Sarasota, FL – Dec. 2, 2009 – Discover America through the eyes of cinematic icon Woody Allen at The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art Monday Night Movies series In Search of Woody Allen’s America at the Historic Asolo Theater. In contrast to the Museum’s concurrent exhibition, In Search of Rockwell’s America (Feb. 13-April 25, 2010), which explores American in the mid decades of the 20th century, the film series explores the facets of American life during the 1970s, 80s and 90s. The film series begins Feb. 22 and will continue through March 29, 2010 with film screenings at 7 p.m.
In Search of Woody Allen’s America includes:
Romantic adventures of neurotic New York comedian Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) and his equally neurotic girlfriend Annie Hall (Diane Keaton). 1977 / 83 minutes
Between two Thanksgivings, Hannah’s husband falls in love with her sister Lee, while her hypochondriac ex-husband rekindles his relationship with her sister Holly. 1986 / 103 minutes
Set at the outset of World War II, this film chronicles the hilarious yet moving adventures of a family’s triumph over their mundane existence. 1987 / 85 minutes
A successful ophthalmologist (Martin Landau) with a seemingly storybook life has the Mafia murder his crazy mistress (Angelica Houston). 1989 / 105 minutes
Disorganized theater people are exposed in a hilarious behind the- scenes look at the realistic yet whimsical world of Broadway. 1994 / 99 minutes
Contemporary comedy of a sportscaster in New York who gets involved with shady types after winning money at the racetrack. 1995 / 95 minutes
Tickets are $7 for each film, or $36 for the series of six films, and are available at the Historic Asolo Theater Box Office by calling 941.360.7399 or online at www.ringling.org.
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Sarasota, FL – Dec. 2, 2009 – Celebrate six decades of academy-award winning film scores in and The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art’s latest Monday Night Movies series, We Could Make Beautiful Music Together, at the Historic Asolo Theater. The affair will begin on Jan. 11 and will continue through February 15 with film screenings at 7 p.m.
We Could Make Beautiful Music Together includes:
An intense, exhilarating true story of two British runners competing in the 1924 Paris Olympics. 1981 / 124 minutes
Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), an aging silent film queen,enlists the help of a struggling writer (William Holden) to make her comeback in this bizarre tale. 1950 / 110 minutes
A perfect red-colored violin inspires passion through three centuries, several owners, and many countries. The current owner of this fabled instrument, violinist Elizabeth Pitcairn performs onstage at the Historic Asolo January 24 & 26 1998 / 131 minutes
Teenager Hermie (Gary Grimes) falls for an older woman, twenty-something Dorothy (Jennifer O’Neill) whose husband has gone to war. 1971 / 102 minutes
A plain spinster (Olivia de Haviland) is courted by a glib fortune hunter (Montgomery Clift) under the observing eye of her father. 1949 / 115 minutes
The delightfully bawdy portrayal of life in 18th century England, capturing all the lusty humor of Henry Fielding’s novel. 1963 /122 minutes
Tickets are $7 for each film, or $36 for the series of six films, and are available at the Historic Asolo Theater Box Office by calling 941.360.7399 or online at www.ringling.org.
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Sarasota, FL- Dec. 2, 2009- The lore of New York’s famed Broadway musicals once again come to life at the Historic Asolo Theater stage as The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Arts presents June LeBell’s The All American Musical. The six-part series begins January 12, 2010 and continues through March 23, 2010 on the stage of the Historic Asolo Theater.
“June has been a favorite each season at the Historic Asolo Theater,” says Dwight Currie, the Ringling’s Curator of Theater Programming. “She brings the same pizzazz, charm, intensity and quality of programming that she delivers at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to Sarasota, delivering an intimate, inviting and incredibly enjoyable program each time she takes the stage.”
The six programs, all hosted by LeBell, feature musical conversations with special guest artists and film and video clips that make each program a fun-filled hour that shouldn’t be missed. Each program focuses on the music of Broadway. There’s No Business Like Show Business: A Tour of the Great White Way on Jan. 12 kicks off the series followed by Isn’t It Romantic: Broadway’s Great Love Songs on January 26. Life Is A Cabaret: From Broadway to the Top of the Charts is explored on Feb. 9 and Classical Broadway: What Makes a Classic a Classic on February 23. On March 9 You and the Words and the Music: A Look at the Lyrics and Lyricists is sure to be engaging and on March 23 discover the legends of the stage in The United Greats of America: The Broadway Stars.
All programs are presented at 2 p.m. on Tuesday afternoons in the Historic Asolo Theater. Admission is $15 for each program ($12 for Ringling Museum Members) or $75 for the series of all six programs ($60 for Ringling Museum Members). Tickets are available at the Historic Asolo Theater Box Office at the Ringling Museum of Art, 941.360.7399 or online: www.ringling.org.
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Sarasota, FL—Nov. 09, 2009— Embrace the joy and merriment of the holiday season at The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. In November, the Ca’ d’Zan Mansion is adorned with festive period décor setting the stage for holiday celebrations. In December, guests are invited to the annual Holiday Splendor, a Toy for Tots benefit on Dec. 3. The Ringling Museum is consistently one of the top contributors to the area’s Toys for Tots program. New this year is a Holiday Swing-Big Band Courtyard Concert on Thursday, Dec. 10.
]]>Sarasota, FL—Nov. 09, 2009— Embrace the joy and merriment of the holiday season at The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. In November, the Ca’ d’Zan Mansion is adorned with festive period décor setting the stage for holiday celebrations. In December, guests are invited to the annual Holiday Splendor, a Toy for Tots benefit on Dec. 3. The Ringling Museum is consistently one of the top contributors to the area’s Toys for Tots program. New this year is a Holiday Swing-Big Band Courtyard Concert on Thursday, Dec. 10.
Holiday Splendor
Thursday, Dec. 3, 6-9 p.m.
Guests will stroll the Estate during evening hours enjoying holiday music and performances by more than 400 students from local schools. Performances will take place throughout the evening at the Ca’d’Zan Mansion, the Museum of Art Courtyard and outside of the Tibbals Learning Center. Food and beverages will be available for purchase.
Admission is one unwrapped toy per guest or $10 without a toy. All toys benefit the U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots of Sarasota and Manatee Counties. To get more information, call 941.359.5700 x5705.
Florida Voices
Historic Asolo Theater
Dec. 3, 7:30 p.m.
Guests will experience the holidays through the eyes of a child as The Florida Voices present holiday classics with a twist in the Historic Asolo Theater. Tickets are $15 and $8 for students.
