By Cliff Roles

It’s a special year for Asolo Repertory Theatre - a mammoth gala for 600 guests at the end of March to be held on the grounds of the Ringling Museum of Art and to benefit the FSU/Asolo Conservatory will be the kick-off for months of terrific events and memorable festivities to celebrate Asolo Rep’s 50th anniversary. Time to reflect about its history, its highs and lows, the people who have made Asolo Repertory Theatre what it is today, and the people who will accompany it on the next phase of a theatre that continues to flourish 50 years after it began as a fledgling acting company performing a summer theatre festival in Sarasota.

50 Years of History
It’s midday on a Saturday and I’m visiting with Margaret Wise, Chairwoman of the Asolo Repertory Theatre Board, to chat about the Asolo Rep’s 50-year history. I’ve walked in on her and Bill, her husband of 27 years, as they take down Christmas trees and decorations after a hectic holiday season welcoming friends and hosting receptions in their magnificent Sarasota bayfront home, while at the same time tirelessly attending meetings and galas and fulfi lling countless other social obligations. This is Margaret’s second year as President, but she’s been involved with the theatre since the mid-90s, that dark period when it was on the verge of bankruptcy.
“I was Board President of the Opera at that time, and my friend and fellow Board member Stanley Kane had always been so helpful to me. One day he called me and said, ‘Margaret, I’m calling in all my chips. Do you want to help save the Asolo?’
He continued: ‘I’m not asking you for your money - we’re going to bring Howard Millman back, and I think we can save it. I just want you to come up with a program that will make the Asolo $50,000 this year.’
Well, I told him I could do that, and he then called 25 of his friends and asked for exactly the same thing. Everyone came up with a plan. Dinner clubs, galas, even a cruise that made $400,000, so by the end of the year the Asolo was saved. Esther Mertz, for instance, who donated the money for the original theatre, said, ‘You get the money, and I’ll match it.’ In the meantime, she’s given us a fortune and has always been there for us. We have three Crystal Ladies, each of whom has given us over one million dollars: Esther, Lee Peterson, and Ulla Searing. But there’s no doubt about it: Asolo Rep’s doors would have closed without Stanley Kane.”

What’s In A Name?
So how did Asolo Rep progress from its beginnings? Well, for this lazy columnist it was an easy click to Asolo Rep’s website www.asolo.org, which offers very comprehensive information on its history, mission and evolution. The word Asolo comes from Asolo, Italy, where a lovely 18th century theatre was acquired by the State of Florida for the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art and moved to Sarasota in the 1950s. This theatre became home to a summer theatre company founded by faculty of Florida State University in 1960. Known as the Asolo Theatre Festival, the company was
warmly embraced by the Sarasota community and in 1966 became a year-round, professional rep LORT Theatre (League of Resident Theatres). In 1968, The Florida State University (FSU) School of Theatre began sending acting students on a regular basis for internships. In
December 1989, after 30 years in the Historic Asolo Theater at the Ringling Museum, the LORT acting company moved into a new performing arts center. Originally dedicated as the Asolo Performing Arts Center, the facility became the Florida State University Center for the Performing Arts in 1991.
In 2006, the Asolo Theatre Company was renamed Asolo Repertory Theatre. This new name was chosen to more accurately refl ect its status as one of the only rotating repertory theatres in the country. Currently, Asolo Repertory Theatre and the FSU/Asolo Conservatory perform in the FSU Center on two stages - the Mertz and the Cook Theatres. Asolo Rep and the Conservatory are proud to have come full circle as they each now perform one show per season in the Historic Asolo Theater, located in the Ringling Museum’s Visitors Pavilion.
The acclaimed Asolo Rep performs primarily in the beautiful Mertz Theatre, an elegant 500-seat facility that was originally built as an opera house in 1903 in Dunfermline, Scotland. The Dunfermline Opera House building was demolished in the 1980s, but the interior was rescued, shipped to Sarasota and painstakingly restored to its original splendor within the FSU Center.
It is here that from November to June, Asolo Rep presents a unique rotating repertory ranging from classics to new works, providing theatergoers with the opportunity to enjoy up to four different plays in a single weekend. Each season, more than 100,000 people attend Asolo Rep’s productions. The second stage within the Center is the Cook Theatre. Built in 1994, the Cook is an intimate 161-seat space designed to create a close relationship between audience and stage. It’s here that students of the Conservatory perform their season of plays. The Conservatory season provides a varied repertoire of classic and cutting-edge plays, selected to offer wonderful challenges for performers and exciting theatre for audiences. Students
also present a series of original works known as the “LateNight” series, and the FSU School of Theatre presents a variety of other special events and performances. Asolo Repertory Theatre also performs one or two plays in the Cook each year as part of its regular season.
Whether in the Historic Asolo Theater, the elegant Mertz Theatre, or the Cook Theatre, local residents and visitors alike have enjoyed Asolo Rep’s outstanding professional live theatrical productions for generations.

