An Evening with Patti Smith Dedicated to Robert Louis Stevenson: A Child’s Garden of Verses
Scheduled for Wednesday, January 14, 2026
December 10, 2025 | Sarasota, FL. – Global icon and Artist in Residence at Selby Gardens, Patti Smith, returns with a special performance at Selby Gardens’ Historic Spanish Point campus on January 14, 2026, at 7:00 p.m.
The one-hour performance, An Evening with Patti Smith Dedicated to Robert Louis Stevenson: A Child’s Garden of Verses, is a celebration of the current exhibition inspired and narrated by Patti Smith, Robert Louis Stevenson: A Child’s Garden of Verses, on view at Historic Spanish Point through August 30, 2026.
Advance tickets for the performance will go on sale for Selby Gardens’ Members on Tuesday, December 16, 2025. The remaining tickets will go on sale to the general public on Wednesday, December 17, 2025. To purchase tickets or to become a member, visit selby.org.
This is Smith’s seventh 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, shared, “We are delighted to welcome the iconic Patti Smith back to Selby Gardens. Patti’s artistry has a unique power to inspire and bring people together, and we could not be more excited for her return. This special performance, dedicated to one of her favorite books of poetry, promises to be an unforgettable experience.”
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, and for an encore performance in February 2024.
This past February, Smith returned with a special performance, An Evening with Patti Smith Dedicated to George Harrison, in celebration of the ninth annual Goldstein exhibition, George Harrison: A Gardener’s Life.
Presenting Sponsor of the Patti Smith Residency: Marianne and William McComb
Presenting Exhibition Sponsor: A. Hamilton and Edith T. Gardner Fund at Gulf Coast Community Foundation
Images: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/n7olse53jnwgkmyppcklq/AIenKyAdm_cYMPCwf6-RcuI?rlkey=qx77f792wau9900q0ladqri1k&st=s1euk2aw&dl=0