WOW’s end of semester bash! WoW members from the Seminole Campus enjoyed a trip to the Dali Museum in Downtown St. Petersburg, on May 4^th 2012. WOW (Women on the Way) is an organization that empowers women attending St. Petersburg College. WOW services such include mentoring, textbook lending, monthly works shops, helping students in applying for scholarships. WOW is also celebrating the end of their first semester on the Seminole Campus with a new branch located in the Student Support Center, PB608. For information about joining WOW please visit http://www.spcollege.edu/wow/ , or contact Dr. Lisa McDonnell or Dr. Bridget O’Donnell in the Student Support Center on the Seminole Campus or Shirley Crumbley on the Clearwater Campus. The trip to the Dali Museum was funded by Student Activity fees approved by the Seminole Campus SGA (Student Government Association).

        The trip to the museum was brilliant, fascinating, and enjoyable. The Dali Museum is located in Downtown St. Petersburg, One Dali Boulevard St. Petersburg, FL 33701. WOW members and their guests walked around the gallery alone for about an hour before the scheduled lunch. Looking at Dali’s art work could take an entire day; the different things a viewer can see and learn from each piece of work are inspirational.

         WOW members were joined on the trip by SGA members and SE students. WOW and SGA member Heather Anderson, shown below with SE student Matt Van Tilberg having lunch, enjoyed the the opportunity to experience the Dali Museum with the WOW members. Everyone enjoyed a nice bag lunch, provided by the museum’s café, while sitting in the court yard facing Tampa Bay.

Heather Anderson, WOW/SGA member and Matt Van Tilberg

           After lunch the group walked around in the court yard and looked at Dali’s outdoor exhibit including his mathematical interests like The Golden Rectangle shown below. Behind the wishing tree in the court yard, the maze exhibit made out of bushes that dead-ends forcing a person to walk back the way they came to get out, although it was fun to walk through.

The Golden Rectangle

 WOW was treated to a private tour with a Dali Museum docent. The private tour started after lunch in the court yard with the stair case in the middle of the building, whose railing is all one solid piece of metal, and continued to the second floor of the museum. The docent provided great background information about the new Dali Museum’s construction, Dali’s artwork, and his personal life on the tour.

Staircase inside the Dali Museum

All of the guest’s on the trip were very thankful for being invited to WOW’s end of the semester bash. In the van on the way back to the Seminole Campus, Joy Gann, SGA VP elect stated, “I had a lot of fun on the trip and enjoyed the interpretation of Dali’s art work.”

Joy Gann, SGA VP elect and Silvia Horvath, SGA VP

This view from the wishing tree, covered in visitor bracelets, shows the side of the building that is facing Tampa Bay. The Dali Museum in St. Petersburg is very beautiful, peaceful, and a great place to be inspired in many ways.

All of the WOW members from the Seminole Campus enjoyed the trip. Many of them have never been to the museum and enjoyed learning more about Dali and the things happening during his era that influenced his art.

SPC Seminole Campus WOW Members at The Dali Museum, Front-left-Diana Black, Sady Carmona, Felicia O’Malley, Valerie Betancourt, Annette Graham, Jasmine Collier, Back-left-Traci Clayton, Pepper Harth, Heather Anderson, Back-Dr. Lisa McDonnell, Dr. Bridget O’Donnell

A WOW Representative (Dr. O’Donnell) will be available at the Seminole Campus in the Student Support Center located in room number PB608, waiting to answer questions. The hours are posted on the door of the portable and are subject to change. Any and all current students are welcome to discover the Student Support Center and all of the amenities it has to offer.

Written and Photo’s by Lisa Manners, Seminole SGA and Seminole Environmental Science Club member, Editor for Arts section for the Sandbox News