On The Board

Margaret Wise
Asolo Rep. Board President

Back to Sarasota’s ultimate hostess, Margaret Wise. I ask about the current make-up of the Asolo Rep Board.
“I think we have one of the best boards in town. And it’s our responsibility to make sure that an endowment always exists in order to maintain the theatre’s stability. You can always have a bad year, or a recession, and if you haven’t got an endowment you’ve got nothing to fall back on. We’ve been setting this up now for the last two years. And I just love working with Michael Edwards, one of the most creative people I know. We’re in a really good place now - we’re doing a lot more new works, and if just one or two of those become hits on Broadway, we can really make some money. There’s a terrific collaboration between Asolo Rep and the Historic Asolo; I personally would like to see the whole area named ‘The Ringling Center,’ reminiscent of the big centers in the world like the ‘Lincoln Center.’”
Asolo Rep’s 50th anniversary celebrations will kick off on March 29, 2008 with a Gala, A Star Is Born, which is being chaired by Kim Githler and Nora Johnson for around 600 guests in the glorious grounds of the Ringling Museum of Art. This will be followed through the 2008-2009 season by various other major events, including a luncheon with a fashion show displaying 50 years of costumes. Margaret: “And we’re starting next season with another big Broadway show. I can’t tell you which one, though - it’s still under wraps.”

If you’d like tickets for the Gala, email Karen_Misantone@Asolo.org or call 941-351- 9010, ext. 4706. The website www.asolo.org, contains details of the current seasons of both the Asolo Rep and the FSU/Asolo Conservatory, how to purchase subscriptions and how to get involved with the education and outreach programs.
Asolo Repertory Theatre, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL 34243 | 941-351-8000 or 800-361-8388.

Michael Donald Edwards
Producing Artistic Director, Asolo Repertory Theatre
There aren’t many theatres in the United States that have this kind of longevity. It’s remarkable to find a theatre that is valued at this high level, and I am so proud that I have come in and taken over an institution that is supported by so many fantastic members of the community. Wherever I go, I
am given the feeling that the Asolo Rep matters to people, and that in turn fills me with a huge sense of responsibility, pride and obligation to do my job right.

Linda DiGabriele
Managing Director, Asolo Repertory Theatre
Asolo Rep was founded almost fifty years ago, near the beginning of the regional theatre movement in America. Today, there are still fewer than 100
professional not-for-profit regional theatres and most are located in major metropolitan centers. Asolo Rep has been most fortunate to be embraced by a community that passionately loves and supports the arts. This commitment has nurtured the theatre during its early years, the difficult times and the wonderful periods of growth and achievement.
Asolo Rep’s celebration of its 50th Anniversary will also be a celebration of this amazing community and all of the steadfast supporters who have made it possible for this theatre, and numerous other cultural organizations, to flourish.

Greg Leaming
Director, FSU/Asolo Conservatory
“What does 50 years of Asolo Rep mean to me?”
It means that for 50 years, Sarasota has been one of the communities in this country where the high quality of life is due in part to the influence of
imagination and spirit that you fi nd in live theatre. Where people are inspired to live life brightly, energetically and fully because of their relationships with resident theatre artists, those who are seasoned and those who are just starting out. Where people have been inspired to think and laugh and cry
and love and embrace the world because they have embraced live, professional theatre. It means that for 50 years Sarasota has been a thrilling place to live. Here’s to another 50 thrilling years.

