Art Center Sarasota Receives Over $99,000 in Grants

October 30, 2024 | Sarasota

Art Center Sarasota is pleased to announce the receipt of multiple grants totaling over $99,333. These generous contributions will help expand the center’s exhibitions programming and youth education initiatives, providing critical support for its ongoing mission to foster creativity and arts engagement in the Sarasota community.

The awarded grants include:

• Gulf Coast Community Foundation: $10,000 to support exhibitions programming, enhancing the variety and scope of visual art displays at the center. For the 2024-2025 season, ACS presents 22 solo and group exhibitions.
• Community Foundation of Sarasota, Leslie & Margaret Weller Fund:  $10,000 to support Art Center Sarasota’s youth programs, fostering the next generation of artists through diverse, year-round educational opportunities.
• The Exchange: $10,000 to fund Youth Saturdays, a program that offers free art classes for children, ensuring access to arts education for all.
• Tourist Development Cultural/Arts (TDCA): $49,333 for exhibitions programming, aiding in the presentation of innovative, thought-provoking shows that draw local and visiting audiences. ACS exhibited the works of 582 artists in the 2023-2024 season.  
• Klaus Family Foundation: $10,000 to further support youth programming, emphasizing arts education for Sarasota’s younger residents.
• Roberta Leventhal Sudakoff Foundation: $10,000 to support Art Center Sarasota’s youth programs, fostering the next generation of artists through diverse, year-round educational opportunities.

“We are deeply grateful for the ongoing support from these esteemed granting organizations, each of which plays a vital role in Sarasota County’s rich arts and cultural community,” said Ramsey Frangie, ACS’s board president. “Their commitment to fostering creativity and cultural engagement is evident through their generous contributions, which enable us to expand our exhibitions, artist initiatives and youth programs. Their support not only strengthens Art Center Sarasota but also enriches the entire region’s vibrant arts landscape.”

“Gulf Coast Community Foundation is proud to continue to support Art Center Sarasota and their mission to bring together creatives and the broader public to increase understanding of the human condition, support wellbeing, and build community connection through the universal language of art,” said Gulf Coast Community Foundation’s President | CEO Phillip Lanham. “Art Center Sarasota is a gem in our region, free and open to the public, which aligns with Gulf Coast’s vision of thriving communities with opportunities for all. 

Art Center Sarasota, 707 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. For information, visit www.artsarasota.org or call 941-365-2032.

Photo captions:

• Teens from the Boys & Girls Club at with artist mentor Annie Dong (far right) at Art Center Sarasota.
• Budding artists immerse themselves in creativity at Art Center Sarasota.
• Kids explore their creativity through hands-on artmaking at Art Center Sarasota.
• Inspiring the next generation of artists at Art Center Sarasota.
• Interior shot: Art Center Sarasota’s 2024-2025 season features 22 dynamic solo and group exhibitions.

Art Center Sarasota’s 2024-2025 Season at a Glance

Cycle 1: Through November 16: 

• Born in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, Gabriel Ramos explores identity, community, and cultural heritage, bridging personal narratives with shared history to inspire reflection and connection. 
• In “pouring, storing and ore-ing,” Amy Sanders employs utilitarian objects, focusing on vessels designed for pouring and storing. These everyday items are imbued with layers of meaning beyond their functional roles. Pouring vessels symbolize abundance, charity, and generosity, while storing vessels convey themes of containment, preservation, and prosperity. The concept of “ore-ing” references the primitive essence of the iron ore colorants that decorate these vessels, connecting them to the earth’s elemental origins. 
• David Fithian’s exhibition, “Faces and Places,” presents a series of paintings and drawings deeply rooted in Cubism and Abstract Illusionism, where divergent and eccentric perspectives converge into dynamic compositions. Fithian’s structured approach invites viewers on a visual and intellectual journey, challenging both the eye and mind to explore new dimensions of perception.
• Juried exhibit: “Euphoria!” invites artists to express their exuberant selves and explore diverse interpretations of the theme, capturing the essence of euphoria in a myriad of creative forms. The juror is Leslie Butterfield, an artist and designer.

Cycle 2: December 5, 2024-January 18, 2025

Opening Reception: Thursday, December 5, 5-7 p.m.

• E.A. KAHANE’s “¡¡Come Join the Parade!! From My Third Floor Window,” is a celebration of over 25 years of capturing the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade through her camera lens from a third-floor window. This installation is a quintessential New York love story, radiating KAHANE’s joy, excitement, and wonder. 
• Ermin Tabakovic presents “Sigma Series,” a body of work conceived during the Covid lockdown of 2020. His paintings showcase bold, vibrant representations of his core vision, characterized by geometric forms, structural sensibility, dimensionality, and metaphysical exploration.
• Keenan Perren showcases a new body of work crafted from broken skateboards, creating layered compositions that explore human connection and reflect on past experiences. Inspired by friends, family, the skateboard community, and the landscape of everyday life, these pieces resonate with personal and collective memory. 
• Juried exhibit: “Trompe L’oeil” invites artists to create work centered around ideas of illusion, perception and reality. The juror is Michael Kinsey, portrait photographer, filmmaker and content creator.