Holiday Swing-Big Band Courtyard Concert
Thursday, Dec. 10, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Guests will get into the spirit while enjoying the sounds of the season as The Bay Band, directed by Bob Edwards, performs holiday favorites in the Courtyard. Food and beverages are available for purchase only, no coolers permitted. Tickets are $10 for adults and children 6 years and under are free. Will call opens at 5:30 p.m., doors open at 6 p.m. and music begins at 6:30 p.m. Bring a chair and blanket, as no reserved seating is available. Advance reservations are recommended by calling 941.358.3180.
For more information visit www.ringling.org.
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Sarasota, FL—October 29, 2009 – Many discoveries surround the more than 300 objects John Ringling purchased in 1927 from Alva Vanderbilt Belmont’s Gothic Room in Marble House at Newport, Rhode Island. These discoveries will be explored in The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art’s newest exhibition Gothic Art in the Gilded Age: Medieval and Renaissance Treasures in the Gavet-Vanderbilt-Ringling Collection, on view December 19, 2009 through April 4, 2010.
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Sarasota, FL—October 29, 2009 – Many discoveries surround the more than 300 objects John Ringling purchased in 1927 from Alva Vanderbilt Belmont’s Gothic Room in Marble House at Newport, Rhode Island. These discoveries will be explored in The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art’s newest exhibition Gothic Art in the Gilded Age: Medieval and Renaissance Treasures in the Gavet-Vanderbilt-Ringling Collection, on view December 19, 2009 through April 4, 2010.
The exhibition considers the development of the collecting and display of medieval and early Renaissance art in the United States during the Gilded Age- a term coined to describe the ostentatious wealth accumulated by America between 1870 and World War I-using the collection at the core of the Ringling Museum’s medieval and early Renaissance holdings. Comprising nearly 340 paintings, sculptures, and works of decorative art including metalwork, furniture, and ceramics made across Europe chiefly between 1100 and 1550, this group of objects belonged to three successive owners: the urbane collector-dealer Émile Gavet (1830?–1904), socialite Alva Vanderbilt Belmont (1853–1933), and circus impresario John Ringling (1866–1936).
Each collector displayed the works of art differently. Gavet and Vanderbilt created interiors which romantically conjured an imaginary past: Gavet’s gallery evoked French Renaissance collector’s cabinets, while Alva Vanderbilt constructed a medieval French setting for the works of art. Ringling used some pieces to enrich the interior of his mansion, and others to expand his museum’s collection of European paintings and sculpture.
Using vintage photography, sections of the Gavet apartment, the Gothic Room at Newport, and Ringling’s original residential and museum installations are recreated in the exhibition galleries. Vintage photographs of the collectors, their homes, and their displays, archival material, and nineteenth-century catalogues of Gavet’s collections will also be included to provide further context. Innovative hand-held didactics will assist visitors in looking closely at individual objects, while the historic recreations invite visitors to step, quite literally, into three distinct worlds of the past, and experience this collection as its former Gilded Age owners did.
“This collection at the heart of this exhibition is fascinating, not the least because its more than 300 pieces remained essentially together for more than 100 years, despite belonging to three different owners,” said Dr. Virginia Brilliant, Associate Curator of European Art at the Ringling Museum. “The exhibition gave me the opportunity to focus intensely on this group of objects whose collective heritage was in a sense lost when John Ringling scattered its constituent pieces throughout his mansion and museum. As I worked on the show, I was even lucky enough to rediscover in our storage vaults pieces of the collection we thought were lost. To take all of these pieces and re-unite them in one place provides an inviting and rich context to tell the story the collection and the three collectors who owned it.”
This exhibition is undertaken in partnership with The Preservation Society of Newport County, and following their presentation at the Ringling, the objects will travel to Marble House, their first American home, where they will be reinstalled in the Gothic Room from April 2010-October 2010. A hardcover, 211-page catalogue will accompany the exhibition.
The Museum will host a symposium American Gothic, on February 26-27, 2010, focusing on the theme of the collecting and display of medieval and Renaissance art in Europe and America in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This symposium will be one of the first scholarly gatherings to address this topic, and speakers include scholars from the Musée du Louvre, the Victoria & Albert Museum, The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Hearst Castle, The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the Preservation Society of Newport County. Tickets for the symposium are $25 for students and educators with a valid ID, $75 for general public and $50 for Ringling Museum members. To register for this program, call Advance Ticket Sales at 941.358.3180. For complete program details visit www.ringling.org.
]]>SARASOTA, Fla. – Oct. 29, 2009 – The season’s first chill couldn’t keep partygoers from heating up the Museum of Art’s Courtyard a la Cuban-style at the hottest fundraising party of the year. The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art’s 24th Annual UnGala Gala was another unbelievable evening Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009. Untraditional changes made for another undeniable festive affair that kicked-off Sarasota’s social season while supporting the Ringling Museum of Art.
]]>SARASOTA, Fla. – Oct. 29, 2009 – The season’s first chill couldn’t keep partygoers from heating up the Museum of Art’s Courtyard a la Cuban-style at the hottest fundraising party of the year. The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art’s 24th Annual UnGala Gala was another unbelievable evening Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009. Untraditional changes made for another undeniable festive affair that kicked-off Sarasota’s social season while supporting the Ringling Museum of Art.
Unlike tradition, the Una Noche En La Habana theme was unveiled prior to the evening. A nod to Cuba’s tropical abundance, yellow-gold invitations, created by Lindsay Howell, adorned with floral motifs and fashioned into postcards set the color palette and tone for the evening’s festive affair.
Guests, clad in festive Unattire—women in colorful, feminine dresses and fresh flowers in their hair and men in linen suits, signature Guayavera shirts and straw hats—came ready to dance the night away under a moonlit sky in the Museum of Art’s Courtyard.
Guests were greeted by Fuzion Dance Artists and Higher Ground Performing Arts Studio in the front circle as they sipped champagne before entering the Courtyard. After having their photos snapped in front of the red carpet aptly placed in the Museum of Art lobby, guests arrived in the Courtyard to the beat of conga drums and guitars by Claudio Baltierra Senior and Junior.
Brightly colored linens in orange, pink, purple, turquoise and lime green, courtesy of Panache Party Rentals, draped tables adorned with candles throughout the Courtyard and more than 8,400 white lights twinkled from the Museum’s beautifully manicured gardens. Palm trees and plants, donated by Plant Place and Plant Parents, completed the tropical oasis.
