Fresh Fridays combine block party energy and the arts

This month's Fresh Friday's event, Arts on Palm, was about bringing the public together post-hurricane, said Joseph Grano, Jr., founder of Next-Mark, which organizes the series of block parties.

However, this time, the arts were the key to engaging the community. 

Amid live music by Bay Kings Band, the event featured live demonstrations by local artists, musical numbers sung by cast members of The Sarasota Players, including "Astonishing" from its production of "Little Women the Musical" opening in December, and artists offering live demonstrations of their work.

Attendees also had the chance to look inside the many art galleries that line Palm Avenue, including 530 Burns Gallery, MARA Art Studio + Gallery and Milan Art Gallery.

Meanwhile, Gulf Coast Community Foundation was present to raise funds for hurricane relief. 

"I think art is part of the DNA of Sarasota, and we need to celebrate the arts every chance we can," Grano said. "We need to fund the arts, and we need to give every chance we get to promote the arts, because this is who we are. We don't have a professional sports team; we don't have a lot of other amenities that cities have, and arts is our foundation, so it's really critical to our success as a city."

Mayor Liz Alpert said she was glad to see the activity returning to downtown. 

"I'm very, very happy to see people out enjoying themselves," she said. "I think Fresh Fridays have been a really good addition to our downtown, and I'm hoping that we'll have a wonderful season with them again this year."

"This is fun. It's always fun," said attendee Natasha Majerczyk.