Getting ready forthe Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg.
An art museum on the St. Petersburg waterfront with Sensory Saturdays on the first Saturday of each month (gallery audio turned down or muted), noise-canceling headphones and fidgets to borrow, two garden quiet spaces, and a sensory guide to read ahead.
Sensory supports. Sensory Saturdays, headphones to borrow, quiet gardens.
Hours
Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm, with Art After Dark until 8 pm on select Thursdays (dates on the museum's Calendar of Events). Closed Mondays. Closed Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. The collection galleries have been closed for reinstallation and are scheduled to reopen Nov 21 2026; the New African Masquerades exhibition, the MFA Shop and Café Clementine stay open.
“For families with children with sensory sensitivities, we offer a Sensory Saturday program each month during which audio components in the galleries are turned down or muted.”
“the MFA has sensory objects available for any visitor who may need them, including noise-canceling headphones and fidgets.”
“The MFA Membership and Sculpture Gardens are designated quiet spaces for anyone in need of a break during their visit.”
“Our museum is always quiet and low sensory, though we do offer a program called Sensory Saturdays where all our controllable sensory triggers are turned off, such as the music playing in the Conservatory.”
Sensory Saturdays are on the first Saturday of every month, 10 am to 12 pm. The next ones are on the date cards.
The museum's sensory guide, My Trip to the MFA, walks through the visit with sensory symbols: the Conservatory, the ticket desks, the sticker, bag check, the MFA Shop, Café Clementine, the gardens, the Great Hall and the African Gallery. Sensory-friendly earphones and stim toys are among the complimentary items you can borrow from the Museum Experience staff at the front desk, and with your sticker you can step outside to see the Pier or the Bombax tree and come back in any time before closing.
The museum is one of USF CARD's Autism Friendly businesses in Tampa Bay. For specific needs, the sensory guide asks you to contact info@mfastpete.org before your visit; accessibility questions can also go to the Museum Experience team at (727) 896-2667.
There are benches in the biggest rooms, and docents wear name tags or yellow buttons.
Music in the Conservatory (turned off on Sensory Saturdays)not stated
The video in the African Gallery (plays without stopping; it is turned off on Sensory Saturdays, and you can ask a security guard or someone at the ticket desk to turn it off)not stated
Preparators' power tools, when they are working in a gallery (sometimes too loud; you can leave the room and come back when they are done)not stated
Café Clementine (smells very sweet, like the cookies and croissants they bake all day)not stated
Quieter, in the museum's words
Stuart Membership Gardenquiet zone
Sculpture Gardenquiet zone
Tickets: adults $24; seniors 65+, college students, Florida educators and military $19 (ID checked at check-in for college, military and educator rates); youth 7 to 17 $12; children 6 and younger free; MFA members free. Tickets expire one week from purchase, and all sales are final. While the collection galleries are closed (scheduled to reopen Nov 21 2026), the museum lists a discounted rate: adults $16; seniors, educators, college students and military $14; youth 7 to 17 $10; under 6 free. Art After Dark on select Thursdays, 5 to 8 pm: $16, free for members, and youth 17 and under free.
Museums for All: bring your SNAP EBT card and photo ID to the Visitor Services desk during normal hours for free admission for up to four people per card, as often as you like; not for fundraising events or ticketed exhibitions and programs. Bank of America Museums on Us, first full weekend (Saturday and Sunday) of each month: one admission for the cardholder only, with photo ID and the card; the museum describes it both as complimentary general admission and as discounted admission, so ask at the desk. It is not transferable, does not guarantee admission, can't be combined with other offers, and excludes fundraising events, special exhibitions and ticketed exhibitions or programs. Blue Star Museums: free for active-duty military, National Guard and Reserve and their families from Armed Forces Day to Labor Day. Pinellas Public Library Cooperative and Pasco County library museum passes give free family admission (two adults and three children of the same household), first come, first served.
Food: outside food and drinks are not permitted, and no food or drinks are allowed in the galleries. The Conservatory is the only room where eating or drinking is allowed, and the sensory guide asks that even necessary food and drink breaks happen there. Drinking fountains are available, and the café has free water while it is open.
Bags: coat and bag check is available. Even with a medically necessary bag, the museum asks that backpacks be carried on one shoulder or across your front, not on your back.
Strollers are allowed in most areas (ask at the Information Desk about gallery limits); oversize and jogging strollers are not. Changing tables are in select men's, women's and gender-neutral restrooms, and the Great Hall has a private gender-neutral family restroom.
Photos without flash or tripod are encouraged in the galleries; cell phone calls are not allowed in the galleries, so step into a garden or the lobby. Sketching is pencil only. For first aid, tell the nearest Security Officer or Museum Experience Associate.
Parking: paid self-parking in the south lot and along Bayshore Drive, based on space, paid by Parkmobile app or kiosk; more garages and lots are within walking distance. Enter on Bayshore Drive or Beach Drive. Free wheelchairs in the lobby, first come, first served; to reserve one, call (727) 896-2667 or send a message. Café Clementine is open Tuesday to Sunday from 9 or 10 am (the museum gives both) to 3 pm.
