Cocktails at the Cottage
Chairs
Renée James Gilmore, Jeannie Russell, and Pauline Wamsler
cordially invite you to
Cocktails at the Cottage
celebrating the new exhibition Robert Louis Stevenson: A Child’s Garden of Verses
and the reburbishment of the Sunken Garden at the Historic Spanish Point campus
Wednesday, November 12, 2025
5 to 8 p.m.
Enjoy a casual evening of cocktails and hors d’oeuvres overlooking Little Sarasota Bay at Selby Gardens’ Historic Spanish Point campus. Watch the sunset and be the first to see the refurbished Sunken Garden and preview our new exhibition Robert Louis Stevenson: A Child’s Garden of Verses. This exhibition is a celebration of childhood and the imagination of youth through the words and images of A Child’s Garden of Verses, the beloved book of poetry for children by the celebrated Scottish writer, Robert Louis Stevenson. The exhibition will feature photographs of pages from a vintage edition of the book, combining Stevenson’s poetry with illustrations by the notable American artist, Alexander Dobkin. Accompanying the photographs will be simple interactives that draw their inspiration from Stevenson’s poems and enhance the visitor experience. An audio recording will enable visitors to hear the poems read by Selby Gardens’ Artist-in-Residence, Patti Smith.
The event will be held at
the Historic 19th Century White Cottage, Sunken Garden, and Pergola.