Howard J. Millman
Producing Artistic Director, Retired
WHAT THE ASOLO THEATRE MEANS TO ME
I was a Doctoral student at FSU in 1959 when the Speech Department (we were not even a Theatre Department in those days) was asked to bring a play to Sarasota for Arts Week. The play was to be performed at the Historic Asolo theatre. The play was Clifford Odet’s THE COUNTRY GIRL, and it starred Eberle Thomas, Isa Thomas and myself in the three leads. It was directed by Richard Fallon, our Professor. The following summer Arthur
Dorlag, Eb Thomas and Robert Strane started a rotating repertory Theatre. In 1963 Richard Fallon took over the leadership of the theatre with Eb and Bob as co-artistic Directors. I was asked to join the company as Managing Director. I managed the company and directed about 14 productions in the historic Asolo. I left in 1980.
When the Asolo got into financial trouble in 1995, I was asked to come back to the Asolo. This place is and always was home. The Asolo has a magic magnetic aura about it. There are not many theatres in the country that can boast the dedication and love for a theatre and a company and a place.
When you ask what the Asolo means to me, it has much of my life and all of my heart.

Anne and David S. Howard
Asolo Theatre Guild, Retired
Associate Artist, Asolo Repertory Theatre
Anne: “Coming home to the Asolo twelve years ago was like coming home to family. Since then we’ve had the joy of watching the family grow
in a marriage of community and company.”
David: “To paraphrase Yogi Berra talking about the old Yankees: “At the old Asolo, we were like a family. I know that sounds cornball, but you can ask any of the Old-Timers still livin’ and they’ll tell you it’s true.” After a show, we’d come spilling out of the Stage Door of the (now Historic) Asolo
and the audience out of the Theatre Door, about fifty feet away, and it was Party Time. Those were the best of times.”

Listen to Cliff Roles on Talk of the Sun Coast every weekday live from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. on 1220 AM WSRQ.
Contact Cliff Roles: 941-685-9017 or visit www.cliffroles.com.

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SCENE Magazine, January 2008

LIKE A CIRCLE IN A SPIRAL, LIKE  A WHEEL WITHIN A WHEEL . . .

Around Venice Little Theatre
- Where Images Unwind

By Cliff Roles
 
When I’m not hosting my radio show, translating, emceeing, writing my column or walking my dog Sam, I’m a stage actor. As I write this, I’m spending every evening down in Venice at the third-biggest community theatre in the country, Venice Little Theatre, rehearsing “Run For Your Wife,” a hilarious bedroom door-slamming farce in which I play a South London
taxi-driver with two wives who live five minutes from each other. And as you’re reading this, my fellow cast members and I are hopefully hearing the audience’s laughter and enjoying the fruits of our labors.

Although I’ve seen dozens of plays at VLT since I came to Florida, I’d never acted there or been backstage. On the first day of rehearsals I was greeted by Murray Chase, VLT’s Artistic and Managing Director, who gave me “the tour”. They’re a very close-knit bunch, the “VLTers”:
Allan & Kim, Moe, Linda, Sandy, Clair, Rhonda, Brad, Cara, Nick, Jeanette, Steve ... too many to mention all by name, unfortunately. But they welcome you into their “home” like an old friend. Discovering VLT behind the scenes is like wandering through a maze, but one thing
stuck in my mind the whole time: geez, the floors are so clean you could eat your dinner off them. And they’re a proud lot at VLT, and rightfully so. Proud of what they’ve achieved, proud to show it off to the outside world, proud of being “around VLT.”
Which brings me to my real story. At the beginning of last year, VLT Business Manager & stellar actress Sara Trembly invited me to a VLT fundraising breakfast, where I was to hear about VLT’s Education and Outreach programs, its dedicated 1,500 volunteers and how they
invest a large proportion of their 165,000 volunteer hours every year. Listening to representatives of the various VLT programs recounting how VLT has changed their lives brought tears to my eyes, and as I drove back to Sarasota, the seed for a radio show - and unknowingly back then this article - planted itself in my mind. Highlighting two of these programs - the Loveland Partnership and the Silver Foxes - as examples for all the others, I invited Murray and his Senior Outreach Director Joseph Cole Simmons to come on “Talk of the Sun Coast” a short time later and talk about the other side of Venice Little Theatre.