Guests sipped cocktails provided by Mattison’s Culinary Group and an ice bar sponsored by Ketel One, while grazing on Michael’s On East’s unbelievable stations of Cuban-inspired fare of fried plantains, rice, black beans and pork. A large paellera of paella became a center-piece in its own right and a tribute to Cuba’s culinary tastes. And, back by popular demand, a dessert buffet overflowing with miniature portions of sugary favorites and hand-held pretzel smores delighted the crowd.
The theme continued with the entertainment as Cuban dancers inspired guests to dance the night way to the beat of City Lights, a ten-piece dance band from Miami. Party-goers lounged on low sofas flush with cozy orange pillows, undoubtly a nod to the island’s laid-back spirit. And of course a night in Havana could not go unfinished without hand-rolled cigars by Serafin Cigars.
The 2009 UnGala Gala was undeniably another incredible success. Undoubtedly, this was due to the outstanding efforts of co-chairs Nicole Kaney and Lindsay Howell, their executive committee, and Ringling Museum support. Additionally, Biter Enterprises and Publix Super Markets Charities were top-level sponsors. The funds raised at the UnGala Gala allow the Museum to continue to bring educational programming and high caliber exhibitions to the community throughout the year, supporting the mission of the Museum.
]]>Sarasota, Fla.--Oct. 19, 2009--On the heels of a successful inaugural Ringling International Arts Festival, Florida State University re-affirmed its commitment on Monday, October 12, 2009 to The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, the Asolo Repertory Theatre and the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training, all based in Sarasota, Fla.
]]>Sarasota, Fla.--Oct. 19, 2009--On the heels of a successful inaugural Ringling International Arts Festival, Florida State University re-affirmed its commitment on Monday, October 12, 2009 to The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, the Asolo Repertory Theatre and the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training, all based in Sarasota, Fla.
Sally McRorie, Dean of Visual Arts, Theatre & Dance at Florida State University, along with Marshall Rousseau, Interim Director at the Ringling Museum, and Michael Edwards and Linda DiGabriele of the Asolo Repertory Theatre, shared news of upcoming partnerships and programs with FSU.
"The Ringling International Arts Festival was a testament to the economic and social benefits of arts and culture to the Sarasota/Manatee communities and to the State of Florida, and FSU is proud to support such endeavors," said McRorie. "With that said, I re-confirm FSU's commitment to the Ringling Museum of Art, the Asolo Repertory Theatre and the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training. There has been much consternation over the statement that these organizations will need to be self-sufficient in three years. This statement has been misconstrued to mean that FSU does not support these organizations. I want to clarify that FSU will keep the funding programs for these organizations. FSU is working together with these organizations and the FSU Foundation to ensure their success. FSU is committed to raising money and generating new revenue sources around specific needs that are critical to all our partner institutions. Any successful partnership includes
goals that will help all parties find ways to thrive in a challenging economic environment and we are working together to put these plans into place."
Rousseau shared the following upcoming plans for the Ringling Museum:
The FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training is developing relationships with area colleges and arts schools, resulting in two very strong programs for next year: an initiative with Manatee School for the Arts, in which third year Conservatory students will be teaching high school seniors classes in acting for which the high school students will receive college credit. The program in turn increases the training for Conservatory students, adding teaching experience to the professional credits they already receive. In addition, the Conservatory is collaborating with the International Michael Chekhov Institute which will present a teacher training institute in May of this year.
Asolo Repertory Theatre is involved in several collaborative projects, including a collective marketing campaign with the Sarasota Opera, Sarasota Orchestra, and the Ringling Museum to promote Sarasota as an "arts hub." Asolo Rep’s participation during the Ringling International Arts Festival showcased this concept when Asolo Rep provided rehearsal space, performance space, technical support, and front of house/concessions to support many festival activities. Asolo Rep is in collaboration with the Sarasota Ballet to launch a major new production of Susan Stroman’s musical Contact. Additionally, Asolo Rep Education and Outreach activities related to the October 16-30 production of Life in the Middle have increased collaborations with The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, schools and youth organizations throughout the community. Projects such as Lend Us Your Voice (an in-school residency program with four area high schools), Fall Workshops and the Spring Ensemble take programs into schools and provide a showcase for new works from students during two Asolo Rep play festivals later in the season.
More information on these plans and others will be shared as they become available. For more questions on the Ringling Museum, please contact PR Manager Lynn Hobeck Bates at 941.359.5700 Ext. 2803 or lynn.hobeck@ringling.org. For more information on the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training or Asolo Repertory Theatre, please contact Julia Guzman at 941.351.9010 Ext. 4800 or via email at Julia_guzman@asolo.org .
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]]>Sarasota, FL, October 14, 2009 – The inaugural Ringling International Arts Festival came to a close Sunday, October 11, 2009. The five-day arts Festival, a partnership between New York’s Baryshnikov Arts Center and the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida kicked-off the Florida Gulf Coast 2009-10 cultural season with 36 performances in dance, theater and music, successfully rallying the community around the area’s arts and cultural treasures and leaving them eager for the next Festival in 2011.
]]>Sarasota, FL, October 14, 2009 – The inaugural Ringling International Arts Festival came to a close Sunday, October 11, 2009. The five-day arts Festival, a partnership between New York’s Baryshnikov Arts Center and the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida kicked-off the Florida Gulf Coast 2009-10 cultural season with 36 performances in dance, theater and music, successfully rallying the community around the area’s arts and cultural treasures and leaving them eager for the next Festival in 2011.
"The Festival is a great example of the incredible arts and culture energy in Sarasota," said Dwight Currie, Associate Director of Programming at the Ringling Museum. "The herculean efforts by the staff, the awe and delight of the festival-goers, the artists' excitement and enthusiasm for being at the Festival all make this event even more remarkable."
Eighty-four artists from the United States, England, Scotland, France, Spain, Israel, Canada and Australia engaged audiences with 8 core performances which included two U.S. premieres and three world premieres, at the Historic Asolo Theater, the Mertz Theatre and Cook Theatre. The festival garnered strong attendance and critical acclaim. Twenty-five of the 36 performances were sold out during the five-day event. Ticket sales exceeded 92% of the 11,975 available seats. Festival patrons from 25 states joined Sarasota and Manatee county residents to experience the diversity of performances.
