ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — There are lots of places and occasions to make a wish, like a shooting star, blowing out birthday candles, or throwing a penny into a fountain. However, the Dali Museum has its own unique wishing spot, The Dali Wish Tree.
Whenever you leave the Dali Museum you’re encouraged to take your wristband, write a wish on the back of it and attach it to the tree.
“They’re colorful, they really make a beautiful, whimsical, kind of addition to the tree, some people even say it looks like its melting which is very Dalinian of course,” said Beth Bell, Marketing Director for The Dali Museum.
Over the past 10 years, visitors have left more than 20,000 wishes on The Dali Wish Tree.
“Museums are a great place to really have that moment of inspiration and to make a wish and so when we built this building in 2011 we wanted to have a place to do that,” said Bell.
Once a wish is made, it’s kept forever.
“We saved them from the beginning honestly, we do have to clean up the tree a little bit every so often, we pull all the wishes down, and we have a group of dedicated volunteers to transcribe them for us,” said Bell.
This Christmas, the Dali Museum decided to share decades worth of wishes by compiling 250 of them into a new book, Wishes from The Dali Museum Wish Tree.
“You know as you put them on paper it kind of legitimizes them a little bit more and you get to see what other people are thinking and feeling and a lot of it is similar to what you may be thinking too and it’s a gift of hope and inspiration,” said Bell.
Some wishes are fun and silly, others somber and real, and definitely a few wishes about Salvador Dali himself.
“I wish one day to have a mustache as epic as Dali,” said Bell remembering one of the wishes.
She said the best part is when people write to the museum saying their wish came true.
Wishes from The Dali Museum Wish Tree is currently available in the gift shop.
