Chicago artist Yvette Mayorga is back at the Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg Saturday, for a conversation with Senior Curator of Contemporary Art Katherine Pill. The discussion will center on Mayorga’s new installation, Goddesses of the Great Hall.
Mayorga’s whimsical sculpture Magic Grasshopper has been in place outside the MFA’s front entrance since March.
Her installations come under the curatorial umbrella of “Art Unbound,” a reimagining of works from the museum’s permanent collections in new ways, and in new spaces, and with new additions.
By Élisabeth Vigée-LeBrun.
Starting this fall, Pill explains, “The interpretations will change. That means the wall labels will be written by a variety of voices, not just curatorial. And the galleries will be entirely thematic; that means that they will not be grouped, necessarily, by geography or time period. This is going to allow us to draw connections across time and borders.”
By Yvette Mayorga.
Central to the “Great Hall” installation is a 1799 painting, “Julie as Flora, Roman Goddess of Flowers” by Élisabeth Vigée-LeBrun, which Mayorga, who’s of Mexican heritage, has interpreted with her own collage piece, “Portrait of the Artist After Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun.”
“We’re going to think about the Great Hall as almost a time portal,” Pill explains. “This is really about a clashing of times that we are going to celebrate, with the help of Yvette.”
“In Conversation: Yvette Mayorga and Katherine Pill” takes place Saturday, 11 a.m., in the MFA’s Marly Music Room. It’s free with museum admission, although reservations (at this link) are required.
Coming to the MFA June 24: The Ibison Guitar Duo performs in the Marly Room. Tickets for the 7 p.m. concert are here.
In other news
Artist Ashley Rivers. Photo provided.
At the Tully-Levine Gallery (Arts Xchange campus, Warehouse Arts District) the exhibition from multi-media artist Ashley Rivers (aka The Nature of Fire) closes with a June 27 reception – and an all-in environmentally-sound activity.
The show, L I V (I N) G Estuary … a space between, opened in early June. It takes as its inspiration the oyster shell and its “deep, layered and detailed ridges.” The sculptures utilize clays, raw dyes and pigments, natural fibers, metals, wood and hand-made papers and twines.
In partnership with the nonprofit Oyster River Ecology, residents and their families are invited to the gallery June 27 from 3:30-5 p.m. to create cement “oyster pots” alongside the artist. These will then be placed in local waterways to facilitate healthy oyster growth and reproduction. Register here.
Thursday (June 18) at the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, Tampa: the International Photography Competition (IPC) 2026 Opening Reception, with the unveiling of the winners. Tickets and more info can be found at this link.
June 25 in the Dali Museum’s Will Raymund Theater: A 6 p.m. performance from promising collegiate-level pianists, in partnership with the Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival. Tickets are here for the 6 p.m. recital (does not include gallery admission).
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