The Dalí Museum’s Student Surrealist Art Exhibit: “Future-Casting and Fortune-Finding”
Initiated in 1985, this annual juried art exhibition presents work by Florida middle and high school students that explores ideas and visions inspired by the work of Salvador Dalí and the Surrealists. Students are asked to experiment with surrealist techniques such as visual transformation, dislocation and symbolism to create their works. This year’s theme “Future-Casting and Fortune-Finding,” invites students to do something Dalí spent his whole life doing: imagining a future before it exists and then working to make it come true.
This exhibit is comprised of three distinct student shows featured at The Dalí Museum in 2027:
Pinellas County: Jan 9–Feb 28
Hillsborough County: Mar 13–Apr 25
Statewide: May 8–Aug 1
From the beginning, Salvador Dalí seemed certain he was destined to become a great artist. At just 17, he defied the instructions for his entrance exam to the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid, trusting his own perception instead. That same conviction followed him throughout his life as he deliberately built Dalí—the artist, the persona and the myth. Even in the Dalí Tarot, he cast himself as The Magician, an archetype representing creativity, mastery and the power to turn ideas into reality. His life raises a compelling question: Is our future predetermined, or do we create it ourselves?
Dalí carried that sense of possibility into his visions of the future, imagining inventions, technologies and realities that did not yet exist. From futuristic concepts in his Imaginations and Objects of the Future series to revisiting and dismantling his own iconic imagery in The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory, Dalí understood that neither our ideas nor our futures are fixed. This year’s theme invites you to consider the same possibilities: Who will you be, and what will the world become 10, 20 or 50 years from now? Is that future waiting for you—or are you creating it right now?
Please see the guidelines below for entry information. We look forward to seeing your students’ artwork!
Please read the guidelines carefully; some information has changed.
2027 Pinellas Guidelines
Digital submissions due to Pinellas Art Office: Nov 6, 2026
2027 Hillsborough Guidelines
Digital submissions due to Hillsborough Art Office: Feb 5, 2027
2027 Statewide Guidelines
Digital submissions due to EntryThingy: Mar 5, 2027
Note: Students may not submit their own artwork. Art teachers should submit artwork on their students’ behalf. If a student is not enrolled in an art class during the current semester, any art teacher at the same school may submit on the student’s behalf.
Check out The Dalí’s video resources for the Student Surrealist Art Exhibit:
View closed caption version
View closed caption version
view past student surrealist art exhibits online:
2026
2026 Pinellas County Exhibition Online
2026 Hillsborough County Exhibition Online
2026 Statewide Exhibition Online
2025
2025 Pinellas County Exhibition Online
2025 Hillsborough County Exhibition Online
2025 Statewide Exhibition Online
2024
2024 Statewide Exhibition Online
2024 Pinellas County Exhibition Online
2024 Hillsborough County Exhibition Online
2023
2023 Statewide Exhibition Online
2023 Pinellas County Exhibition Online
2023 Hillsborough County Exhibition Online
2022
2022 Statewide Exhibition Online
2022 Pinellas County Exhibition Online
2022 Hillsborough County Exhibition Online
2021
2021 Statewide Exhibition Online
2021 Pinellas County Exhibition Online
2021 Hillsborough County Exhibition Online
2020
2020 Statewide Exhibition Online
2020 Hillsborough County Exhibition Online
view photos of past student surrealist art exhibits:
2019 Statewide Exhibition Photos
2018 Statewide Exhibition Photos
2017 Statewide Exhibition Photos
2016 Statewide Exhibition Photos
2015 Statewide Exhibition Photos
2014 Statewide Exhibition Photos
2013 Statewide Exhibition Photos
2012 Statewide Exhibition Photos
Thank you to our sponsor:
The Student Surrealist Art Exhibitions, Competition and Receptions are funded by a generous gift from an anonymous donor and in part from a program endowment fund established by the Craig and Jan Sher Philanthropic Fund. Additional support for this educational program comes from our Museum corporate partner, Bloomin’ Brands.
Image credit: The Unbinding of Fool and Heart by Xai Guzman, PCCA at Gibbs High School, Pinellas County, 2025
