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WATCH: An Evening with Patti Smith

Singer-songwriter, poet, author, and artist Patti Smith visited our Downtown Sarasota campus on February 15, 2022, for An Evening with Patti Smith. This intimate, sold-out performance and conversation focused on Smith’s art, her life, her interest in nature, and her relationship with late photographer and creative soulmate Robert Mapplethorpe.

Selby Gardens’ 2022 Jean & Alfred Goldstein Exhibition, Robert Mapplethorpe and Patti Smith: Flowers, Poetry, and Light, features the work of these two vanguard artists together for the first time ever in a botanical garden setting. Mapplethorpe’s iconic flower photography and Smith’s haunting lyrics and prose about flowers and nature are put in dialogue with stunning horticultural vignettes inspired by their work throughout the 15-acre Gardens.

The full video of the event is available for viewing online for a limited time.

The exhibition runs through June 26 at our Downtown Sarasota campus.