Elizabeth Lindsay – Honoring Her Memory

February 2, 2022 – Sarasota

It is with an extremely sad heart that I share the news of the passing of Elizabeth (Liz) Lindsay, co-founder of The Exchange, formerly the Woman’s Exchange.  

A visionary, philanthropist and transformational leader, Elizabeth actively served on The Exchange’s board of directors from 1962 until her passing, sixty years later.

Ms. Lindsay moved to Sarasota in 1947 when her husband and father-in-law owned the Sarasota Herald Tribune.  She was 22 years old at the time “and immediately became involved in many of the cultural and charitable institutions in the community,” said her son Robert Lindsay.

At the age of 36, Ms. Lindsay who was already a positive force in the community co-founded The Exchange.  The idea was to form a self-sustaining non-profit consignment store dedicated to financially supporting local arts and cultural organizations. Since then, The Exchange has donated more than $9 million in arts related grants and scholarships, does no fundraising and will be debt-free in June 2022, securing the organization for future generations.

In 1962, Sarasota County had a population of roughly 76,985, and already had an art museum and college of art and design, along with a handful of art organizations.  Elizabeth, along with a group of likeminded citizens, believed that a vibrant arts and cultural community would help shape Sarasota’s future, setting it apart from every other sleepy beach community in Florida. She spent seven decades working to help achieve that goal.

Today Sarasota is known far and wide as Florida’s Cultural Coast. According to Jim Shirley, Executive Director of the Sarasota Arts and Cultural Alliance, there are currently 116 organizational members with 52 of them being “Performing Arts” organizations. Sarasota’s Non-Profit arts and cultural organizations provide more than 7,445 jobs and spend over $300,000,000 in our community buying goods and services each year.  In “normal” years, there are over 2.4 million attendees at our arts/cultural offerings with over 50% of these coming from tourists. 

“If you look around today at those institutions that make Sarasota different from other cities, arts, cultural and to some extent medical, she was involved in all of It.” said son Robert Lindsay.

Below is a list of Ms. Lindsay’s extraordinary accomplishments:

Ms. Lindsay began her studies at Purdue, later transferring to Thomas Edison University in Trenton, N.J. where she earned a bachelor’s degree in construction. Ms. Lindsay later attended the University of South Florida’s Executive MBA program where she joined the first class of graduates. 

Ms. Lindsay was a champion for education and served as Chair of the Florida Board of Regents (now the Florida Board of Governors) after appointed by former Gov. Lawton Chiles. Her duties included overseeing 10 of Florida’s public universities.  Additionally, she served on the USF Sarasota-Manatee Campus Board, the Board of Advisors of the University Of South Florida College Of Business Administration, the USF Foundation Board of Directors, and the board of trusties of Ringling School of Art and Design.  

Among her many philanthropic achievements, Ms. Lindsay served as the board president of the Asolo Repertory Theatre and chair of the Capital Campaign Committee and the Construction Committee, which raised the funds to build the Asolo Center for the Performing Arts.

Other notable civic affiliations include; Asolo Performing Arts Center, John and Mabel Ringling Museum of Art, Players Theater, Florida Studio Theater, Selby Gardens, American Symphony Orchestra League (A national organization of Symphonies), Mote Marine Laboratory, Florida West  Coast Symphony Association, Florida Women’s Network, the boards of Sarasota Memorial Hospital, United Way and Florida Trusts for Historic Preservation.

Ms. Lindsay was the co-founder of The Exchange, the League of Woman’s Voters in Sarasota and Manatee Counties, Woman’s Resource Center and the Community Thrift Shop benefiting St. Stephen’s Episcopal School in Bradenton Florida.

Many of us will fondly remember Ms. Lindsay pulling into The Exchange parking lot, driving a white pick-up truck and wearing a bandana and straw hat after spending a day on her farm.  Like her son Robert said, “She did it all.”

As for me, Liz was my friend and mentor. She was wise and formidable; there was no challenge she found insurmountable, it wasn’t in her DNA. It was her out of the box thinking that made her so successful; she was years before her time.

Even now, I can see Liz who was 92 at the time, climbing a ladder to check out the roof of a new addition The Exchange purchased back in 2017. The one thing I know for certain, I am better for having known her, we all are.

Sincerely,

Karen Koblenz, CEO

The Exchange