The Festival opened on October 7 with a celebratory reception in the Museum of Art Courtyard where Governor Charlie Crist reaffirmed his commitment to cultural arts in the state of Florida. A remarkable fireworks display awed the guests, including Mikhail Baryshnikov, who then headed to the Mertz Theatre for a sold-out concert by the Florida State University Symphony Orchestra, conducted by celebrated Atlanta Symphony music director Robert Spano and featuring New
York-based pianist Pedja Muzijevic, in a program of Reich and Beethoven.
Highlights of the Festival core performances included:
Post-modern cabaret diva Meow Meow descended on the Festival with Beyond Glamour:
The Absinthe Tour. Accompanied by pianist Lance Horne and cellist Yair Evnine, Meow
Meow embarked on a wild journey of obsessive love songs, karaoke splendor, and gorgeous cabaret ditties.
Acclaimed experimental theater company Elevator Repair Service (ERS) presented a workshop premiere of Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises First Part was commissioned by the Festival – a continuation of their compelling experiments in literary adaptation.
Festival-goers flocked to get tickets to see one of Spain's leading flamenco virtuosos, María Pagés. Pagés presented her latest work Flamenco y Poesía. Performed by her company of nine dancers and musicians, Flamenco y Poesía translated the cadences of poetry into dance, revealing a shared language between the words of José Saramago and Federico Garcia de Lorca and the rhythms
of the human body.
Legendary director Peter Brook presented the U.S. premiere of his new production Love is my sin. Bringing Shakespeare’s sonnets to life, Love is my sin revealed Shakespeare’s intimate diaries: a key to his passions and jealousies, and his private questions about time, aging, and death. Love is my sin featured Michael Pennington and Natasha Parry.
Following highly praised performances of her debut play at the 2008 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Ella Hickson brought this award-winning work, Eight, to the Festival. Eight delivered a rich portrait of modern Britain through a collection of incisive monologues from characters ranging from a single working mother to a young Iraq war veteran.
Aszure Barton & Artists and OtherShore shared a program of contemporary dance. Drawing from classical ballet and contemporary dance vocabularies, Aszure Barton presented a world premiere of Busk. OtherShore presented The Snow Falls in the Winter, a work created by Annie-B Parson and Paul Lazar of Big Dance Theater.
Israeli-born choreographer Deganit Shemy brought her new work Arena, which played with space and calculated time, creating an emotionally-charged world that blurred the lines between the real and the imagined. The evening-length version of Arena was commissioned by the Festival.
Two programs of chamber concerts showcased masterworks from Debussy, Mendelssohn and Dvořák alongside the world premiere of a work by American composer Mason Bates. The concerts featured an ensemble of internationally renowned musicians, including pianist
Anne-Marie McDermott, violinist Jennifer Frautschi, cellist Edward Arron, and horn player
Eric Ruske.
The beginning of a "fringe" festival took place on the beautiful grounds and gardens of the Ringling Estate in the Festival Café. Eleven performances by emerging talent from Florida State University and Sarasota, along with a series of discussions with guest artists welcomed nearly 200 people to each of the hour-long programs under an 200-seat, air-conditioned performance/dining pavilion erected especially for festival’s inaugural year.
The Asian Family FunFest held on Saturday, October 10, welcomed children 17 and under for free to a journey through Asia held in the Museum of Art Courtyard. Centered around the exhibition Paths to Paradise: The World of Buddhism (August 22 – November 15, 2009) the FunFest included entertainment from the Wu Yan Dong Chinese Acrobats, Taiko drummers and Thai dancers. Families explored Asian countries with passport booklets and received stamps from Asian countries represented in tents throughout the Courtyard. Art activities and games were plentiful for children including kite making, origami, storytelling and dress-up.
For media requests, please contact Lynn Hobeck Bates at 941.359.5700 Ext. 2803.
The Ringling International Arts Festival gratefully acknowledges the following businesses and individuals who have made generous donations to the Festival's continued success: Sarasota County Convention and Visitors Bureau; SNN6; Ovation TV; GravityFree; Bon Eau Foundation; Juno & Jove, Inc. and Probo Productions; Marriott Courtyard/Springhill Suites/Residence Inn; Sarasota Magazine; SRQ Media Group; the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau; the Florida Lottery; Hyatt Place; WUSF; Sign Zoo; Frank E. Duckwall Foundation, Inc; Willis A. Smith Construction Inc.; Michael Saunders & Company; Bradenton Herald; Sarasota Herald Tribune; the Observer Group; Brighthouse Network; Comcast; Scene Magazine; WEDU; and McKibbon Group.
The Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) opened its doors in New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen in November 2005. BAC serves as a creative laboratory, meeting place, and performance space for a vibrant community of artists from around the world. BAC is also dedicated to building audiences for the arts by presenting contemporary, innovative work at low or no cost to ticket buyers. The organization recently purchased a 299-seat theater in the performing arts complex, which will undergo renovation in 2009 to be transformed into the state of the art Jerome Robbins Theater. Scheduled to open in 2010, the theater will serve as an organic extension of the existing center, featuring multidisciplinary work, emerging talent, and international artists, and including artist-centered activity that fosters creative exploration. For more information about the Baryshnikov Arts Center, please visit: www.bacnyc.org.
The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Florida State University, is one of the largest museum/university campuses in the nation. It preserves the legacy of John and Mable Ringling by educating and enabling a large and diverse audience to experience and take delight in a world-renowned collection of fine art; Cà d’Zan, the Ringling historic mansion; the Circus Museums; the Historic Asolo Theater; as well as the historic architecture, courtyard, gardens and grounds overlooking Sarasota Bay on Florida’s gulf coast. For more information about the Ringling Museum of Art, please visit: www.ringling.org.
Artist biographies and digital images are available on request.
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Saturday, October 17, 2009
Sarasota, FL—July 13, 2009— The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art will present yet another highly anticipated UnGala Gala with exciting untraditional changes for the most undeniable festive affair to kick-off Sarasota’s social season, in its 24th year of Un, Saturday, October 17, 2009 from 7 p.m. – midnight. This year, the Museum understands the current economic conditions and is offering special reduced ticket prices to guests that do not want to miss the social event of the year.
Voted Best Black Tie Event by Sarasota Magazine, Best Fundraising Event by the Sarasota Herald Tribune’s Readers’ Choice Awards and listed in Biz Bash FL’s Top 100 Florida events, the UnGala Gala is undeniably the most unconventional fundraising event of the year. The evening will undoubtedly offer 1,000 guests an unparalleled opportunity to unwind in a celebratory atmosphere with an evening of unmatched entertainment and dancing under the stars that is unlike any other black-tie, or un-tie, affair. While the theme of UnGala is traditionally unveiled upon arrival, this year it will be revealed prior to the event to encourage guests to dress in special UnAttire for “Una Noche en la Habana!.”
