Spotlight | Sarasota Art Museum Highlights Contemporary Artists in New Exhibition

By Tom Reese | April 2024

When Sarasota Art Museum opened its doors in 2019 in conjunction with Ringling College of Art and Design, it embarked on its mission of being a catalyst for appreciation and understanding of the art of our time. 

Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling College of Art and Design is a kunsthalle—a contemporary art museum without a permanent collection that regularly features a variety of exhibitions throughout the year. This allows the museum to insert an endless rotation of transformative, relevant, and pioneering exhibitions and programs designed to elevate and empower all by cultivating discerning visual thinkers and ethical citizens.

Its latest exhibition, Impact: Contemporary Artists at the Hermitage Artist Retreat, is now open and available to the public until July 7, 2024. This exhibition hopes to expand upon conventional ideas of art’s impact on our daily lives through the presentation of recent works made by 10 different United States based artists: Diana Al-Hadid, Sanford Biggers, Chitra Ganesh, Todd Gray, Trenton Doyle Hancock, Michelle Lopez, Ted Riederer, John Sims, Kukuli Velarde, and William Villalongo. This is the first major collaboration between Sarasota Art Museum and Hermitage Artist Retreat—multi-disciplinary artist retreat serving artists, the creative process, and the community. 

The retreat takes place on the Hermitage nine-acre campus in Manasota Key at the southern tip of Sarasota County. Accomplished and diverse artists are provided with multi-week residences to create new works of theater, music, visual art, literature, and more. Guest curator and former Hermitage Curatorial Council member Dan Cameron led the way for this exhibition to take place. 

“When we were thinking about the exhibitions that we would be featuring this year, we got to talking with the Hermitage Artist Retreat,” says Virginia Shearer, Executive Director of Sarasota Art Museum. “We came up with the idea of an exhibition that would highlight 10 extraordinary visual artists to capture the rich environment of the retreat. This project supports contemporary artists to develop their practice and create new work.” 

Each artist in Impact is represented by examples of their work that address established social, cultural, and philosophical boundaries of creative expression within the visual arts. The pieces on display feature a broad range of materials and techniques, including sculpture, painting, installation, video, photography, printmaking, ceramics, textiles, and social practice. 

Many of the participating artists have focused their work on issues of history and identity. Examples of this include the case of Sanford Biggers’ loving appropriation of vintage African-American quilts, John Sims’ intense exploration of Confederate ideology, and Kukuli Velarde’s intricate fusion of Catholicism with indigenous religion. 

History of Sarasota Art Museum

While the primary building itself is nearly 100 years old, Sarasota Art Museum is still a relatively new addition to the ever-growing arts and culture scene in Sarasota. The vision for the museum began in 2003, when a group formed with the goal of creating the first contemporary art museum in the region. A partnership was formed with Ringling College of Art and Design to transform the old Sarasota High School site into a museum and visual arts educational center. 

Sarasota High School opened in 1927 and served as the main high school in Sarasota for quite some time. A second building parallel to the primary spot was added in 1960 and designed by architect Paul Rudolph. The high school eventually closed its doors to students in 1996. The buildings lay dormant for several years and needed significant work for the historic site to be used again. 

“I was so excited and inspired when I got the call and joined the team here. It’s stunning to see how the community and Ringling College came together to save these two historic buildings and transform them into elevated, elegant, and beautiful spaces,” says Shearer.

Today the facility serves as a resource for learning about global art discourse and deepening appreciation for 20th and 21st century art and artists through exhibition gallery spaces, an auditorium, an outdoor sculpture garden, a bistro, retail store, and extensive grounds space for outdoor gatherings. 

One of the most important values to Sarasota Art museum is education. The team is always adding new and exciting ways to teach people of all ages the beauty of art. There are several different weekly programs and camps available for children to attend and expand their artistic skills. The Studios at SAM is a dedicated classroom space that typically provides all materials with classes led by professional teaching artists. 

This year’s summer camp runs from June 3 to July 26 and is available for children ages 7-13. Campers will use design-thinking processes to explore contemporary art through a variety of materials and concepts. The goal is to evoke curiosity and hone in on critical thinking skills while encouraging individual creativity and self-expression. Attendees will spend time in the museum galleries looking and learning about art and artmaking, then create their own masterpieces to show off at their own art show. 

Sarasota Art Museum is the only art museum in the country to host OLLI, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute of the Ringling College Continuing Studies Program, within the museum itself. OLLI provides mature adults aged 50+ with a community where they can engage in learning for the joy of learning. The program at Sarasota Art Museum offers classes related to all forms of visual and liberal arts specifically geared toward these lifelong learners. 

Another exciting aspect of the campus are the stunningly beautiful event spaces that are available for rent. The Thomas McGuire Hall is a vibrant space adorned with a stunning mural that can host 140-170 people for many different types of events. The Marcy & Michael Klein Plaza is an outdoor paved space located directly between both buildings that can host events for 160-300 people. The Wendy G. Surkis & Peppi Elona Lobby can host 70-110 people as a gorgeous space where historic meets modern side-by-side. The Jan Schmidt Loggia is a smaller space that can host 20-30 people with an eye-catching backdrop. Weddings for approximately 100 people can take place at the Tom & Sherry Koski Tower. There is also an auditorium available that seats 100. 

“I want people to feel very comfortable and welcomed here. I want them to build memories with us. Events like weddings, birthday parties, bar mitzvahs and more, means that this place will always live on as a legacy and really mean something to people,”’ says Shearer. 

For those wishing to make a day of it, the Bistro at Sarasota Art Museum features a farm-to-table menu inspired by Florida’s regional fruit stands and farmer’s markets and curated by Executive Chef Kaytlin Dangaran. The Bistro is located in the Paul Rudolph building along with a gift shop and boutique store of clothing and jewelry called SHOP. 

Sarasota Art Museum offers affordable annual memberships with some pretty awesome benefits as well. You can purchase a solo membership for $65, a duo for $100, and a family membership for $125. Benefits include unlimited complimentary museum general admission with expedited entry at the member’s kiosk, a 10% discount in SHOP and Bistro, 10% off Studios at SAM classes, complimentary or discounted admission to select programming, and invitations to Members-only Exhibition Previews. There are also other options with higher price tags and even more benefits. 

For more information on planning your visit to the Sarasota Art Museum, renting an event space, becoming a member, or joining a program, please visit
www.SarasotaArtMuseum.com