | Dream Residue: Ekphrasis in the Real World
Thursday, February 26, 2026 | 5:30 PM–7:30 PM
Writer’s Workshop | The Alive Poets Society: Poetry and Ancient Art
Thursday, March 26, 2026 | 5:30 PM–7:30 PM
Writer’s Workshop | The Garden of Your Mind
Thursday, April 30, 2026 | 5:30 PM–7:30 PM

Book + Banisadr Book Club | War + Apocalypse
2026-05-07 18:00 - 20:00
Book + Banisadr Book Club | War + Apocalypse
In conjunction with Ali Banisadr: The Alchemist, the MFA is proud to introduce the Book + Banisadr Book Club, a three-part literary program that invites participants to immerse themselves into the complex, turbulent worlds of Banisadr’s works through the lens of contemporary fiction that mimic the artist’s practice in both chaos and composure.
Held in partnership with Book + Bottle, a beloved local independent bookstore and wine bar, each session will focus on a thoughtfully selected book that echoes the figurative illusions rooted in autobiographical narratives, sonic recollection, invented stories, world history, collective memory, and mythology embedded in the imagery of Ali Banisadr’s work. Through this one-of-a-kind pairing of literature and art, historical themes will be reexamined against the dreadful, real, and unreal stories we tell ourselves.
Each session will feature a specially paired wine and will be carefully facilitated to bridge the artworks in the exhibition to the relevant and resonant conversations shaping our society today. This month’s selection, The Stationary Shop by Marjan Kamali, is a poignant novel of love, loss, and fate set against the backdrop of 1950s Tehran, following a young couple whose lives are forever changed by political upheaval.

Drawing on childhood experiences of the Iran-Iraq War (1980–88) in his native Tehran, where explosions and other aural disturbances were commonplace, as well as his extant synesthesia, Banisadr painstakingly and intuitively builds complex compositions that exude a vitality at once turbulent and celebratory. In 1988, Banisadr left Iran with his family at the age of twelve, first reaching Turkey and then San Diego, California. While living in San Francisco, he became involved with the local graffiti art community while studying psychology. He later moved to New York City where he earned a BFA at the School of Visual Arts (2005) and an MFA at the New York Academy of Art (2007), and he continues to live and work in Brooklyn, NY.
Book + Banisadr Book Club | War + Apocalypse
Thursday, May 7, 2026
6:00 PM–8:00 PM
Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg
255 Beach Drive NE, St. Petersburg FL 33701
$25 for Members; $35 for Not-Yet-Members
TICKETS
Tickets include program and 1 glass of wine. Additional wine available for purchase.
Not yet a member?
Become a member today and enjoy all the benefits membership at the MFA offers!
MFA Members enjoy free admission for an entire year, early access to special exhibitions, discounts at the MFA Shop and Café Clementine, special member-only exclusive events, and more. Bring the whole family!
BECOME A MEMBER

About Book + Bottle

Book + Bottle is a bottle shop, an independent bookstore, a coffee café, and a wine bar all rolled into one exquisite little package. They have the most passionate, friendly, and helpful team in town to help you choose a book or a bottle or to take care of you and your friends on your night off.
They’re an independent, woman-owned, values-driven, sustainably run, local-first business that believes little kindnesses can make our community—and the world—a better place.
About The Stationary Shop by Marjan Kamali

From the New York Times bestselling author of Together Tea and The Lion Women of Tehran, a poignant, “powerful” (The Wall Street Journal) and “affecting novel about first love” (Real Simple) that explores loss, reconciliation, and the quirks of fate.
Roya, a dreamy, idealistic teenager living amid the political upheaval of 1953 Tehran, finds a literary oasis in kindly Mr. Fakhri’s neighborhood stationery shop, stocked with books and pens and bottles of jewel-colored ink.
Then Mr. Fakhri, with a keen instinct for a budding romance, introduces Roya to his other favorite customer—handsome Bahman, who has a burning passion for justice and a love for Rumi’s poetry—and she loses her heart at once. Their romance blossoms, and the little stationery shop remains their favorite place in all of Tehran.
A few short months later, on the eve of their marriage, Roya agrees to meet Bahman at the town square when violence erupts—a result of the coup d’etat that forever changes their country’s future. In the chaos, Bahman never shows. For weeks, Roya tries desperately to contact him, but her efforts are fruitless. With a sorrowful heart, she moves on—to college in California, to another man, to a life in New England—until, more than sixty years later, an accident of fate leads her back to Bahman and offers her a chance to ask him the questions that have haunted her for more than half a century: Why did you leave? Where did you go? How is it that you were able to forget me?
See ALL Book + Banisadr Book Club Dates and Times:

May 7, 2026 @ 6 pm: Book + Banisadr Book Club | War + Apocalypse
June 4, 2026 @ 6 pm: Book + Banisadr Book Club | Mythology + History
July 2, 2026 @ 6 pm: Book + Banisadr Book Club | Sound + Composition

Curator Talk | Noah Cox on The Question of Abstraction
2026-05-14 10:30 - 11:30
Curator Talk | Noah Cox on The Question of Abstraction

Join Noah Cox, Assistant Curator at the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, for an intimate conversation about The Question of Abstraction. This program offers a unique opportunity to engage directly with the curator as he explores the significance and evolution of abstract art.
Drawing largely from the MFA’s permanent collection, the exhibition traces abstraction from the early days of Modernism to the present, highlighting how artists use color, shape, and form to express ideas, emotions, and new ways of seeing. The Question of Abstraction invites visitors to look beyond representation and consider how this influential approach continues to shape the way we experience art and the world around us.
Curator Talk | Noah Cox on The Question of Abstraction
Thursday, May 14, 2026
10:30 AM–11:30 PM
Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg
255 Beach Drive NE, St. Petersburg FL 33701
$5 for MFA Members; $30 for Not-Yet-Members.
TICKETS
Not yet a member?
Become a member today and enjoy all the benefits membership at the MFA offers!
MFA Members enjoy free admission for an entire year, early access to special exhibitions, discounts at the MFA Shop and Café Clementine, special member-only exclusive events, and more. Bring the whole family!
BECOME A MEMBER

Language Tour Series | German-Speaking Tour with Anita Birrer
2026-05-17 14:00 - 15:00
Deutsch: Schließen Sie sich uns jeden dritten Sonntag um 14 Uhr im MFA für unsere neuen Sprachrundgänge an! Jeden Monat wird ein MFA-Museumsführer einen Rundgang in einer anderen Sprache als Englisch leiten und so eine einzigartige Möglichkeit bieten, die Sammlung des Museums zu erleben. Egal, ob Sie die Sprache fließend beherrschen, Ihre Fähigkeiten üben möchten oder eine kunstvolle Möglichkeit suchen, mit dem Lernen zu beginnen – diese Rundgänge sind eine großartige Gelegenheit, sich durch Kunst und Kultur mit anderen zu verbinden!
Diese öffentlichen, von Museumsführern geleiteten Rundgänge sind im Eintrittspreis inbegriffen, aber eine vorherige Anmeldung wird empfohlen, damit die Führer wissen, wie viele Teilnehmer sie während ihres Rundganges erwarten können. Die Plätze sind begrenzt – melden Sie sich noch heute an!
Können Sie an diesem Datum nicht teilnehmen, sind aber daran interessiert, eine von einem Führer geleiteten Rundgang in einer anderen Sprache als Englisch zu buchen? Das MFA bietet derzeit Rundgänge in Russisch, Spanisch, Portugiesisch und Deutsch an! Bitte senden Sie uns eine E-Mail an tours@mfastpete.org, um mehr zu erfahren.
English: Join us every third Sunday at 2 pm for the MFA’s Language Tour Series! Each month, an MFA Docent will guide a tour in a language other than English, offering visitors a fresh and immersive way to explore the museum’s collection. Whether you’re fluent, practicing your language skills, or just beginning your journey, these tours offer a welcoming space to connect through art and culture.
Docent-led Language Tours are free with museum admission, but advance registration is recommended so our docents can plan for group size. Space is limited—reserve your spot today!
Interested in a tour but can’t attend on this date? The MFA also offers docent-led tours in Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, and German by request. Email us at tours@mfastpete.org to learn more.