According to this year’s UnGala co-chairs, Nicole Kaney and Lindsay Howell, "We are really excited this year about the many changes that will bring the “Un” back to the UnGala Gala and provide an unbelievable event at a more affordable price to guests.”
Last year, guests were greeted by champagne, a turntable DJ, and a live art creation by Graffiti Artist within an elegantly sleek atmosphere. This year, guests will arrive themed- UnAttire prepared to participate in an undoubtedly spectacular Cuban affair.
Partygoers can expect unbelievably exceptional food and open bar from Michael’s On East, with various food stations and Cuban-inspired bars spread throughout the Museum’s courtyard.
To kick-start the momentum for the UnGala and raise money for the Museum, this year’s UnParty will be held on September 11, 2009. Stay tuned for more details on location. This year, the media will be invited to attend a private party prior to UnParty to be among the first to get a taste of this year’s unbelievably spirited theme.
Proceeds from UnGala Gala benefit The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art and help fund the Museum’s ongoing educational programming and special exhibitions. Supporters of the Museum can undoubtedly help the committee to attain target goals through corporate sponsorships at various levels, individual ticket purchases and raffle ticket purchases.
New this year, individual tickets are $175 each with open seating and online ticketing is available at www.ringling.org until midnight on Sunday, October 11, 2009. Several levels of sponsorship are still available, offering the best seats in the house. Invitations will be mailed mid-September. To be added to the invite list or receive more information about sponsorship packages, contact Jennifer Carroll in the Museum Events Department at jennifer.carroll@ringling.org or 941.359.5700 Ext. 5702.
2009 UnGala Gala Co-Chairs: Lindsay Howell and Nicole Kaney;
UnGala Gala Committee: Kate Atkin, Peter Acker, Katie Annis, Knickole Barger Curtis, Vinnie Batiato, Maria Beck, Jesse Biter, Beth Bobb, Beth Cannata, Jennifer Carroll, Adam DeClerico, Melissa DeMore, Jennifer Edwards, Christina Fraser, Liebe Gamble, Fran LaCivita, Heather McLain, Rae Mulligan, Rochelle Nigri, Allison Olinger, Anna Pohl, Mary Pat Radford, Yen Reed, Chris Romine, Kristiana Serbin, Ramses Serrano, Aaron Tracy, and Kyla Weiner.
]]>“The ticket prices are very affordable,” said Dwight Currie, Associate Director of Programming at the Ringling Museum. “We want to make the Festival accessible to everyone even in a tough economy. Festival packages and single ticket sales are off to a promising start and I encourage everyone to get them now before your favorite program sells out.”
The Festival will take place October 7-11, 2009 at the Florida State University cultural campus in Sarasota, Fla. The five-day Festival will feature artists from Australia, Canada, England, France, Israel, Scotland, Spain, and the United States, presented in the Historic Asolo Theater, Mertz Theatre, and Cook Theatre. Outdoor performances and events, as well as lectures, workshops, and artist discussions will augment the core programming.
Single ticket prices range between $10-$30 for each of the one-hour performances in theater, music and dance. Festival-goers can also choose to purchase a Festival package that includes prime seating for a choice of four, six or eight Festival performances as well as general admission to the Museum’s four venues. Single tickets do not include admission to the estate. All performances, with the exception of the opening night concert, are offered at multiple times over the course of the five days. A detailed schedule of performances, events, single ticket prices and festival packages is available at www.ringlingartsfestival.org.
The Opening Night Celebration will feature Robert Spano, leading the Florida State University Symphony, and pianist Pedja Muzijevic. Tickets to the Opening Night Celebration are $100 per ticket and also include a reception at the Museum of Art Courtyard before the concert. Tickets can be purchased at www.ringlingartsfestival.org or by calling the Historic Asolo Theater Box Office.
Sarasota web agency GravityFree created the Festival’s online presence. As part of their social media strategy, GravityFree utilized Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube and a blog to help visitors get acquainted and interact with the festival’s wildly diverse selection of artists.
“GravityFree’s online vision and passion for the project was incredible,” said Currie. “They created a site that perfectly conveys the power and creativity of the Festival.”
In addition to the creating the online presence, GravityFree is also a major sponsor of the Festival.
The Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) opened its doors in New York City¹s Hell¹s Kitchen in November 2005. BAC serves as a creative laboratory, meeting place, and performance space for a vibrant community of artists from around the world. BAC is also dedicated to building audiences for the arts by presenting contemporary, innovative work at low or no cost to ticket buyers. The organization recently purchased a 299-seat theater in the performing arts complex, which will undergo renovation in 2009 to be transformed into the state of the art Jerome Robbins Theater. Scheduled to open in 2010, the theater will serve as an organic extension of the existing center, featuring multi-disciplinary work, emerging talent, and international artists, and including artist-centered activity that fosters creative exploration. For more information about the Baryshnikov Arts Center, please visit: www.bacnyc.org.
]]>ADDY® Awards honor excellence in advertising and cultivate the highest creative standards in the industry, and are the nation’s largest advertising competition. The Ringling Museum and Serbin Printing’s ADDY® submission represents the collaborative efforts of the Ringling Museum’s curatorial department and Serbin Printing’s creative and production staff. A description of the entry is as follows:
The Circus In Miniature - The Howard Bros. Circus Model Book entry was submitted by Serbin Printing. The book is a72-page full-color book showcasing the 3,800 square foot Howard Bros. Circus Model, the world’s largest miniature circus, located at the Circus Museum’s Tibbals Learning Center at the Ringling Museum. The collaborative team working on the book included Robin K. Clark, Judy Webster and Mike Hamel of Serbin Printing, Inc., and Deborah W. Walk and Jennifer Lemmer Posey of the Ringling Museum.
“It is gratifying to reap the rewards of two talented teams working together to achieve success,” said Executive Director Dr. John Wetenhall. “The Ringling Museum’s ADDY® Award submission represents not only the high-quality work being done in Sarasota but also the positive benefits of strong community relationships.”
This is the third time Serbin Printing and the Ringling Museum have partnered to win ADDY® Awards. In 2004, the team won a local Gold Award for the Cà d’Zan: The Ringling Winter Residence publication and in 2007 the team won local Gold ADDY Award for the Cà d’Zan: The Restoration of the Ringling Mansion publication and a local Silver ADDY award for Encore! A New Life for the Historic Asolo Theater publication.
