MFA x Book + Bottle How Creativity Heals Us

Celebrate with the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, and local favorite Book + Bottle for a one-of-a-kind book release with bestselling local author Vanessa Autrey. Explore the intersection of literature and visual art as Autrey discusses her new book, Rhythm of a Rebel. Chapter Seven was directly inspired by the MFA’s landmark 2024 exhibition, Lizzi Bougatsos & Lonnie Holley | Never the Same Song, a powerful exploration of taking what society casts aside and using it to rebuild, transform, and share a new narrative. Together, we’ll dive into a conversation on creativity as a catalyst for healing, uncovering how to take life’s greatest challenges and shape them into something meaningful, generative, and new.

During the program, Autrey will read an exclusive excerpt from her book before opening the floor for an engaging audience Q&A. Every ticket includes admission to the discussion, a signed copy of Rhythm of a Rebel, and a glass of wine thoughtfully selected by Book + Bottle to pair with the book’s central themes. Guests are also encouraged to visit the MFA’s gallery Becoming an Artist, featuring works by Lonnie Holley, to see firsthand the visual art that helped inspire the book.

Thu, Dec 10, 6 PM-8 PM

$30 for MFA members

$45 for not-yet-members

$20 for students

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About Vanessa Autrey
Vanessa Autrey is a writer and speaker whose work is guided by one enduring question: What does it mean to live well? For more than 15 years, she has explored the intersection of healing, personal reinvention, and authentic living, bringing a candid and incisive perspective shaped by lived experience. Autrey is the author of Rhythm of a Rebel: A Love Song to Living and The Art of Balancing Burnout. She has been featured on Fox, NBC, Bloom, Bay Magazine, Northeast Journal, Reader’s House London, Voyage Magazine, and other select media outlets. She lives between Florida’s west coast and the White Mountains of New England with her partner and their German Shepherd, Atlas.

Sponsored in part by the State of Florida through the Division of Arts and Culture and the National Endowment for the Arts.