Language Tour Series | German-Speaking Tour with Anita Birrer
Sunday, May 17, 2026
2:00 PM–3:00 PM
Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg
255 Beach Drive NE, St. Petersburg FL 33701
FREE for MFA Members; Included with the cost of admission for Not-Yet Members
Registration required.
REGISTER
Check out the full Language Tour schedule here to find upcoming tours in your preferred language.
Not yet a member?
Become a member today and enjoy all the benefits membership at the MFA offers!
MFA Members enjoy free admission for an entire year, early access to special exhibitions, discounts at the MFA Shop and Café Clementine, special member-only exclusive events, and more. Bring the whole family!
BECOME A MEMBER

ABOUT ANITA BIRRER/ÜBER ANITA BIRRER

English: My name is Anita Birrer, and I successfully graduated from the MFA Docent Training Program on May 7, 2022. As part of my commitment to the docent program, I serve as a gallery guide on select Friday afternoons.
I am a native Swiss, born and raised in Luzern, located in the German-speaking region of Switzerland. In everyday life, we primarily speak Swiss German (Schweizerdeutsch), a collection of Alemannic dialects that vary by region. While Swiss German is used in daily conversation, Standard German (Hochdeutsch) is employed in formal settings such as education, media, and written communication. Due to notable differences in pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar, Swiss German can be difficult for non-native speakers to understand—therefore, I will be leading the German tours at the MFA in Standard German.
I am a Swiss Federally Certified Adult Educator and have taught Swiss culture and Standard German to expatriates working for Swiss companies. I am well-traveled and fluent in English as well.

Deutsch: Mein Name ist Anita Birrer. Ich bin Schweizerin, in Luzern geboren und aufgewachsen. Ich spreche Schweizerdeutsch und Hochdeutsch (Muttersprache), Englisch und Französisch. Ich bin eidg. diplomierte Ausbilderin und habe in dieser Rolle während über 25 Jahren fremd- und deutschsprachige Menschen in der Schweiz im Umgang mit der Schweizer Kultur und der deutschen Sprache beraten, ausgebildet und gefördert.
Im Mai 2022 habe ich die Ausbildung zur MFA-Museumsführerin erfolgreich abgeschlossen.
In dieser Rolle interagiere ich jeden Freitagnachmittag mit Museumsbesuchern aller Altersgruppen, Fähigkeiten und Hintergründe durch lebhafte, anregende und unterhaltsame Gespräche über unsere ausgestellten Kunstwerke in den Galerien.

In Conversation: Sarah Ann Weber and Stefano Di Paola
2026-05-28 18:00 - 19:00
In Conversation: Sarah Ann Weber and Stefano Di Paola

The Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg welcomes contemporary artist Sarah Ann Weber for an intimate conversation with her gallerist, Stefano Di Paola of Anat Ebgi.
Known for her richly layered works on paper, Weber creates lush, immersive environments that blur the boundaries between landscape, memory, and inner life. Working primarily in watercolor and colored pencil, her practice explores cycles of growth and decay, intimacy and transformation, often drawing on personal experience to create psychologically charged, dreamlike spaces.
In this conversation, Weber and Di Paola will discuss the evolution of her practice, the role of material and process in her work, and the artist–gallerist relationship. Together, they will reflect on how Weber’s imagery moves between the domestic and the wild, the personal and the ecological, offering insight into the ideas shaping her recent exhibitions and ongoing body of work.

In Conversation: Sarah Ann Weber and Stefano Di Paola
Thursday, May 28, 2026
6:00 PM–7:00 PM
Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg
255 Beach Drive NE, St. Petersburg FL 33701
$15 for MFA Members; $35 for Not-Yet-Members.
TICKETS
Not yet a member?
Become a member today and enjoy all the benefits membership at the MFA offers!
MFA Members enjoy free admission for an entire year, early access to special exhibitions, discounts at the MFA Shop and Café Clementine, special member-only exclusive events, and more. Bring the whole family!
BECOME A MEMBER

Book + Banisadr Book Club | Mythology + History
2026-06-04 18:00 - 20:00
Book + Banisadr Book Club | Mythology + History
In conjunction with Ali Banisadr: The Alchemist, the MFA is proud to introduce the Book + Banisadr Book Club, a three-part literary program that invites participants to immerse themselves into the complex, turbulent worlds of Banisadr’s works through the lens of contemporary fiction that mimic the artist’s practice in both chaos and composure.
Held in partnership with Book + Bottle, a beloved local independent bookstore and wine bar, each session will focus on a thoughtfully selected book that echoes the figurative illusions rooted in autobiographical narratives, sonic recollection, invented stories, world history, collective memory, and mythology embedded in the imagery of Ali Banisadr’s work. Through this one-of-a-kind pairing of literature and art, historical themes will be reexamined against the dreadful, real, and unreal stories we tell ourselves.
Each session will feature a specially paired wine and will be carefully facilitated to bridge the artworks in the exhibition to the relevant and resonant conversations shaping our society today. This month’s selection, Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James, is an award-winning, genre-defying novel that blends myth, fantasy, and African history in an epic quest to find a missing child—exploring truth, power, and the stories we choose to believe.