Serbin Printing is a local, full-service printing company serving businesses and organizations for the past 38 years. Serbin provides cost-effective and high quality traditional offset book printing or print-on-demand digital book printing for clients.
]]>Sarasota, FL—April 8, 2009 –Four centuries of rarely seen drawings of the nude form from the Crocker Art Museum will be on view at The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, May 2-July 26, 2009 in the Language of the Nude: Four Centuries of Drawing the Human Body exhibition. Nearly 60 drawings trace the depiction of the human body from beginning with its role in the artist’s process and further exploring the ideals - and desires - it expressed in European art.
“This exhibition is a unique opportunity for Sarasota to explore the process of drawing the live model,” said Dr. John Wetenhall Executive Director of the Ringling Museum. “Drawing the nude form is still considered to be the highest artistic aspiration. The drawings in this exhibition provide exemplary examples of how these drawings have evolved over time.”
The exhibition will feature 56 drawings divided into four sections and offers viewers an opportunity to examine the artists working process from four centuries including the early Italian Renaissance ; the dialogue between northern and southern Netherlands in the 17th century; the formation and dominance of the French Académie in the 18th century and the synthesis of native and ideal forms in 19th-century German academies.
Visitors will view how artists portray the human body and its place in Christian art, Classical mythology and literary works. The language of the line, pose and gesture that the nude embodies in stories, ranging from the Crucifixion to the Judgment of Paris to stories from national epics will be explored. Artists ranging from Peter Paul Rubens to Albrecht Dürer will be featured.
The Language of the Nude: Four Centuries of Drawing the Human Body was organized by the Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA.
An educational Spotlight program on the exhibition will be held on May 15, 9:30-11:30 a.m. Led by an art historian and artist, this exhibition tour and discussion of line, pose and media will offer insights into why the depiction of the nude body is considered the highest expression of artistic ability. The Spotlight will be presented by Alexandra Libby, Assistant Curator of European Art at the Ringling Museum and Aaron Board, Preparator at the Ringling Museum and Instructor of Anatomy at the Ringling College of Art and Design. Participants in the program should arrive in the Visitor Pavilion at least 15 minutes prior to the program. Advance tickets are required by calling Advance Ticket Sales at 941.358.3180. Tickets are $12 for members and $19 for non-members.
]]>“We are thrilled to partner with Circus Sarasota for the third year in a row,” said Dwight Currie, Associate Director of Programming at the Ringling Museum. “This electrifying performance will join the ranks of other circus performances we’ve brought to the Historic Asolo Theater stage to date. I am confident Sarasota will fall in love with Jamie Adkins.”
From humble beginnings as a street performer, Adkins climbed the circus ladder to become one of the most popular performers in the circus arena today. After a stint in a family circus, Adkins joined Montréal's Cirque Éloize and quickly garnered fame for his humorous, bold and exacting performances. He also stars in Cirque du Soleil's WINTUK at Madison Square Gardens in New York City. In his current incarnation, Circus INcognitus, Adkins shows off his full range of talents in an artistic blend of juggling, acrobatics and clowning.
The performance schedule for Circus INcognitus is as follows:
All tickets for daytime performances are $10 for children age 12 and under and $12 for adults. Tickets for the evening performances are $13 for adults and children.
Group rates are available and can be arranged in advance. All tickets can be purchased by calling the Historic Asolo Theater Box Office at 941.360.7399 or visit www.ringling.org.
Treviso Restaurant at The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art will be open for dinner Wednesday through Saturday from 5 p.m. - 8 p.m. and for lunch Monday-Sunday from 11 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. for patrons wishing to enjoy a meal before or after the show.
]]>Integrating visual arts, performing arts, language, food, games and stories, Culture Camps will serve as a gateway for children to explore the cultures represented in the Ringling Collection. Children will take exclusive, interactive tours of the galleries with museum professionals to learn the history of the objects and to gain inspiration for their own art-making.
“The response to the Ringling’s first-ever Culture Camps last summer was wonderful,” said Dr. John Wetenhall Executive Director of the Ringling Museum. “The children had a truly memorable and enriching experience and learned a great deal about foreign cultures. My wife and I know this first-hand, as we sent our niece to camp and she hasn’t stopped talking about it since.”
Four weeklong camps are available this year. Each week is designed around a specific culture representated in the Ringling’s collection.
Camp children will unlock the secrets of the Ringling Museum’s 66-acre Estate by discovering the natural wonders of the grounds and gardens from the trees to the plants.
Children will study the colorful and dramatic costumes and customs of 18th century Venetian Carnivale and celebrate in style on the Cà d’Zan terrace.
Using the Picturing Eden exhibition at the Museum of Art’s Searing Wing as inspiration, children will explore the world of photography and the notion of paradise. They will then create their own versions of Eden.
Children will conquer the heroic challenge as they help heroes, battle monsters and meet the Greek gods on a journey through Ancient Greece at the Ringling Museum.
Camps are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.-Noon each day. A hearty snack is provided daily and is included in the registration price. Children in grades 1-5 are invited to enroll. Space is limited to 20 children per camp.
Registration is now open for Culture Camps at $175 for Members and $145 for Non-members.
The additional half day of sports camp in partnership with Hawkes Sports All Sports Camp is from Noon-4:30 p.m. on neighboring New College campus. The half day sports camp will be available only on the same days as the Culture Camps. Registration for both camps is $250 and $220 for Ringling Members.
To register, please call 941.358.3180. For additional information please visit www.ringling.org.
]]>Sarasota, FL—March 31, 2009 – The Biblical women Judith and Salome are two of the most popular subjects in 16th and 17th century art. Visitors will learn the stories of these women and how they have been portrayed by artists in the Dangerous Women exhibition, May 23-Oct. 11, 2009 at The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. This exhibition will teach visitors their stories and explore how individual artists portrayed their themes and subjects.
“Coming on the shoulders of the popular You Be the Judge exhibition, Dangerous Women will similarly encourage visitors to engage in participatory viewing,” said Dr. John Wetenhall Executive Director of the Ringling Museum. “Visitors will learn the role of iconography in art and use this to deepen their ability to understand and enjoy the Museum’s collection.”
The exhibition will feature eight paintings of Judith and Salome from the Ringling’s permanent collection, spanning the period 1520-1700 AD.
