Sarasota Board of County Commissioners Approve 2025 Tourist Development Cultural/Arts Grants

July 12, 2024—The Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County is pleased to announce the Sarasota Board of County Commissioners approval of the Tourist Development Cultural/Arts (TDC/A) grants for the 2024 – 2025 season. 35 projects from 34 local arts and cultural organizations will receive $2.1 million in grant funding.

TDC/A grants come from the tourist tax dollars collected to fund Sarasota County arts and cultural organizations to support high quality programming that attracts tourists to our area. Grants are available to organizations with recognized ability to produce, present, and promote cultural and arts activities that appeal to tourists.

“We appreciate the County Commission’s support in approving these projects,” said Brian Hersh, CEO of the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County. “This is great news for the arts and culture sector in Sarasota County, considering the recent state funding cuts for the arts, grant programs like this show public support for the economic and social impact the arts bring to our community.”

38 of the 40 applications submitted met eligibility requirements and were recommended for funding by the Cultural/Arts Grant Panel. The Alliance presented the Tourist Development Cultural/Arts Grant Award Recommendations to the Tourist Development Council (TDC) on June 13, 2024, which were approved by consensus and moved forward to the Board of County Commissioners. This commission voted to not fund three projects from the 38 recommended for funding. These projects were submitted by Embracing Our Differences, WSLR, and Avenida de Colores (the nonprofit who puts on the Sarasota Chalk Festival).

“Although not all recommended projects received funding, we are committed to working with the County to make this program clearer and transparent,” said Hersh. “We will continue to support the organizations that did not receive funding through our mission to serve as a resource, voice and advocate for arts and culture throughout Sarasota County.”

The Arts and Cultural Alliance will continue to work with the county to address program guidelines, including clarifying point of entry policies, survey requirements, scoring and funding calculations, and a greater emphasis on tourism appeal.

The 2025 Grant Award Recipients include Architecture Sarasota, Art Center Sarasota, Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota, Asolo Theatre, Chamber Orchestra of Sarasota, Choral Artists of Sarasota, ensembleNEWSRQ, The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art Foundation, Florida Studio Theatre, Sarasota Orchestra, Jazz Club of Sarasota, Key Chorale, La Musica di Asolo, Mote Marine Laboratory, Ringling College of Art and Design for Englewood Art Center and Sarasota Art Museum, Rise Above Performing Arts, Sarasota Ballet of Florida, Sarasota Concert Association, Sarasota Contemporary Dance, Sarasota Film Festival, Sarasota Opera Association, Sarasota Performing Arts Center Foundation, Sarasota Pops Orchestra, The Circus Arts Conservatory, The Hermitage Artist Retreat, The Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, The Perlman Music Program/Suncoast, The Players, The Sarasota Cuban Ballet School, The Venice Symphony, Urbanite Theatre, Venice Art Center, Venice Theatre, Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe.

About the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County

The mission of the Arts and Cultural Alliance is to serve as a resource, voice and advocate for arts and culture in Sarasota County. Our primary goals include serving as an advocate for the arts economic impact throughout the Cultural Coast region, promoting health and wellness initiatives through the arts and for our local artists, ensuring the continuation of arts education in our schools and championing for greater accessibility to arts and culture for all. Visit www.SarasotaArts.org and @srqartsalliance on Facebook and Instagram.