Driving Banisadr’s practice is an encyclopedic knowledge of art history, literature, and philosophy, references of which can be read in each work. His sprawling, light-filled studio is filled with books and research material. Lining floor-to-ceiling bookshelves are tomes on everything from miniature painting to Bruegel and the Renaissance painter Hieronymus Bosch, who has always been a huge influence, as well as Dante Alighieri, Rumi, and Andrei Tarkovsky. “I have a group that I circle around and I always go back to,” Banisadr says. “For example, Dante’s Inferno or Homer’s Odyssey. I could keep reading and rereading these epic poems. To me they are so full of visual things.”
Book + Banisadr Book Club | Mythology + History
Thursday, June 4, 2026
6:00 PM–8:00 PM
Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg
255 Beach Drive NE, St. Petersburg FL 33701
$25 for Members; $35 for Not-Yet-Members
TICKETS
Tickets include program and 1 glass of wine. Additional wine available for purchase.
Not yet a member?
Become a member today and enjoy all the benefits membership at the MFA offers!
MFA Members enjoy free admission for an entire year, early access to special exhibitions, discounts at the MFA Shop and Café Clementine, special member-only exclusive events, and more. Bring the whole family!
BECOME A MEMBER

About Book + Bottle

Book + Bottle is a bottle shop, an independent bookstore, a coffee café, and a wine bar all rolled into one exquisite little package. They have the most passionate, friendly, and helpful team in town to help you choose a book or a bottle or to take care of you and your friends on your night off.
They’re an independent, woman-owned, values-driven, sustainably run, local-first business that believes little kindnesses can make our community—and the world—a better place.
About Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James

One of TIME’s 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time / Winner of the L.A. Times Ray Bradbury Prize / Finalist for the 2019 National Book Award / The New York Times Bestseller
Named a Best Book of 2019 by The Wall Street Journal, TIME, NPR, GQ, Vogue, and The Washington Post
“Gripping, action-packed….The literary equivalent of a Marvel Comics universe.” –Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
In the stunning first novel in Marlon James’s Dark Star trilogy, myth, fantasy, and history come together to explore what happens when a mercenary is hired to find a missing child.
Tracker is known far and wide for his skills as a hunter: “He has a nose,” people say. Engaged to track down a mysterious boy who disappeared three years earlier, Tracker breaks his own rule of always working alone when he finds himself part of a group that comes together to search for the boy. The band is a hodgepodge, full of unusual characters with secrets of their own, including a shape-shifting man-animal known as Leopard.
As Tracker follows the boy’s scent–from one ancient city to another; into dense forests and across deep rivers–he and the band are set upon by creatures intent on destroying them. As he struggles to survive, Tracker starts to wonder: Who, really, is this boy? Why has he been missing for so long? Why do so many people want to keep Tracker from finding him? And perhaps the most important questions of all: Who is telling the truth, and who is lying?
Drawing from African history and mythology and his own rich imagination, Marlon James has written a novel unlike anything that’s come before it: a saga of breathtaking adventure that’s also an ambitious, involving read. Defying categorization and full of unforgettable characters, Black Leopard, Red Wolf is both surprising and profound as it explores the fundamentals of truth, the limits of power, and our need to understand them both.
See ALL Book + Banisadr Book Club Dates and Times:

May 7, 2026 @ 6 pm: Book + Banisadr Book Club | War + Apocalypse
June 4, 2026 @ 6 pm: Book + Banisadr Book Club | Mythology + History
July 2, 2026 @ 6 pm: Book + Banisadr Book Club | Sound + Composition

Curator Talk | Art Historical Influences and Echoes in Ali Banisadr's Work with Dr. Stanton Thomas
2026-06-20 11:00 - 12:00
Curator Talk | Art Historical Influences and Echoes in Ali Banisadr’s Work with Dr. Stanton Thomas

