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Arts + Culture

Javi Suarez stands in front of his painting of his dad, Javier Suarez, as part of his Sarasota Icons exhibit at Art Ovation.
    By
  • Spencer Fordin
  • December 14, 2022
Local artist paints local heroes larger than life

Javi Suárez didn't want to just sketch out Sarasota's historic figures. He wanted to make them iconic.

  • Arts + Culture
Mara Torres González stands outside her gallery, Mara Art Studio + Gallery, in the Rosemary District in October 2022.
    By
  • Spencer Fordin
  • December 12, 2022
Artist keeps living in the eye of the storm

Mara Torres González wanted to celebrate her art documenting a natural disaster. And then she lived through another one.

  • Arts + Culture
Asolo Rep Teaching Artist Imani Williams casts spells with summer camp students during Enchantment week.
    By
  • Spencer Fordin
  • December 10, 2022
Asolo Rep courts parents and kids for a day at the theater

The new PlayDate program introduces workshops tied to performances for children and their parents.

  • Arts + Culture
Jim Prosser and Rebecca Hopkins work on the development of Laughing Matters in 2009.
    By
  • Spencer Fordin
  • December 7, 2022
FST pianist thrives in crafting the music of cabarets

He’s the indispensable man behind the music. For three decades, Jim Prosser has been Florida Studio Theatre's Piano Man.

  • Arts + Culture
More than 2 million lights line the trees at Selby Gardens for Lights in Bloom, and it takes nearly 2,000 hours to hang them all.
    By
  • Spencer Fordin
  • December 6, 2022
Local couple illuminates Selby Gardens for 'Lights in Bloom'

Carolyn and Phil Babas are the couple who design the annual holiday spectacle at Selby Gardens. And they're not sure they ever want to retire.

  • Arts + Culture
The cast of "The Hip Hop Nutcracker" comes to the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall on Dec. 10.
    By
  • Spencer Fordin
  • December 2, 2022
Sarasota can't get enough of 'The Nutcracker'

It's a holiday tradition that seems to have no saturation point. "The Nutcracker" graces several stages in town this season.

  • Arts + Culture
Circus Arts Conservatory's talented Sailor Circus will bring you incredible skills from precocious young artists.
    By
  • Spencer Fordin
  • November 30, 2022
Sailor Circus turns precocious kids into polished performers

The circus might seem like an irregular extracurricular activity, but at Sarasota's Circus Arts Conservatory, it's molding a generation of talented and flexible humans.

  • Arts + Culture
Monessa Salley lifts Jessica Obiedzinski as part of a duet in the upcoming Sarasota Contemporary Dance collaboration with enSRQ.
    By
  • Spencer Fordin
  • November 28, 2022
SCD, enSRQ find eclectic music to dance to

One group makes its mission playing interesting music. And the other finds fulfillment in contemporary dance. So it's only fitting that they work together.

  • Arts + Culture
Lakewood Ranch Wind Ensemble founder and conductor Joe Miller will lead the group into its Thanksgiving Concert on Nov. 27 at Peace Presbyterian in Lakewood Ranch. (File photo)
    By
  • Jay Heater
  • November 21, 2022
Lakewood Ranch Wind Ensemble begins its concert season

Peace Presbyterian will host the ensemble's Thanksgiving Concert on Nov. 27.

  • Arts + Culture
Embracing Our Differences brings students together through creating art with messages of acceptance and love. (Courtesy photo)
    By
  • Spencer Fordin
  • November 16, 2022
Embracing Our Differences returns for another year of artful empathy

The scope of the project has expanded over the years, but the 20th edition of Embracing Our Differences is all about kindness.

  • Arts + Culture
James Turrel's Skyspace exhibit entitled Joseph's Coat at the John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art. (Courtesy photo by Giovanni Lunardi)
    By
  • Spencer Fordin
  • November 16, 2022
A 'Decade of Collecting' brings Ringling acquisitions to the public eye

For many years, the John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art was out of the acquisition business. But the past 10 years have brought a change in direction.

  • Arts + Culture
Joseph Caulkins and Arcadian Broad are feted in a prior edition of Key Chorale and the Sarasota Ballet Studio Company's partnership .(Courtesy photo)
    By
  • Spencer Fordin
  • November 15, 2022
Key Chorale sings to irregular rhythms for 'Mystics and Kings'

Key Chorale and the Sarasota Ballet Studio Company chose some inventive selections for their imaginative pairing of talents this year.

  • Arts + Culture
Second Nature Band rehearses for the Rock the Preserve event. (Courtesy photo)
    By
  • Dariela Delgado
  • November 11, 2022
Rock the Preserve to jam out at the Bay Preserve on Sunday

This music fundraiser honors Mary Terese Finnegan, a supporter of the Conservation Foundation who died in December 2021.

  • Sarasota
  • Neighbors
The watercolor paintings of Stacey Lipton will be featured at the Creative Arts Association of Lakewood Ranch's 20th annual Fall Show and Sale on Nov. 19 at Lakewood Ranch Town Hall. (Photo by Jay Heater)
    By
  • Jay Heater
  • November 10, 2022
Lakewood Ranch artist hopes to draw crowds to Fall Show and Sale

Painter Stacey Lipton will be featured during the Creative Arts Association of Lakewood Ranch event Nov. 19.

  • East County
  • Opinion
The Nassoons practice for a concert at All Angels by the Sea Episcopal Church on Saturday. (Photo by Lesley Dwyer)
    By
  • Lesley Dwyer
  • November 9, 2022
The Nassoons: A cappella for the ages

At 90 years old, Jeremiah Ford is the longest traveling and singing of the Princeton group, which is performing Saturday at a Longboat Key church.

  • Longboat Key
  • Neighbors
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Amanda Parrish is serving as the EDC's interim CEO, and Elizabeth Cordes is the director of business recruitment and expansion.
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