ST. PETERSBURG — The Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, recently launched “Art Unbound: The Future of the MFA, St. Petersburg,” a comprehensive institutional strategy and framework designed to transform the museum into a dynamic cultural hub with a vital “third space” for the Tampa Bay region.
The MFA shared details of “Art Unbound” in a recent press release, detailing the plan’s strategic framework and outlining a phased rollout. Building on the legacy of founder Margaret Acheson Stuart, who conceived of the MFA as a world-class “place for the people,” the MFA describes “Art Unbound” as “a profound, multi-phase evolution of the museum, including its permanent collection, indoor galleries and transitional spaces, and outdoor campus.” The initiative will establish a human-centered visitor journey that invites curiosity and reflection. Designed to be accessible, the reimagination of the MFA will encourage visual conversations across time, culture, and geography to reveal the universal human themes connecting our shared world.
“Art Unbound” transforms the MFA into a community-centered artistic space, ensuring the collection, exhibitions, programs, and campus continue to inspire, educate, and connect Tampa Bay’s community in meaningful, globally minded ways. Together with community leaders, educators, artists, and stakeholders, the transformed museum experience positions the MFA as a regional and national leader in museum innovation, scholarship, and civic engagement.
“‘Art Unbound’ marks an ambitious transformation of the MFA, opening our doors wider to new ideas, new voices, and new ways of connecting through art,” said Klaudio Rodriguez, executive director and CEO of the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg. “By breaking down traditional barriers between art and audience, we are reimagining not only how people experience art but also the museum’s role in this community. We are creating a dynamic cultural hub that is a place of curiosity, creativity, and belonging. ‘Art Unbound’ reflects our fundamental belief that art is not a luxury for a few, but an essential human experience for all.”
‘Yvette Mayorga and the Historic Great Hall’
Following the extraordinary public response to the March 2026 installation of Yvette Mayorga’s outdoor sculpture, “Magic Grasshopper,” directly in front of the MFA, “Art Unbound” moves inside the museum walls on June 20, with “Yvette Mayorga: Goddesses of the Great Hall.” Mayorga’s immersive installation activates the museum’s historic 1965 entrance hall, serving as the first in a series of exhibitions to inaugurate The Great Hall Project, a brand-new curatorial initiative designed to engage the MFA’s spaces through contemporary art interventions.
Developed in direct dialogue with the museum’s 1799 painting “Julie as Flora, Roman Goddess of Flowers” by Élisabeth Vigée-LeBrun, Mayorga’s exhibition creates a striking conversation between historical ornamentation and contemporary explorations of femininity, excess, cultural memory, and power. Central to the presentation will be Mayorga’s own self-portrait inspired by Vigée-LeBrun, alongside major works generously on loan. These paintings serve as key anchors within the installation and exemplify Mayorga’s ongoing engagement with the visual language of 18th century portraiture, creating a compelling visual and conceptual bridge between historical and contemporary representations of identity and self-fashioning.
“Yvette Mayorga is the perfect choice as the inaugural artist for The Great Hall Project,” said Katherine Pill, senior curator of contemporary art. “She is a deeply research-based artist who expands the traditional art historical canon. Her work creates an exciting juxtaposition of time periods that we will emulate across the entire museum campus.”
To celebrate the launch of “Art Unbound” and The Great Hall Project, the MFA will host a conversation on the opening day of the installation. In Conversation, featuring Yvette Mayorga and Katherine Pill, will take place on Saturday, June 20, 11 a.m. to noon, in the Marly Room at the MFA.
Pill speaks with Mayorga, whose work links feminized labor and the aesthetics of celebration to colonial art history and racialized oppression “through the guise of using pink as a weapon of mass destruction.”
The phased rollout of ‘Art Unbound’
“Art Unbound” will unfold as a continuous journey, systematically removing traditional barriers between the public and the creative process through a series of seasonal milestones. Following is an overview of the phased rollout:
Spring 2026: Inaugural Public Art Activation — Marking the official kickoff of “Art Unbound,” the museum extended its footprint into the civic sphere by placing Yvette Mayorga’s vibrant “Magic Grasshopper” directly on Beach Drive, outside the museum walls. This critical first step breaks down traditional barriers and signals a new commitment to accessibility, transforming the museum’s exterior into a literal “front porch” for the city that welcomes residents and tourists alike.
Summer 2026: The Great Hall Project — The initiative moves indoors, using the historic 1965 entrance hall as a platform for contemporary artist interventions. Mayorga’s site-specific installation creates a visual and conceptual bridge between 18th-century portraiture and modern identity.
Fall 2026: Reimagining the Collection Galleries and Visitor Spaces — Rooted in curatorial scholarship and designed to be accessible to everyone from the seasoned scholar to the first-time visitor, the collection galleries shift to a thematic model that encourages visual conversations. Visitors will experience historical works from across cultures in intentional dialogue with modern and contemporary works. By moving beyond traditional chronological and geographical frameworks, universal human themes are revealed in a shared history. Layered interpretation and digital storytelling provide deeper context for a diverse community of learners, sparking conversation rather than just providing facts. By treating galleries as a modular canvas, the MFA will rotate holdings frequently, providing a compelling reason for visitors to return repeatedly. The MFA Shop and Café Clementine will also be redesigned to reflect this world-class, cohesive vision.
Winter 2026: Creativity Commons — The Creativity Commons, the MFA’s third space, will consist of two new areas — the Education Gallery and the MFA Studio Classroom — designed for creative learning, informal gatherings, story times, and artist meetups. The spaces foster connection across generations, bring together artists and learners through hands-on collaboration, and respond to the fundamental human need for shared creative activity and intellectual stimulation.
Spring 2027: Beyond the Gallery Walls — By placing art in accessible spaces, the MFA becomes a place to live with art, not just view it. The Mary Alice McClendon Conservatory becomes a hub for digital and experimental art forms as well as redefined spaces that are comfortable and inviting, transforming seamlessly from a brunch vibe to meeting spot to jazz night. Beyond the walls of the museum, public art transforms outdoor areas around the museum into welcoming, community-gathering spaces. These non-gallery spaces create a radical sense of welcome that begins at the city’s edge and carries the visitor through every touch point at the museum.
About the museum
The Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, is at 255 Beach Drive NE. The MFA serves as the cultural anchor of a vibrant arts city, uniting a diverse community of artists, residents, and international visitors. The museum’s global collection, spanning nearly 5,000 years, acts as a catalyst for connection and conversation. Within the museum’s holdings are exemplary works by Georgia O’Keeffe, Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, Auguste Rodin, Kehinde Wiley, and Élisabeth Vigée-LeBrun.
Museum hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. On select Thursdays, the museum hosts Art After Dark from 5 to 8 p.m. Admission is $24 for adults, $12 for children ages 7 to 17, and free for children 6 and younger. For information, visit mfastpete.org.