Artists have depicted the two separate, yet similar, stories of Judith and Salome throughout history using a variety of iconography and imagery. Both Judith and Salome are temptresses who seduced and then beheaded men of prominence garnering them both reputations as “femme fatales.” Because both Judith and Salome’s stories are similar it is easy to confuse the two in paintings.
Using wall labels for guidance, visitors will learn the iconography commonly found in paintings of Judith and Salome. Such iconographic details include key objects and the placement of these objects as well as the presence and placement of key figures. These symbols serve as clues to identify which woman is portrayed in the painting.
“By familiarizing the viewer with different images of the same story,” said Alexandra Libby, Associate Curator of European Art at the Ringling Museum, “we hope to enable a richer and more informed viewing experience.”
At the end of the exhibition visitors will have the opportunity to view a painting and discern which story—the story of Judith or Salome--is depicted. Visitors will then be encouraged to cast their vote on which woman they believe is depicted in the painting using an interactive touch-screen computer installed in the galleries.
An educational Spotlight program on the exhibition will be held on June 12, 9:30-11:30 a.m. Using the exhibition, participants will consider the evolving definition of the “dangerous woman.” Saint or sinner, heroine or hellion, the depiction of women in the history of art is a function of changing social attitudes and moral conventions. The Spotlight will be presented by Alexandra Libby, Assistant Curator of European Art at the Ringling Museum. Participants in the program should arrive in the Visitor Pavilion at least 15 minutes prior to the program. Advance tickets are required by calling Advance Ticket Sales at 941.358.3180. Tickets are $12 for members and $19 for non-members.
]]>Sarasota, FL—March 10, 2009 – Visitors will envision Eden and paradise, through 155 contemporary photographs in the exhibition Picturing Eden, on view May 9- August 2, 2009 at The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art’s Searing Wing. Picturing Eden, organized by George Eastman House in Rochester, NY, features the work of 37 artists from six countries —including well-known contemporary artists Mike and Doug Starn, Adam Fuss, Ruud van Empel, Joel-Peter Witkin, and Sally Mann, as well as emerging artists such as Gavin Hipkins, Alec Soth, and Lori Nix.
“As the State Art Museum of Florida, the Ringling Museum continues its commitment to showcasing diverse art through special exhibitions,” said Dr. John Wetenhall, Executive Director of the Ringling Museum. “Picturing Eden is thought-provoking and brings an age-old image into contemporary society through the use of vivid imagery and subject matter.”
As a mythic theme, Eden resonates across time and cultures, and is charged with both political and environmental concerns. The contemporary artists featured in Picturing Eden examine the many facets of paradise, from a place of contemplation and restoration to a site of loneliness and despair.
The exhibition is organized in four sections: Paradise Lost, Paradise Reconstructed, Despairing of Paradise, and Paradise Anew. The photographs explore the development and changing styles of the garden and concepts of paradise throughout the history of art. By looking at the notion of paradise and the garden through the photographic lens, Picturing Eden highlights the loss of innocence and the ongoing significance of culture and human life on environment. Eden or paradise, a place of great or perfect happiness and satisfaction, is an ideal still sought today.
“The 37 artists featured in the exhibition interpret Paradise to challenge accepted ideas of the utopian model garden,” said Dr. Virginia Brilliant, Assistant Curator of European Art at the Ringling Museum. “Visitors will no doubt be empowered to contemplate, and possibly even redefine, their own ideals and notions about paradise.”
An accompanying catalog, published by Steidl, will feature photographs from the exhibition; an introduction by Dr. Anthony Bannon, director of George Eastman House, originator of the exhibition; an essay by guest curator Deborah Klochko, Director of the Museum of Photographic Arts (MoPA) in California; and a transcribed conversation about paradise and the visual image.
Picturing Eden was organized by George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and film who gratefully acknowledges organizational support from the Comer Foundation; Mondriaan Stichting Foundation, Amsterdam; and Creative New Zealand.
General Admission includes the Ringling Museum of Art, special exhibitions, Cà d’Zan Mansion, Circus Museum, Mable’s historic Rose Garden and Florida’s only rose test gardens, all on 66 acres of lushly landscaped grounds. Adults are $20; senior citizens (65 and over) are $17; children ages 6-17 are $7. Free Admission for children 5 and under accompanied by an adult, museum members. Advance tickets are available by calling 941.358.3180. Visit for more information.
]]>Tickets for are available for $15 per ticket in advance, or $20 at the door, if still available. Aptly themed cocktails and food will be available for cash purchase. Guests may bring their own chair and/or blanket. Outside food, beverages and coolers will not be permitted into the event. Pets will also not be allowed. For advance tickets sales please call 941.358.3180.
Doors and will call lines will open at 6 p.m. and the concert will begin at 7 p.m.
Free parking for the concerts will be available adjacent to the museum at the FSU Asolo Performing Arts Center. For more information, please call 941.359.5700 Ext. 5705. The event will occur rain or shine.
For more information visit www.ringling.org.
]]>Sarasota, FL----January 5, 2009 – The vibrant and picturesque culture of Renaissance will be featured in the Triumph of Marriage: Painted Cassoni of the Renaissance exhibition at The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art’s Ulla R. and Arthur F. Searing Wing February 14 -April 19, 2009. The exhibition consists of panel paintings which once belonged on cassoni, Italian for “large chests,” made to celebrate marriages in Renaissance Tuscany. The Ringling Museum co-organized the exhibition with the prestigious Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. An illustrated co-catalogue authored by the Gardner Museum and the Ringling Museum will accompany the exhibition. The exhibition was on display at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Oct. 16, 2008-Jan. 18, 2009.
“This exhibition is a great example of how the Ringling’s collection of Renaissance art can be enhanced through collaborations with other prestigious institutions,” said Dr. John Wetenhall, Executive Director of The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. “The exhibition gives recognition to this important aspect of Italian Renaissance culture and highlights exceptional Renaissance paintings.”
In Renaissance Italy, the joining of wealthy families through marriage was celebrated with elaborate processions that accompanied a bride to the home of her new husband. Richly painted marriage chests, called cassoni in Italian, were made in pairs and paraded through the streets to celebrate weddings. Such marriage processions displayed a family’s power and also echoed the triumphant victories of ancient Rome.
The cassoni paintings were intended to delight as well as to inform. They featured allegories and historical subjects, themes appropriate to marriage. The paintings dramatized conflicts between love and duty and often concluded with visions of triumphant harmony. The colorful designs of cassoni showcased the ingenuity of the artists who made them and the sophistication of families that commissioned them.