Cycle 3: January 30-March 1, 2025

Opening Reception: Thursday, January 30, 5 -7 p.m.

• In “Jon or Juan,” Jon Green playfully explores his identity as a second-generation Mexican American. His sculptural work, rooted in Latin American craft traditions, delves into themes from both pre- and post-colonization. Through a humorous lens, Green invites viewers to challenge their expectations of Latino communities, offering a fresh perspective on his personal narrative.
• Frederico Torres presents a new photographic series that immerses viewers in his exploration of foreign landscapes, tranquil meditations, and environmental connections. Born and raised in São Paulo, Brazil, Torres discovered his passion for photography while studying advertising and marketing. He dedicates his life to capturing the diverse forms and colors of nature, exploring the essence of life beyond traditional landscape photography. 
• Madie Gotshall presents a collection of paintings centered around the formation of identity during a changing world. Using a collage-like painting style, meaning is found in the mundane moments of life.
• Annual Juried Members Show: Each year, Art Center Sarasota hosts a highly anticipated exhibition exclusively for current members. This year’s juried show will feature up to 100 selected pieces, with an exciting new opportunity for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners to participate in a group Artist Talk to discuss their work and process. The juror is Rangsook Yoon, senior curator at Sarasota Art Museum.

Cycle 4: March 13-April 19, 2025

Opening Reception: Thursday, March 13, 5- 7 p.m.

• Christina Jensen Vicente presents an immersive installation of handmade textile and mixed media works. A fiber artist and designer, Jensen Vincente explores the collaboration between nature and human hands in her art. 
• “Eternal Landscape” is an exhibition of sculptures by artist Bobby Aiosa that reflects on the relationship society has with the built environment. The work contrasts the geometric aesthetics of minimalist sculpture and architectural movements with intricately sculpted familial objects, bones and foliage.
• In “Divine Love,” Gale Fulton Ross recalls a genre of images of the Virgin Mary, reinterpreting the visual rhetoric within an African American context. In this new body of work, primarily silk screens, Fulton Ross re-examines her notions of race and familial cohesion.
• Juried exhibit: “Epoch of Change: Footprints of Humanity” invites artists to explore the interconnected relationship between humanity and nature and respond to our shifting earth and climate. The juror is Lydia Wassink, assistant professor of instruction at University of South Florida.

Cycle 5: April 29-May 10, 2025

• The Spring Art Show, a cherished annual exhibition, showcases the work of over 1,500 K-12 students, led by coordinators Angela Hartvigsen and Debra Markley. This collaboration offers students the chance to present their art in a professional setting, attracting families and community members. High school students receive awards totaling over $20,000 during an evening ceremony, while elementary students are recognized in two additional award ceremonies. The exhibit features artwork from public and charter schools in northern Sarasota, with the South County Spring Art Show held at the Venice Art Center.

Cycle 6: May 22-August 2, 2025

Opening Reception: Thursday, May 22, 5-7 p.m.

• Annual Juried Regional Show: “Vice and Virtue” invites artists to explore the opposing aspects of the human condition, examining the tension between morally questionable behaviors and virtues. By definition, vice is a practice deemed morally wrong, while virtue represents excellence. This exhibition challenges artists to define their perceptions of moral “rights” and “wrongs” in contemporary society. The juror is Jessica Todd, curator, writer, and artist.

Cycle 7: August 21-September 27, 2025

Opening Reception: Thursday, August 21, 5-7 p.m.

• Jacob Z. Wan presents a new body of work exploring the intimacy of relationships within the LGBTQ+ community. Through textiles, images, mixed media, artist’s books, and installation, Wan delves into the longings, confusions, and decisions in the journey of love, creating a dream-like environment for the audience.
• Art Center Sarasota is teaming up with ALSO Youth to present a unique exhibition of artworks made by ALSO Youth teens during their summer programming.  ACS youth instructors will guide these young artists in creating thoughtful works inspired by the Annual Regional Juried Show.
• In “Praxis,” Dorothea Calvert unveils a new body of sculptural and functional ceramics, exploring themes of anthropomorphism, displacement, global trade, and the power of play. Defined by sensuous surfaces and forms, these pieces blend classic aesthetics with a contemporary message for the attentive observer.
• Juried exhibit: “Self Portrait” invites artists to look inward and create work in which they are the subject. The exhibition asks artists to consider what they want to reveal about their inner narrative, their role as an artist, their hopes and fears. The juror is Odeta Zheka, artist and founder/director of the OXH Gallery in Tampa.