Art Center Sarasota brings Beaux Arts Ball back to celebrate centennial

Guests of the highly anticipated costume ball honoring 100 years of Art Center Sarasota March 21 also got a French speaking lesson.

The Beaux Arts Ball welcomed over 300 guests. It's a funny title with an air of sophistication, but when pronounced correctly it sounds like this: "boh-ZAR." While the "X" in Beaux is silent, in French, it acts as a linker to the "A" in Arts — and please don't pronounce the "S" on the end of arts!

Anyone driving by the Sarasota Municipal Auditorium that night might think a 1920s movie was being filmed. People milling about dressed in dazzling garb adorned with beads, and pinstripe suits and vests worn by men in driving caps filled the promenade in front of the building.

Fascinators were everywhere, bobbing atop coifs or pinned to the side of the head to reflect the Roaring 20s and the start of Sarasota's history of art with the founding of Art Center Sarasota.  

Held next door to ACS, the Beaux Arts Ball celebrated the past while toasting to the creative future of Sarasota as artists painted, wrote poetry on demand and performed for guests.

With their elaborate dress, guests honored the history of the event, which was once Sarasota's most-anticipated of the season, and they were rewarded with costume contest winners announced at the end of the evening.

All funds raised benefit ACS and will be used for exhibitions and for its accessible arts education programming, which serves all ages.