Discover the rich visual lineage behind Ali Banisadr: The Alchemist in this lecture with the MFA’s Hazel and William Hough Chief Curator, Dr. Stanton Thomas.
Tracing a wide arc across centuries and cultures, this talk explores the artists, movements, and traditions that inform Banisadr’s dynamic compositions – from the fantastical, densely populated worlds of Hieronymous Bosch to the expressive force of Abstract and German Expressionism, and from Medieval and Renaissance painting to Persian miniatures, alchemical imagery, and Mesopotamian antiquities. Dr. Thomas will illuminate how Banisadr draws on these diverse influences to construct his own complex visual language that balances chaos and composure while weaving together history, mythology, and contemporary experience.
Curator Talk | Art Historical Influences and Echoes in Ali Banisadr’s Work with Dr. Stanton Thomas
Saturday, June 20, 2026
11:00 AM–12:00 PM
Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg
255 Beach Drive NE, St. Petersburg FL 33701
$15 for MFA Members; $35 for Not-Yet-Members.
TICKETS
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MFA Members enjoy free admission for an entire year, early access to special exhibitions, discounts at the MFA Shop and Café Clementine, special member-only exclusive events, and more. Bring the whole family!
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Language Tour Series | Russian-Speaking Tour with Natalie Velez featuring Ali Banisadr: The Alchemist
2026-06-21 14:00 - 15:00
Русский: Приглашаем вас в Музей Изобразительных Искусств (MFA) на новую серию экскурсий на иностранных языках! Каждое третье воскресенье месяца в 14:00 экскурсовод музея проводит обзорную экскурсию на языке, отличном от английского. Эти экскурсии — прекрасная возможность: ближе познакомиться с коллекцией музея, встретить единомышленников, улучшить знание изучаемого вами языка.
Участие в экскурсии включено в стоимость входного билета, но предварительная регистрация обязательна, так как количество мест ограничено.
Заинтересованы в экскурсии, но не можете прийти в эту дату? Музей изобразительных искусств (MFA) также предлагает экскурсии на русском, испанском, португальском и немецком языках по запросу. По всем вопросам и для записи пишите нам на: tours@mfastpete.org.
English: Join us every third Sunday at 2 pm for the MFA’s Language Tour Series! Each month, an MFA Docent will guide a tour in a language other than English, offering visitors a fresh and immersive way to explore the museum’s collection. Whether you’re fluent, practicing your language skills, or just beginning your journey, these tours offer a welcoming space to connect through art and culture.
Docent-led Language Tours are free with museum admission, but advance registration is recommended so our docents can plan for group size. Space is limited—reserve your spot today!
Interested in a tour but can’t attend on this date? The MFA also offers docent-led tours in Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, and German by request. Email us at tours@mfastpete.org to learn more.
Language Tour Series | Russian-Speaking Tour with Natalie Velez featuring Ali Banisadr: The Alchemist
Sunday, June 21, 2026
2:00 PM–3:00 PM
Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg
255 Beach Drive NE, St. Petersburg FL 33701
FREE for MFA Members; Included with the cost of admission for Not-Yet Members
Registration required.
REGISTER
Check out the full Language Tour schedule here to find upcoming tours in your preferred language.
Not yet a member?
Become a member today and enjoy all the benefits membership at the MFA offers!
MFA Members enjoy free admission for an entire year, early access to special exhibitions, discounts at the MFA Shop and Café Clementine, special member-only exclusive events, and more. Bring the whole family!
BECOME A MEMBER

Image:
Ali Banisadr (b. 1976), The Waste Land (detail), 2006, oil on panel, 9 x 12 in. Collection of the Artist. Photography by Jeffrey Sturges. © Ali Banisadr

ABOUT NATALIE VELEZ/О НАТАЛИ ВЕЛЕЗ

English: In 2009, Natalie Velez moved from St. Petersburg, Russia to St. Petersburg, Florida. Natalie credits her relocation for opening a new world for her: that of American contemporary art and how it can alter the ways in which we visualize and conceptualize the world.
Natalie earned her B.A. and M.A. degrees from the State University for Culture and Arts in St. Petersburg, Russia. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in philosophy and aesthetics in visual art from the Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts, headquartered in Maine (IDSVA). In her research, she explores the intersection of politics and cross-cultural art collaborations.
Natalie’s professional experience includes working as an international education and business consultant, art gallery owner, and educator of arts and philosophy. She presented her work on the relations of arts, aesthetics, and philosophy during her residences in Mexico and Italy, as well as at institutions such as the University of Tampa, Eckerd College, and the Museum of Fine Arts.

