The proposed transfer of The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art from Florida State University (FSU)'s stewardship to New College of Florida's was left out of Florida's 2025 legislative budget—meaning FSU will continue its 25-year management of the museum for the foreseeable future.

It's a decision due in large part to Citizens to Protect the Ringling, the grassroots organization formed earlier this year by former museum board chairs, trustees and community advocates. Founded in February of this year, the group mobilized citizens to oppose Gov. Ron DeSantis' plan to to transfer the museum's management to New College. Citizens to Protect the Ringling eventually ballooned to more than 2,500 members, according its president, Nancy Parrish, a former political strategy and public relations consultant as well as a former board chair of The John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art Foundation.

"When nine former board chairs and other key supporters wrote our open letter to the community back in February exposing this disaster in the making, most had little hope we could actually succeed in preventing the governor and New College president Richard Corcoran from taking over The Ringling Museum complex," Parrish said in a press release. "But we knew we had to try. The community response was absolutely heroic."

The Ringling property, which contains 66 acres of land, includes the Ca’ d’Zan, the Museum of Art, the Circus Museum, the Historic Asolo Theater, bayfront gardens and other buildings and infrastructure. The museum’s longstanding partnership with FSU has also been a collaboration with the Asolo Repertory Theater and the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training in Sarasota. Parrish told us in February that the Sarasota community and local FSU alumni had raised roughly $200 million for FSU’s endowment with the understanding that the partnership would continue for another 25-plus years. 

In an op-ed for The Observer on Feb. 19, New College president Richard Corcoran argued that that the transfer of stewardship would be “an alignment that strengthens Sarasota’s role as Florida’s premier hub for arts, education and scholarship, while ensuring that this historic and cherished museum remains deeply connected to and preserved by the community that has shaped it for nearly a century.”  In the piece, Corcoran described such the potential transfer of management as “a collective win” for Sarasota, the Ringling, New College and the state of Florida.

But for now, it's Citizens to Protect the Ringling that's celebrating. 

"This victory belongs to the citizens who refused to let a world-class cultural institution be put at risk through a backroom deal," Parrish said. "They proved that when a community speaks with one voice, even the most powerful political forces have to listen. It was grassroots advocacy at its finest."