Murray Chase on VLT and The Loveland Center
“The Loveland Partnership was actually a marvelous idea that was hatched from meetings with Dr. Bob Perkins when he was head of the Selby Foundation, as well as representatives from various human services organizations and arts groups down in South County.
Bob’s idea was what could happen if these institutions got together and what benefit could they bring to the community? That was fifteen years ago, and the Loveland program has been in operation full bore since January 1995. It’s a partnership that I cannot imagine VLT being without, and I don’t think Loveland can either.”
What is Loveland?
“The Loveland Center, similar to ‘Kaleidoscope’ in the type of service that it offers, is the Southwest Florida Center for the Handicapped. It deals with adult students who have a disability of some sort - many of them quite profound - and a need for special training. The partnership itself uses the arts to build basic life skills and confidence so that a lot of these students can be mainstreamed into the workforce.
Those who cannot, go on to become volunteers in other arts and services groups around the county. It’s not just an annual thing: we’re talking here about students that we’ve seen over ten or twelve years who have now grown into wonderfully independent human beings.”
How many students are involved at one time, and are trained staff on hand to oversee everything?
“About 70 students are currently involved, a number that has steadily increased over the last thirteen years. The range of the students’ disabilities is quite large: Down syndrome, blindness, severe learning disabilities, difficulties in walking, etc. So while VLT has at least two employees fully trained to deal with this, Loveland staff also helps in planning the various projects and at least one is on hand at all times when we’re working with the students.”
Has Loveland’s collaboration with VLT helped to make people aware of its existence?
“The public’s awareness of the existence of the Loveland Center is a good ancillary effect - but the absolute focus is on the students at all times. Performances are built based on the challenges issued to the students in terms of what we would like them to overcome in one particular year. The use of music and dance increases the students’ confidence - this is not a theory, it’s been proven many times - and to do that with students who have developmental disabilities was a challenge for us. As a matter of fact, we’ve learned as much along the way as the students themselves. Now, there’s a lot of music-based training within the structure, as well as dance training and therapy work.
The real trick is the consistency with which it happens: the students are in our theatre once a week working on a specific project, which they perform once a year. And when you talk to a lot of these students, they’ll go back five or six years and talk about their favorite show, their favorite moment, their favorite role ... and that might have been the role that put them over the top to where they could walk in and interview for a job.”
How do you see VLT’s partnership with the Loveland Center developing over the next couple of years?
“This past year we were issued a challenge by George Cooper, a very generous donor, who promised us $50,000 if we could match it. We did, and an endowment fund is being established to take Loveland’s work into perpetuity. Our hope is to build it up so we can continue to add to the program with more therapists, more activities, more opportunities for more of the students throughout the year. I really do believe that the program is, if not in its infancy, only in its teenage years at this point.”

Joe Simmons on VLT and The Silver Foxes
“It started when some senior theatre people decided that they would get together and put on some plays for senior citizens. When tap dancers got involved, a company of performers was created. We’ve just finished our 15th annual production, where we played to 94.4% capacity. The Foxes are extremely popular. Their productions are musical reviews à la Sugar Babies, so we have singing, dancing, comedy sketches, fast blackouts and the like. We’ve developed into quite a talented group in the meantime - you can’t just walk in and hop on the end of the dance line - it takes some experience. Occasionally, we audition for dancers and singers. Choreographer and teacher Shirley Gawne is a lady who has just celebrated her 87th birthday. I challenge anybody to keep up with her, or any of the dancers for that matter. They rehearse three times a week, and if you think you’re in shape, go and watch one of their rehearsals when they do a four-minute number three times in a row. They’re all in great shape!
The Foxes (60% female, 40% male, by the way) play to about 2,000 people at home in their annual showcase, but from November to April the Silver Foxes travel all over the county, performing to about 7,000 out on the road in nursing homes, retirement communities and senior friendship centers, to people who can’t or won’t get out to see theatre. Not only is that good for the performers, but of course it’s a real service to the community, which has been the primary purpose of the Foxes for the past thirteen years.”
The list of VLT’s education and outreach programs and achievements goes on and on and would fill this magazine: among others, there’s “Troupe in a Trunk,” a company of adult volunteer actors performing this year to around 9,300 young people through an annual touring show to Sarasota and Charlotte County Schools. And “Bringing History to Life,” VLT’s partnership with Venice Middle School with the purpose of bringing social studies “off the written page” and mounting its lessons dramatically. Or “ECS at VLT” - as one of the focal points in Epiphany Cathedral School’s multidisciplinary programming, their theatre arts electives are taught at VLT. The program provides for comprehensive year round theatre generalists curriculum.
If you’re interested in learning more about or participating in any of Venice Little Theatre’s Outreach programs, contact Sandy Davisson or Clair Lockeyear, Education and Outreach Department, at (941) 486-8679. And to purchase tickets, inquire about subscriptions, take a tour of the theatre or get information on VLT’s current Mainstage and Stage II seasons, phone (941) 488-1115 or go online to www.venicestage.com. Incidentally, “Run For Your Wife”, the play that I’m in, runs January 15th through February 3rd. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to slam some more bedroom doors and learn my lines ... see you in the theatre!