Русский: Натали Велез переехала в Санкт-Петербург, Флорида, из Санкт-Петербурга, Россия, в 2009 году. Она получила степени бакалавра и магистра в Санкт-Петербургском государственном институте культуры.
В настоящее время Натали работает над кандидатской диссертацией по философии и эстетике изобразительного искусства в Институте докторских исследований в области визуальных искусств (IDSVA), расположенном в штате Мэн. Её исследование сосредоточено на пересечении политики и межкультурных художественных коллабораций.
Натали является консультантом по международному образованию и бизнесу, владеет галереей и активно занимается образовательной деятельностью в области искусства и философии. Она представляла свои работы, посвящённые связям между искусством, эстетикой и философией, во время своих резиденций в Мексике и Италии, а также в таких образовательных и культурных учреждениях, как Университет Тампы, Колледж Эккерд и Музей Изобразительных Искусств (MFA).

Book + Banisadr Book Club | Sound + Composition
2026-07-02 18:00 - 20:00
Book + Banisadr Book Club | Sound + Composition
In conjunction with Ali Banisadr: The Alchemist, the MFA is proud to introduce the Book + Banisadr Book Club, a three-part literary program that invites participants to immerse themselves into the complex, turbulent worlds of Banisadr’s works through the lens of contemporary fiction that mimic the artist’s practice in both chaos and composure.
Held in partnership with Book + Bottle, a beloved local independent bookstore and wine bar, each session will focus on a thoughtfully selected book that echoes the figurative illusions rooted in autobiographical narratives, sonic recollection, invented stories, world history, collective memory, and mythology embedded in the imagery of Ali Banisadr’s work. Through this one-of-a-kind pairing of literature and art, historical themes will be reexamined against the dreadful, real, and unreal stories we tell ourselves.
Each session will feature a specially paired wine and will be carefully facilitated to bridge the artworks in the exhibition to the relevant and resonant conversations shaping our society today. This month’s selection, A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, is an award-winning, genre-bending novel that follows interconnected lives across time, exploring music, memory, and the deeply human pursuit of meaning, redemption, and connection.

Ali Banisadr is gifted with synesthesia; otherwise separate senses are linked – in this case color and sound. This ability translates into abstract landscapes rendered in vibrant colors, a trait that links him to the art of Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944), who also experienced synesthesia. The restless surfaces of Banisadr’s paintings juxtapose competing sensibilities, setting areas of orderly, precise brushwork against energetic, gestural ones. As indicated in the title of the exhibition, the artist sees his paintings as an attempt to understand the innate chaos of the world. They do not reflect any specific conflict but rather express universal turmoil.
Book + Banisadr Book Club | Sound + Composition
Thursday, July 2, 2026
6:00 PM–8:00 PM
Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg
255 Beach Drive NE, St. Petersburg FL 33701
$25 for Members; $35 for Not-Yet-Members
TICKETS
Tickets include program and 1 glass of wine. Additional wine available for purchase.
Not yet a member?
Become a member today and enjoy all the benefits membership at the MFA offers!
MFA Members enjoy free admission for an entire year, early access to special exhibitions, discounts at the MFA Shop and Café Clementine, special member-only exclusive events, and more. Bring the whole family!
BECOME A MEMBER

About Book + Bottle

Book + Bottle is a bottle shop, an independent bookstore, a coffee café, and a wine bar all rolled into one exquisite little package. They have the most passionate, friendly, and helpful team in town to help you choose a book or a bottle or to take care of you and your friends on your night off.
They’re an independent, woman-owned, values-driven, sustainably run, local-first business that believes little kindnesses can make our community—and the world—a better place.
About A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE WINNER • With music pulsing on every page, this startling, exhilarating novel of self-destruction and redemption “features characters about whom you come to care deeply as you watch them doing things they shouldn’t, acting gloriously, infuriatingly human” (The Chicago Tribune).
One of the New York Times’s 100 Best Books of the 21st Century • One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years • A Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction Book of the Century • A Los Angeles Times Best Fiction Book of the Last 30 Years
Bennie is an aging former punk rocker and record executive. Sasha is the passionate, troubled young woman he employs. Here Jennifer Egan brilliantly reveals their pasts, along with the inner lives of a host of other characters whose paths intersect with theirs.
“Pitch perfect . . . Darkly, rippingly funny . . . Egan possesses a satirist’s eye and a romance novelist’s heart.”—The New York Times Book Review
See ALL Book + Banisadr Book Club Dates and Times:

May 7, 2026 @ 6 pm: Book + Banisadr Book Club | War + Apocalypse
June 4, 2026 @ 6 pm: Book + Banisadr Book Club | Mythology + History
July 2, 2026 @ 6 pm: Book + Banisadr Book Club | Sound + Composition