The exhibition brings together cassoni paintings from major museums, including the Gardner Museum, the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, and the National Gallery of Art, Washington. A centerpiece of the exhibition is Worcester Art Museum’s three panels representing the Coronation of Emperor Frederick III. The exhibition also presents an opportunity to see two panels from a pair of chests that were separated for hundreds of years.
Drawing from Ringling’s permanent collection of decorative arts, paintings and sculpture, three galleries will be devoted to the domestic interior in Florentine Renaissance and will give visitors a sense of the original context of cassoni.
The exhibition is curated by Dr. Cristelle Baskins, Associate Professor and Chair of Art History, Tufts University; Dr. Alan Chong, Curator of the Collections, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and Dr. Virginia Brilliant, Assistant Curator of European Art, John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art.
This exhibition has been organized by The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in collaboration with The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, and is made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
]]> The Wisconsin will be opened at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a select audience on
January 22, 2009. It will open to the public on January 23, 2009. The railroad car adds to the legacy of the Museum’s founders, John and Mable Ringling, giving visitors a greater understanding of the Ringlings’ tastes and lifestyle. In preparation for the opening of the Wisconsin, a portion of the Circus Museums will be closed to the public January 10 - 22, 2009.
During this time, Circus curatorial staff will update the galleries within the original Circus Museum. The opening of the Wisconsin and the reinterpreted galleries will enhance not only the visitors’ experience, but also their understanding of the vital role the Ringlings’ played in circus and Sarasota history.
“The tremendous work we have accomplished as a team is a sincere testament to our commitment to preserving history and making it accessible to diverse audiences,” said Executive Director Dr. John Wetenhall. “The team should be applauded for their vision, diligence and hard work in locating, transporting and restoring the Wisconsin railroad car to its original grandeur. We are proud to give our visitors another opportunity to look into the glorious life of John and Mable Ringling.”
After exterior restoration and in Alabama, the Wisconsin arrived in its final location on the Ringling Estate at the Circus Museum in August 2008. Since that time, a collaborative team of professionals and volunteers including conservators, curators, construction experts and senior leaders met the challenge of restoring its interior.
Built in 1905, the Wisconsin was John & Mable Ringling’s private railroad car, that carried them around the country and for travel between New York and Sarasota, Florida.
At 79 feet long, the car contains sleeping compartments, a kitchen, bathrooms and crew quarters. The interiors of the railroad car include inlaid mahogany, ornate moldings and stained glass.
The railroad played a large role in shaping the United States as well as the history of Florida. At that time, the private rail car was equivalent to today’s private jet –a means of transportation; and a symbol of the wealth and stature of its owner. For John Ringling, the railroad car was a means to conduct not only the business of the circus, but personal business
and pleasure as well. The Wisconsin was used as an office, hotel and a place to entertain friends, family, business associates and politicians in style.
The Wisconsin railroad car was selected for restoration because of its historical relevance, condition, restoration value and availability. “It is a perfect compliment to the Cà d’Zan Mansion,” said Deborah Walk, Tibbals Curator of the Circus at the Ringling Museum. “The railroad car is a precursor to the Cà d’Zan. The same attention to detail, ornate decoration and opulent accoutrements is present in the Wisconsin. This railroad car will give visitors a greater understanding of the Ringlings’ lifestyle.”
Most of the exterior restoration work was completed by the Edwards Rail Company in Montgomery, Alabama before the railroad car arrived at the Circus Museum. The majority of the interior restoration has been worked on while at its home in the Circus Museum.
The Ringling Museum’s conservation team is restoring the interior to its original grandeur using photographs and plans to reconstruct decorative moldings, paint colors, clean and replace original stained glass from the Kokomo Glass Company and fabricate components of the car.
“The opportunity to work with such talented professionals in restoring the Wisconsin has been rewarding and a wonderful lesson in patience, care and dedication,” Michele Scalera, Chief Conservator, said. “Our work is not complete and we will work within our means to bring the car back respectfully to its original form when Mr. John Ringling owned it.”
Due to the delicate nature of the restoration process and the limited space of the railroad car, visitors will be able to view the Wisconsin and the restored rooms from a designated viewing platform on the exterior perimeter of the car.
The collaborative team included:
Ringling Museum Senior Leaders:
Leading the collaborative team restoring the Wisconsin.
The Wisconsin railroad car was funded through a four-year, $400,000 federal grant awarded in November 2002 by the Florida Department of Transportation and generous donations from individuals. For more information on the Wisconsin and the Circus Museum visit www.ringling.org.
]]>Integrating visual arts, performing arts, language, food, games and stories, Culture Camps will serve as a gateway for children to explore the cultures represented in the Ringling Collection. Children will take exclusive, interactive tours of the galleries with museum professionals to learn the history of the objects and to gain inspiration for their own art-making.
“The response to the Ringling’s first-ever Culture Camps last summer was wonderful,” said Dr. John Wetenhall Executive Director of the Ringling Museum. “The children had a truly memorable and enriching experience and learned a great deal about foreign cultures. My wife and I know this first-hand, as we sent our niece to camp and she hasn’t stopped talking about it since.”
Four weeklong camps are available this year. Each week is designed around a specific culture representated in the Ringling’s collection.
Camp children will unlock the secrets of the Ringling Museum’s 66-acre Estate by discovering the natural wonders of the grounds and gardens from the trees to the plants.
Children will study the colorful and dramatic costumes and customs of 18th century Venetian Carnivale and celebrate in style on the Cà d’Zan terrace.
Using the Picturing Eden exhibition at the Museum of Art’s Searing Wing as inspiration, children will explore the world of photography and the notion of paradise. They will then create their own versions of Eden.
Children will conquer the heroic challenge as they help heroes, battle monsters and meet the Greek gods on a journey through Ancient Greece at the Ringling Museum.
Camps are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.-Noon each day. A hearty snack is provided daily and is included in the registration price. Children in grades 1-5 are invited to enroll. Space is limited to 20 children per camp.
Registration is now open for Culture Camps at $175 for Members and $145 for Non-members.
The additional half day of sports camp in partnership with Hawkes Sports All Sports Camp is from Noon-4:30 p.m. on neighboring New College campus. The half day sports camp will be available only on the same days as the Culture Camps. Registration for both camps is $250 and $220 for Ringling Members.
To register, please call 941.358.3180. For additional information please visit www.ringling.org.
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