Listen to Cliff Roles on Talk of the Sun Coast every weekday live from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. on 1220 AM WSRQ. Contact Cliff Roles: 941-685-9017 or visit www.cliffroles.com

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SCENE Magazine, December 2007
Express Yourself - Arts Weekend Sarasota 2008

by Cliff Roles

  
Arts Night's Silke Rible & Wendy Bowen, Arts Weekend's Martine Collier & Nicole Brown

What used to be "just" Arts Night and Arts Day has blossomed into an entire weekend, courtesy of the Sarasota County Arts Council. From Friday, January 11 to Sunday, January 13, downtown Sarasota will transform itself into an Arts Mecca. I spoke with four of the organizers: the Arts Council's Martine Meredith Collier and Nicole Sherbert Brown, as well as our ladies of the Arts Night, Wendy Bowen and Silke Rible.

I could have danced …: Arts Night, Friday, January 11

Wendy and Silke plan to uphold predecessor Amie Swan's legacy in grand style - and entertain their guests with food, libations and general merriment at "Medium One Eleven, Sarasota's mysterious new nightclub at a yet-to-be-disclosed location".

"If we tell you where it is, we'll have to kill you", they cautioned as we sat in Metro Cafe chatting about where they’ll be holding Arts Night. A lesser chatterbox would have fled or followed them around for a day. But I pressed on, unfazed.

Come on ladies, what is Medium111?

Silke: "It's a new club, the perfect location for encompassing everything we want. It's big and bold with no limitations. A large number of local performers will blend seamlessly with the chic lounge setting. It's about not bringing in artists from the outside, but highlighting all the exceptional talent that we have here in town."

Wendy: "It's actually so big that we'll even have Cirque du Soleil-style performers descending from the ceiling. We've put together a fantastic committee: Matt Orr is in charge of entertainment, Sheryl Viera is our marketing chair, and Megan Kulisich will be responsible for all the decorations. The proceeds from Arts Night will benefit the Arts Council to help offset production costs of Arts Weekend Sarasota. We're expecting 500 guests, but we'll take more!"

Apart from the new venue, what are you going to do differently this season?

Wendy: "The art of Arts Night and the pattern that Amie has established is to do something that has never been done before. That gave us a completely blank canvas - no pun intended - to do whatever we wanted that was fun, original, hip, chic and urban."

What are your expectations?

Silke: "We're going to deliver a moment and an atmosphere where people are going to walk in and their mouths are going to drop. They're going to see things that they've never seen before. It's about not doing anything traditional and doing everything outside of the box. Showing people art and arts in a completely new way. We want Arts Night to be presented in a way that is mind-blowing and awe-inspiring."

Wendy: "Arts Night is the largest fundraiser of the year for the Sarasota County Arts Council. I like to describe the Arts Council as the Chamber of Commerce for arts organizations in Sarasota County. So if you follow along that line, we're going to be drawing from all of the artistic talent that is already in Sarasota, pull it into a night-club setting and blend it fluently into the evening. So there'll be artistic things happening all around you - you can either watch what's happening, or continue to sip your Martini and just enjoy the evening!"

Clang, clang, clang …: Art in the City, Saturday, January 12

This year the Sarasota County Arts Council is working together with downtown merchants, galleries, and community historical and architectural organizations to highlight downtown Sarasota.

