Education Matters

Jim Shirley and the Arts and Culture Alliance of Sarasota County

By Ryan G. Van Cleave

If there’s a list of movers and shakers in the local arts community, Jim Shirley is at or near the top of it. How’s that possible for someone who admits he has “basically no artistic talent whatsoever?” 

Here’s how it came to be.

It started when Jim and his wife—the eventual 2013-2014 Florida Principal of the Year, Barbara Shirley—moved to Sarasota nearly four decades ago. What drew them was what drew so many of us here, too: the natural beauty, the terrific school system, and the arts opportunities. Though Jim’s background and career resided in medical sales and later with a medical executive search firm, he had a deep passion for education as well as the arts. So, when the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County needed a leadership change in 2009, he was the perfect person for the job. He knew how to manage an organization, he knew the local scene as well as anyone, and he was committed to excellence. Since that point, he’s served as Executive Director with pride and distinction.

What most don’t realize is that Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County is THE source, voice, and advocate for the arts and culture in our community. If any state or national government agency wants to send money to our area for the arts, they’re the official group that handles it—witness $24 million in grants to date, with $2.2 million last year alone from the ½-cent bed tax that’s earmarked to support the arts. Yet the Alliance does far more than just dole out dollars. Jim and his team work tirelessly—as did their predecessors—to ensure that arts and culture remain essential to the continuing development of a vibrant, creative community. How do they do that? Through arts advocacy, education, and community outreach.

One example of this mission at work happened in the 80s, when an area superintendent had to deal with significant statewide budget cuts. Not unlike other superintendents around the country, that person thought the solution would be to simply cut the arts. The Alliance’s members and the organization got together and suggested there might be other ways to handle the financial issues, essentially saying, “We are here to help you NOT cut the arts!” And they did that by helping raise money and finding other ways to improve the bottom line without slashing the arts programs, which they felt were too important to lose. If cuts had to happen? They should happen equitably, they argued with great persuasion.

What always impresses Jim is how people move here from all over—both nationally and abroad—and they frequently find ways to get involved. “Just look at the board of directors for any of the arts agencies and local nonprofits,” he says. “You’ll find people there from top businesses throughout the world. That’s why we’ve been so successful with the arts here. They’re being run by people with world-class experience and top-level thinking. That’s a unique aspect which makes us different than other gulf coast communities. People get involved here as volunteers and as philanthropists.” He adds that it’s no surprise that we have two of the biggest community foundations in the state.

One of the newest challenges the Alliance is working to address is the trend of younger generations not being as exposed to the arts. Part of this is because with more one-parent families than ever before, a family’s time and money might not be there for arts exposure or education. The Alliance wants to change that by working hand in hand with the school system and arts organizations to create programs that attract younger audiences to art and culture venues. “It’s important that we grow the audiences and the performers of tomorrow,” Jim says. “It all starts with education.”

Another challenge they face is that like with most small nonprofit agencies, they might want to do it all, but they simply can’t. Jim plus two full-timers and three part-timers strive to do what they can with limited staff, time, and budgets. “I think we do a pretty good job,” he says with his trademark smile. But if anyone is interested in volunteering, he notes that there are ample avenues to do so through the various partners they have, and they’re more than eager to help make those introductions.

The #1 thing Jim wants is to connect with people who have an interest in arts advocacy. He’s willing to go out and call on elected officials to support the arts, but his voice carries far more weight if he can say, “I and our 2,000 members think this is a good idea.” Now more than ever, it’s vital that the arts have a strong, clear voice in our community, and thanks to Jim and the Alliance, that voice continues to be heard.

FOR MORE INFORMATIONabout the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County, please visit www.sarasotaarts.org or call 941.365.5118.