Sunshine Memories

Sarasota Has Always Been Driven by the Arts

Sarasota's talent and appreciation for the arts is in its DNA.

December 28, 2016 Published in the January 2017 issue of Sarasota Magazine

Students sketching in the Ringling Museum Galleries, circa 1960.

Photography by State Archives of Florida

A painting class at the Ringling Museum, 1947.

Photography by State Archives of Florida/Steinmetz

By the early 1960s, the famous Beaux Arts Ball had gotten so risque that Ringling students were forbidden to attend.

Photography by Sarasota County Historical Resources

An appreciative audience for an Asolo production in 1961.

Photography by State Archives of Florida/Steinmetz

The Heritage Players of Florida presented an acclaimed version of For Colored Girls... in the 1980s.

Photography by Courtesy Ed James

The quintessential Sarasota artist Syd Solomon in his studio in 1951.

Photography by State Archives of Florida/Steinmetz

The Liars Club brought prominent writers together for a weekly lunch. That's singer/actor Burl Ives in the center and author MacKinlay Kantor at far right.

Photography by Sarasota County Historical Resources

Sarasota's talent and appreciation for the arts is in its DNA.

The Ringling, Syd Solomon, Asolo Repertory Theatre

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