Martine: "We're hoping that folks will come in for the whole weekend, so this year for the first time we're offering visitors something really special - we're bridging our Arts Friday and Sunday with Saturday's Art in the City. We're working with the Downtown Merchants Association to carry through our "Express Yourself" theme any way they'd like. We're giving visitors the opportunity for a self-directed art experience by providing a trolley service that will transport them to all the different art-gallery districts. It will start downtown at the Farmer's Market area, then run non-stop around Towles Court, Burns Court, the Rosemary District, Palm Avenue and back to downtown. There'll also be another trolley doing architectural and historical tours. Patrons can spend a wonderful day browsing the galleries, discovering the wearable art boutiques, or simply taking in the festivities from a sidewalk café. Art in the City will close at around 4 pm so that we can start setting up for Sunday, but on Saturday night we're encouraging everyone to go to an arts venue - we want this weekend to be seamlessly about the art and culture in our community."

Putting it together …: Arts Day, Sunday, January 13

Around 25,000 visitors from across the globe and nearly 250 arts organizations from Sarasota and the surrounding counties will come together on Sunday from 10 am to celebrate a veritable feast of sensory delights.

Nicole: "The Arts Day Committee, working with Arts Day Director Georgann Nugent, has added a Teen Stage and a Contemporary Stage and other new innovations. Also this year, Arts Day will feature the Willis A. Smith Construction, Inc. Juried Art Show and Sale, designed to attract the very best visual artists by offering cash prizes for the winners. This will raise the bar even further. We've received entries from all over the county, so we'd especially like to encourage our friends in Venice, Englewood and North Port to come and enjoy Arts Weekend with us. We've also re-designed the festival map to help people find their way around."

Martine: "Oh yes, the whole layout has been mixed up quite a bit - you'll definitely need your Arts Day map! This year it's going to be published in the Observer on January 3 and also available on the day of the festival. Delicious food and drinks are going to be available on Arts Day from the Originals, a consortium of Sarasota's own local restaurateurs at the Originals Gourmet Food Pavilion, and as always there'll be multiple performance stages and hundreds of artists and craftsmen."

If you'd like to participate in and support Arts Weekend Sarasota, or you simply require more information, or you still don't know where the Arts Night party is being held, call the Arts Council at (941) 365-5118 ext. 300, or go to www.sarasotaarts.org.

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Featured Artists
Steve and Dianne Dawson

Their names are synonymous in our theatre world with quality, success, reliability and vocal flawlessness. They could have long since trodden the Broadway boards, but we're lucky they didn't. Southwest Florida's best-loved musical-theatre couple, Steve and Dianne Dawson, met during A Little Night Music, fell in love during The Fantasticks, planned their wedding during Barefoot in the Park and got married straight afterwards on June 8, 2002 on the stage of the Manatee Players' Riverfront Theatre. He is reticent and shy, a man of few words, but his smile (and magnificent baritone) will capture your heart immediately. She is the alert perfectionist, always leaving you wanting more when her blue eyes flash and her dynamic soprano voice quivers with passion. Everyone has their favourite "Steve & Dianne" story, such as Steve's Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz, or their portrayal of John Wilkes Booth and Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme in VLT's award-winning Assassins, or Dianne's Best Actress performance as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady at The Players of Sarasota. Since that time they've gone from strength to strength, always acting and singing together if the show allows it: "It's a lifestyle, not a hobby,” they'll always tell you. West Side Story, Zorba, I Do I Do, WillmS, Oliver … ask them about personal highs, and they'll say Batboy, Sweeney Todd and Jekyll & Hyde.

Steve's currently performing in VLT's Forever Plaid until December 29, then going straight into Grand Hotel at the Players from January 10 - 20. Dianne's taking a well-deserved break, getting things in order for the holidays. But then, on January 31st, the couple reunite in Jason Robert Brown's musical The Last 5 Years at the East Village Cabaret, directed by Michael Sebastian. Not to be missed, believe me. They could read from the telephone book and I'd still go. I'm a Dawson groupie, you see. Say it for me, Dianne, say it just one more time ... say, "Come on, Dover, move yer bloomin' arse!"

(Written by the ubiquitous Cliff Roles for AnythingArts.com; a clue was the way he spelled “favorite” with a “u”. Thanks Cliff!)

