Arts Alive! podcast: Rui Farias, Museum of History

He’s a well-done St. Petersburger all the way, but Rui Farias wasn’t born in the Sunshine City. He moved here with his family as a young lad – very young – and as he says in this Arts Alive! podcast interview, he “doesn’t remember” Connecticut.

Farias is the executive director of the 101-year-old St. Petersburg Museum of History, and his love for, and dedication to, preserving what went before more than makes up for any perceived non-indigenous status. For 20 years, he taught History at St. Petersburg High School, and he knows more about this city, from its coolness to its quirks, than just about anybody.

“We have such a unique history,” he says. “I would read anything I could get my hands on, even in elementary school I remember riding my bike to the Mirror Lake Library and checking out (Hampton) Dunn’s book on St. Pete history and reading some of these stories, and diving in a little deeper.”

Much of the conversation has to do with the 11,000-square-foot museum expansion that’s been planned for several years. Although great strides have been made, construction costs continue to skyrocket, and the nonprofit is still a couple of million dollars away from seeing the ambitious project to fruition.

And yes, they still have the two-headed calf and the Egyptian mummy. They both have fascinating local connections.

Click on the arrow below to listen to the interview.