Patti Smith Returns to Selby Gardens

October 23, 2024 | Sarasota

Global icon and Artist in Residence at Selby Gardens, Patti Smith returns with a special performance at Selby Gardens’ Historic Spanish Point campus on November 14, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. 

The one-hour performance, An Evening with Patti Smith and her Book of Days, will commemorate Smith’s exhibition Patti Smith: A Book of Days, on view November 9, 2024, through August 31, 2025, at Selby Gardens’ Historic Spanish Point campus.  Advance tickets for the performance will go on sale for Selby Gardens’ Members on Thursday, October 24. The remaining tickets will go on sale to the general public on Friday, October 25. To purchase tickets or to become a member, visit selby.org. 

About the Exhibition: Patti Smith: A Book of Days

On view November 9, 2024 through August 31, 2025

Historic Spanish Point campus

Selby Gardens is excited to collaborate with Artist in Residence Patti Smith on this upcoming exhibition at the Historic Spanish Point campus. The exhibition will feature a selection of photographs taken by the famed poet and musician that offers an intimate view of her life on and off the road. The photographs are taken from Smith’s recently published, New York Times bestselling publication, A Book of Days. Inspired by the popularity of her Instagram account, where she began posting photographs back in 2018, this beautiful book offers a window into

her world and illustrates her unique aesthetic. The exhibition at Selby Gardens will feature large prints of Smith’s photographs outdoors, bringing them into dialogue with nature, which has long been a source of inspiration for the legendary artist. Her compelling images will take visitors on a journey through time and space, charting both the course of a year and the natural environment of the Historic Spanish Point campus.

This is Smith’s fifth visit to Selby Gardens. Her visits have combined public activities such as readings and performances with private time drawing creative inspiration from the organization’s two bayfront campuses and world-renowned collections. In addition, Smith’s iconic voice can be heard at the Jean Goldstein Welcome Center, where she narrates a visitor orientation video in the Ernie Kretzmer & Family Theater.

Jennifer Rominiecki, president and CEO of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens stated, “We are honored to have the iconic Patti Smith perform at Selby Gardens once again. Her artistry, much like nature, has a unique ability to inspire and connect us all. Patti’s performance and exhibition promises to be a magical experience, blending the beauty of her art with the serenity of our Historic Spanish Point campus.”

Smith’s blossoming relationship with Selby Gardens stems from the Gardens’ 2022 Jean & Alfred Goldstein Exhibition, Robert Mapplethorpe and Patti Smith: Flowers, Poetry, and Light. The show explored Mapplethorpe’s flower photography and Smith’s lyrics and poetry about flowers and nature, in dialogue with original horticultural installations inspired by their art.

Smith first visited Selby Gardens in February 2022 to tour Flowers, Poetry, and Light and perform songs and readings she selected to complement the exhibition. She called the interdisciplinary show “a beguiling exhibition” and said she “was very moved to be asked to be a part of it.” Smith returned in April 2022 for a second live performance, at which the new residency was announced. In November 2023, Smith returned with An Evening with Patti Smith Dedicated to Georgia O’Keeffe, as a prelude to the Jean & Alfred Goldstein Exhibition, Yayoi Kusama: A Letter to Georgia O’Keeffe. Smithreturned for an encore performance in February 2024.