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What's Brewing

Coveting Monet masses

By SUSAN THURSTON
Published January 28, 2005

The line outside St. Petersburg's Museum of Fine Arts stretched 50 people deep Sunday afternoon.

Everyone was there for one reason: to see the latest exhibit, Monet's London: Artists' Reflections on the Thames, 1859-1914.

The wait has become common on weekends since the show opened Jan. 16. Last Saturday, 2,514 people visited the museum, a huge number given that attendance averages 75,000 to 100,000 a year.

Once inside, visitors jockeyed for space in front of the dozen Monets, waiting their turn for the best view and wishing aloud that the text for each work was larger so more of the crowd could see it.

If only Tampa had that problem.

THE TAMPA MUSEUM of Art rarely, if ever, generates such enthusiasm. While its Greek and Roman antiquities collection is respected internationally, the museum doesn't land the Big Daddy exhibits that draw Big Daddy numbers.

Take the current lineup: African-American quilts and New York Yankees photographs, art and memorabilia. Both interesting, but not likely to create a line out front. Last year's top exhibit, Toulouse-Lautrec, attracted 25,000 visitors; St. Pete's Dale Chihuly glass exhibit attracted a record 168,000.

Granted, museums can't always present blockbuster exhibitions. The Monet exhibit, which includes Thames River-themed pieces from venues across the United States and Europe, took three years to put together and dominated most of the small staff's time.

And keep in mind that St. Pete has its own Monet, which it lends to other museums and used as clout for assembling the current show.

Still, major exhibits raise a museum's reputation and create a buzz. Draw visitors for a great name and you're more likely to hook them for lesser ones. Get people coming on a regular basis and you develop long-term devotees.

TIME WILL TELL whether construction of Tampa's new arts museum yields these results. Frankly, outside museum folks, I hear more complaints about the museum's lack of stellar shows than its lack of adequate facilities.

"In Tampa, I don't see that many special things coming," William Barry of Brandon said while standing in line for the Monet show. "It's got a nice layout, but it's not well advertised."

A frequent museum visitor, Barry admitted he hadn't been to Tampa's museum in about three years. And what did he see there? Uh, he couldn't remember.

Museum director Emily Kass says that will change with the new museum. The museum has to pass up exhibits because the galleries - and behind-the-scene space for storage and climate control - are too small. With larger, modern facilities, Tampa will have an edge over other cities competing for the same exhibitions.

Spending $53.9-million on a new museum, including $3.3-million for an odd-looking urban canopy over Ashley Drive, seems ambitious, even if private donors are sharing costs with the city.

Maybe something smaller would have worked just as well - and left more money to buy artwork and host exhibits. After all, St. Pete's fine arts museum is only 33,000 square feet. Tampa's is 45,000 square feet and will grow to 151,000 square feet after construction.

Unlike Tampa, St. Pete is fortunate to have other nearby attractions. After a stroll through the museum, you can walk around the waterfront parks, grab lunch at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort or shop at BayWalk.

St. Pete is also lucky that a private donor - with an impressive art collection - established the museum. (Tampa's was a city initiative.)

Margaret Acheson Stuart, a New Yorker, founded the museum in 1965. She spent her later years in St. Petersburg and wanted the city to have a museum that would give people direct contact with world masterpieces, said museum spokesman David Connelly.

She raised the money herself, asking only that the city donate the waterfront location. Even that was highly contentious.

Today, the private nonprofit museum relies on little government money. A 1988 expansion, which doubled the gallery space, was paid for through a fundraising campaign led by Stuart's nephew. To get the Monet exhibit, the museum solicited lots of sponsors.

Up next, another expansion scheduled to break ground in 2007 or 2008.

For now, the museum is busy dealing with the long lines.

THE LAST DROP: As much as I enjoy Gasparilla, Bayshore Boulevard is a much prettier drive without the bleachers, which seem like they've been up forever. After the pirates leave, it'll be nice to have our view back.

Susan Thurston can be reached at 226-3394 or thurston@sptimes.com

[Last modified January 27, 2005, 09:34:05]