Ringling Executive Director Steven High to Retire After 15 Years
Image: Courtesy Photo
Steven High, executive director of The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, has announced he will retire after 15 years leading the Sarasota museum complex
Since 2011, High has served as executive director of the The Ringling, which serves as Florida’s State Art Museum under the stewardship of Florida State University. He will remain in the position until his successor is identified.
“Together, we strengthened The Ringling’s financial foundation, expanded its reach and preserved its remarkable collections and historic campus for future generations,” High said in a press release announcing his retirement. “I am deeply grateful to Florida State University, our supporters and the Sarasota community for their partnership and trust.”
High began his career at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the MIT Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Following graduate work at Williams College, he held leadership and academic roles at institutions including the Portland (Maine) School of Art and Virginia Commonwealth University, and led the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno and Telfair Museums in Savannah, Georgia.
During High’s tenure at The Ringling, the museum more than doubled its collections, enhanced exhibition programming and educational offerings, and undertook major additions and restorations across the museum’s campus, including the opening of the Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Center for Asian Art, the Kotler-Coville Glass Pavilion and the Turrell Skyspace Joseph’s Coat, as well as several major restoration and preservation initiatives. High also expanded educational outreach, accessibility initiatives and multidisciplinary programming, including the Art of Performance series.
Under High, The Ringling also increased its annual operating budget from $12 million to $28 million and grew its endowment from $27 million to $67 million. The museum completed a $100 million comprehensive campaign in 2019.
The Ringling is one of the largest university-based museum complexes in the United States, encompassing 66 bayfront acres and nearly 500,000 square feet of facilities in Sarasota. The campus includes the Museum of Art, Tibbals Learning Center, Circus Museum, Ca’ d’Zan mansion, Historic Asolo Theater, and extensive research, conservation and education spaces. It welcomes more than 400,000 visitors annually.
Florida transferred responsibility for the museum's stewardship and operations to the FSU in 2000, and it has remained under the university's management since then, despite a proposed transfer to New College in 2024 that drew vehement community opposition.
National search firm Isaacson, Miller will assist in identifying High’