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SCENE Magazine, November 2007

Bayfront Behemoths

4th Sarasota Season of Sculpture

By Cliff Roles

How do you write an article about visual art without showing pictures of it? Well, I suppose it’s like a restaurant critic enticing people to try a tasty pasta dish or cut into a succulent steak; you tap into their imagination and get their juices flowing. By the time you read this, you’ll be able to walk Sarasota’s bayfront and admire this season’s 26 large sculptures, which were officially unveiled on November 11.

Brenda Terris and Jill Kaplan

Even as I write, Executive Director Brenda Terris and Artistic Director Jill Kaplan are doing a good job of keeping their prize beauties under wraps, to make sure our curiosity is heightened and, like their sculptors, put the finishing touches to their baby, the “Fourth Exhibition of Monumental Works of Art”.
Since last season’s “Unconditional Surrender” (you know the one—the sailor kissing the girl—but of course you know...) became a popular attraction for residents and tourists, everyone’s wondering what sculptor Seward Johnson will do next. You loved it, you hated it ... if nothing else, it heightened awareness and turned rival marketing managers green with envy that it wasn’t their idea. But that’s enough about that—let’s irect our attention to the next seven months worth of art work and accompanying activities that our two ladies and their creative team have prepared for Sarasota, in order to fortify the county’s reputation of being the arts capital of Florida.
Smooth talker that I am (hmm!), I did manage to prise photos of two new entries out of Brenda and Jill’s hands: “Star Pointer,” a 70-foot tall monumental work of art by sculptor John Henry, and “Dances,” a grouping of twelve life-size cars by sculptor Dustin Schuler. Further, more than half this season’s artists will be making their debut appearances, and several favorites will be returning, including Christine Desiree, Bruce White, Dennis Kowal and Leonardo Nierman.
“A lot of people are not aware that all the sculptures are for sale,” stresses Jill Kaplan. “Now that Brenda’s on board, I’m able to focus a lot of my attention to getting that message out.”
Terris’ responsibilities are primarily fundraising, grant-writing, hosting and planning events and being “an ambassador” for the Sarasota Season of Sculpture.
She gushes, “This year we’re getting tremendous support—we’ve teamed up with the Sarasota Herald Tribune and there’ll be a corporate sponsorship program for example, not to mention individuals like Ulla Searing, Elaine Keating, Michael Saunders and Stanley and Janet Kane, who have again stepped up to the plate and helped to make the Sarasota Season of Sculpture one of the country’s most important sculpture exhibitions. It’s the icon of what the arts in this community are all about—it can really promote tourism in the region.”
Jill Kaplan created the Season of Sculpture in 1998 together with cofounder Bruce White. “All along, Bruce’s and my vision was a show that happened to take place in Sarasota, but would certainly have an impact on the entire Tampa Bay area, as well as nationally and internationally. Because we now live in such a global world, the channel of information is so immediate and far-reaching that this show obviously has incredible unlimited potential. Our mission is to highlight Sarasota as a wonderful art destination and to build on its current reputation. But we also want to bring about dialogue on public art.”
Brenda Terris is immediately on hand with statistics: “40,000 cars pass by the site every day; that’s more than 2 million cars over the seven months of the exhibition. This season we expect around 150,000 people to view the exhibits on foot. So we’re all the more excited that the Roberta Leventhal Sudakoff Foundation has given us a $67,000 grant to install kiosks along the bayfront, so when you’re taking a walk to look at the sculptures, you’ll be able to get a free map by tapping in the answers to a few simple questions. The kiosk is not only able to provide important information about a specific sculpture, but even more importantly it allows credit card donations directly at the site.”
Jill Kaplan called upon an illustrious selection committee for this season’s exhibits.
“We were extremely fortunate to obtain the services of E. John Bullard, Director of the New Orleans Museum of Art; Valerie Fletcher, Chief Curator of Modern Sculpture and Painting, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Washington, D.C.; Jeffrey Grove, Wieland Family Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA; and Charles Kuykendall, Past Director and President, Gulf Coast Chapter of the A.I.A. We all corresponded via the Internet and phone and came up with these pieces.”
Terris is currently busy coordinating and organizing events around the exhibition. “The Sarasota County Arts Council has generously provided us with a grant focused on marketing during the "shoulder season", and the Gulf Coast Community Foundation has given us a grant to fund transportation from South County during the International Sculpture Symposium on March 7, 8 and 9. We’ve also got a fantastic young professionals event being hosted by a “who’s who” of YP’s in the community on F