Sarasota’s legacy from its days as an arts colony—that edgy, creative era of Abstract Expressionists in the 1950s and ’60s that brought artists like Syd Solomon, writers like John D. MacDonald and musicians from around the country here—can sometimes feel miles away.

But we found a few spaces close by where the messy heat of expression can still be found—spaces that prioritize creative play and connection. Gathering places like
these matter not only because they give artists a reason to stay and build their
practice, they also encourage people to reconnect with themselves, each other and
the community they inhabit. Here are three places where Sarasota’s artistic future feels vibrant and experimental.

Drink, Draw and More at Fogartyville

At Drink + Draw, the stage at Fogartyville in downtown Sarasota—often home to touring bands or indie film screenings—becomes a portal to the weird and wonderful. A necromancer coaxes a demon through a flickering television set. A lonely hearted clown pantomimes shedding her sorrow as she goes through the phases of love. Persephone reclines in springtime splendor while a love mixtape from Hades hums softly around her.

Alongside fun prompts and prize-driven contests, the nights showcase costumed models inhabiting theater-like sets, inviting artists to respond in charcoal, watercolor, Procreate (a digital art app), or whatever medium they fancy. Sarafina Murphy-Gibson, model coordinator at Ringling College of Art and Design (RCAD) and co-organizer of Drink + Draw, calls it “a really nice escape for people to leave their troubles at the door. Within this moment, we’re all together in this fantasy vision.”

Launched in 2025 and sponsored by RCAD Galleries, the gathering draws everyone from high school students to retirees, with first-timers mingling with seasoned professionals. The event’s co-organizer, RCAD professor of illustration and visual development Sean Murray, hopes it offers his students a reason to stay rooted. “Maybe we can create something where, if they stick around and want to be part of this community, there are spaces for them,” he says.

For Kathleen Murray, communications director at WSLR+Fogartyville, the event fulfills the venue’s core purpose. “The beginning of our mission statement is that we exist as a center for creative expression,” she says. “Drink + Draw is an activation of the space that transforms it in a different way than the rest of our programming.”

Drink + Draw takes a hiatus during the dog days of summer but returns in the fall; other art events occur all year long.

525 Kumquat Court, Sarasota, wslr.org/fogartyville, (941) 894-64690 

Join the Art Club at Oscura

In the public’s imagination, an artist often wears a paint-splattered smock and a rakishly tilted beret. That image might be upended after stepping
foot into Art Club, hosted at Oscura in Bradenton. At its inaugural meeting last year, dozens of creatives—from painters and photographers to actors and animators—swapped brushes for tennis rackets, donning sweater vests and pleated skirts for a country club–themed kickoff that winked at the group’s “Members Only” status.

Since then, creatives from Sarasota and Manatee counties have flocked to the live music and performing arts venue for a blend of panel discussions, hands-on making and unstructured connection. Each event has a theme, and participants are invited to dress to match it, with past prompts ranging from “Love as Resistance” to “Midlife Crisis.”

The crowd skews young (although there’s still plenty of intergenerational mix), reflecting a cohort of home-grown creators choosing to double down on the place they were born and raised rather than decamp to cities like St. Petersburg or Asheville, where the arts communities are fully formed, funded and flourishing.

In Manatee County, where there is no formal arts alliance or dedicated municipal arts staff, Olivia D’Amico, co-organizer of Art Club and co-executive director of Friendly City Foundation, says the club has been a place to collectively examine questions like, “What do you feel your responsibility is to your community?” For many, including herself, the answer is simple: “Take care of the ground in front of us.”

This means stewarding spaces like Art Club, where meaningful connection and sustainable creative culture begin. “Spaces like these, they’ll outlive us,” she says. “The poet Wendell Berry writes about planting sequoias, these giant beasts, which mature over hundreds of years. No one who has ever planted one has been able to sit under it. It’s about laying the foundation for the future you want to see. That’s community care.”

Art Club takes place on the last Wednesday of every month and is sponsored by Friendly City Foundation. Membership is $15 annually.

816 Manatee Ave. E., Bradenton, oscura.live, (941) 201-4950

Make Art and Friends at Art Center Sarasota

On any given week at Art Center Sarasota, toddlers watercolor beside retirees, teens test out new mediums and adults in their “second act” discover creative lives they never had time for before. “People aren’t coming here just to paint. They come to belong,” says director of programming Laurie Miller. That ethos runs through everything: Free Family Saturdays that lower financial barriers, adult education classes that spark years-long friendships and partnerships that stretch beyond a canvas—from constructing microscope slide-style keychains with the nonprofit Minorities in Shark Sciences to instrument-making with local sustainability band The Garbage Men.

The center was originally established as the Sarasota Arts Association in 1926, meeting monthly and sponsoring exhibits. Later, it incorporated into a nonprofit with the mission “to promote the educational and cultural advantages of Sarasota in the field of contemporary art.” The group’s philosophy expanded, stating that “while the gallery is important to display the works of local artists, one-man shows and traveling exhibitions, there is a social aspect of the association that bears heavy fruit. It is a meeting place for all who are interested in the many phases of art; it is a place to make friends and see what is going on in Sarasota.”

Today, the center is a clear vision of this, offering seemingly innumerable opportunities to connect and create. On select Fridays, Creative Happy Hour is a “social club meets studio,” welcoming participants to make art and even enjoy a karaoke session or DJ set here and there. Sketch club convenes on select Saturday nights, and makers are invited to share their work and critique others at the Artists on Art event on Mondays. Scholarship-supported, themed summer camps nurture creative confidence in kids and teach empathy and exploration. And, as always, exhibitions and opening receptions remain free and open to the public.

“It’s meaningful for people of all ages to view themselves as a creator and creative thinker,” Miller says. “Fostering a curious mind and being open to the world around you builds connection, improves mental health, and creates a more vibrant world.  There’s a beautiful domino effect that promotes well-being on all fronts.”

707 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, artsarasota.org, (941) 365-2032