Education Matters | 20 Years of Embracing Our Differences

By Tom Reese | December 2023

If you’ve ever been to Marina Jack or walked through Bayfront Park in Sarasota, you’ve probably observed several large displays of unique and thought provoking art scattered throughout. You might not realize the organization behind the exhibit has been around for two decades and does a lot more than what meets the eye.  

In February 2004, a traveling art exhibit from Jerusalem, Israel was put on display throughout Bayfront Park in partnership with the Florida Holocaust Museum. The exhibit, coined “Coexistence,” featured nearly 40 billboard-sized displays of photography, illustrations, paintings and other styles of art that included quotations on the importance of crossing social boundaries and inspiring social change. 

“Coexistence” originally premiered in St. Petersburg, Florida in December, 2003. Nearly every single piece of art was vandalized with cutting or spray painting, some of which included racial slurs and designated as hate crimes by local police. Despite the disappointing start, promoters were not discouraged. In fact, it pushed them to continue the work and stress the glaring need for more tolerance in our local communities. 

The exhibit fared well in Sarasota with over 100,000 visitors, resulting in several community leaders joining together to make it an annual event with new pieces made by regional artists. In 2005, they obtained non-profit status and established the organization: Embracing Our Differences. In addition to the annual display of art, the organization began focusing on educational aspects to reach children and schools in the greater Sarasota area. 

EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVES

Since 2004, Embracing Our Differences has impacted over 587,000 students through its educational initiatives. The largest program in effect is its school field trips, with the goal to get as many children as possible to visit the annual exhibit. Embracing Our Differences pays for every single penny it takes to make these field trips happen. 

“Field trips really are the best part about being down in the park,” says Sarah Wertheimer, Executive Director of Embracing Our Differences. “You have these younger students that really get to discuss the artwork with each other and look at it from their own perspective.” 

The field trips include a guided tour hosted by high school students specially trained in visual thinking strategies. The tour guides are not there to tell the kids what each piece means or intends to convey, but to ask a series of questions to get them to think about it on their own. Each answer is unique by the viewer and neither right or wrong. It’s meant to be a critical thinking assignment to inspire children to react to art in their own way. 

In an effort to expand upon the field trip to see the art exhibits in Bayfront Park, Embracing Our Differences has created the “Make-A-Day Of It!” program. This allows the school to send the students to another arts and cultural organization in Sarasota to make it a full day of diversity education. Participating organizations include Florida Studio Theatre, Mote Marine Laboratory, Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Van Wezel Schooltime Performances, and the Sarasota Art Museum. 

Another educational program hosted by Embracing Our Differences is called the Bucket Fillers Reading Day. This program offers a unique classroom reading opportunity to promote kindness in pre-kindergarten through third grade classrooms. The books each child will read use the concept of an invisible bucket to encourage positive behavior and warm hearts. The children will then fill up each other’s buckets by writing compliments and messages of encouragement to their peers.

“The simple metaphor of a bucket helps all age-levels understand the importance of consideration and love, particularly towards those who bully,” says Wertheimer.

This year, Bucket Fillers Reading Day took place on November 14, and reached approximately 9,000 young children in over 500 classrooms throughout Sarasota and Manatee counties. In addition to being beneficial to early child development, teachers are offered workshops that provide ideas to expand upon the meaning of “filling buckets” throughout the year. Embracing Our Differences also hosts various unrelated workshops throughout the year to offer teachers ways to get Professional Development credits and expand their own education. 

Another event hosted annually in schools by Embracing Our Differences is called “Unity Day.” This initiative promotes empathy and respect among high school students through a full-day workshop of team-building activities that encourage cooperation and communication, while providing opportunities for students to embrace their similarities and respect their differences.

Unity Day takes place over the course of a full school day and includes interactive workshops and lessons as students gather in small groups. An example of one activity is called “If You Really Knew Me,” where students demonstrate the importance of being your authentic self and being able to recognize that there is more to your peers than what is apparent on the surface.

“Studies have shown that school communities with a culture of inclusion report far fewer instances of bullying and social isolation,” says Wertheimer. “Whether online or in school, according to The National Center for Education Statistics, approximately one in five students reports being bullied on a regular basis. Meaningful change in eliminating bullying occurs when students feel empowered to make a difference on their school’s campus with peer-driven initiatives that encourage students of all ages and backgrounds to learn from each other.”

Other programs hosted by Embracing Our Differences include coexistence clubs in local high schools and middle schools, professional development workshops, and bully prevention workshops for educators. 

20TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

Embracing Our Differences is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary with the theme of “Embracing Kindness.” For the first time ever, they recently hosted a unique exhibit at the Sarasota Art Museum. The exhibit took place from October 21 to November 26, and featured enlarged images of 14 original works of art and quotations from the past 20 years, created by local, national and international artists, writers and students. 

“This is a blast from the past kind of exhibit,” says Wertheimer. “It features full sized pieces of art from the last 20 years. This really helps us celebrate all that we have done, and all that we plan to do. It is also a big thank you to our community for really trying to embrace kindness during these divisive and polarizing times.” 

The main 2024 exhibition will debut in Bayfront Park on January 21, 2024, with a grand opening celebration at 12 p.m. This year, Embracing Our Differences received 16,604 submissions of art from 125 countries and 584 different schools from around the world. This includes submissions from all kinds of artists, including students, adults, professionals, and amateurs. 

The submissions are categorized into two separate categories: visual arts and creative writings. They are judged by two separate committees, then matched together at the end to display 50 pieces of art and 50 quotations. To highlight the growth of the exhibit, Embracing Our Differences only took a total of 124 submissions the first year of judging. It is clearly being noticed and admired all across the world. 

The exhibit will be in place at Bayfront Park from January 21 until April 14, 2024. They are also bringing it back to St. Petersburg from March 2 to March 31, 2024 in Poynter Park.

FOR MORE INFORMATION on the exhibit and educational initiatives, visit EmbracingOurDifferences.org.