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Arts + Culture

Jazz Club of Sarasota names first development director
    By
  • Observer Staff
  • September 1, 2025
Jazz Club of Sarasota names first development director

Veteran arts administrator Danielle La Senna steps into the new position.

  • Arts + Culture
"Chrysler," a 1930 lithograph by Roger de Valerio, is on display at Sarasota Art Museum's exhibition, "Art Deco: The Golden Age of Illustration," which runs from Aug. 31 to March 29, 2026.
    By
  • Monica Roman Gagnier
  • August 27, 2025
Sarasota Art Museum stages an Art Deco extravaganza

The museum pays tribute to a dynamic era of design with posters from the Crouse Collection.

  • Arts + Culture
"Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical" plays the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall Nov. 14-16.
    By
  • Monica Roman Gagnier
  • August 26, 2025
Van Wezel is already getting ready for Christmas

Executive Director Mary Bensel is doubling down on the holidays after last year's hurricane disruption.

  • Arts + Culture
Jeffrey Kahane spent 20 seasons as music director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra before being appointed music director of the Sarasota Music Festival in August 2016.
    By
  • Monica Roman Gagnier
  • August 25, 2025
Sarasota Music Festival music director steps down

The 2026 festival will be scaled back to two weeks as the Sarasota Orchestra looks for Jeffrey Kahane's successor.

  • Arts + Culture
Artist Series Concerts' executive director goes back to the future
    By
  • Monica Roman Gagnier
  • August 24, 2025
Artist Series Concerts' executive director goes back to the future

Keren Shani-Lifrak returns to the arts after a stint in real estate.

  • Arts + Culture
Rigoberto Torres holds the bust of Bélen Lopez. There is still more work to be done, including opening the eyes on the sculpture and painting the surface.
    By
  • Ian Swaby
  • August 21, 2025
See how a renowned sculptor creates plaster casts of community members

Sculptor Rigoberto Torres is bringing his community lifecasting to The John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art for its upcoming exhibition "Nuestro Vaivén (Our Sway)."

  • Sarasota
  • Neighbors
Season is heating up. Here's what you can look forward to on the arts scene.
    By
  • Su Byron
  • August 21, 2025
Season is heating up. Here's what you can look forward to on the arts scene.

From bold exhibitions to boundary-pushing performances, the months ahead promise something for every kind of art-lover.

  • Arts + Culture
Leon S. Pitts II and Ariel Blue star in Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe's "Big Sexy: The Fats Waller Revue," which runs from Aug. 22 through Sept. 7.
    By
  • Monica Roman Gagnier
  • August 20, 2025
Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe pays tribute to Fats Waller with 'Big Sexy'

The musical revue showcases the talents of Leon S. Pitts II and Ariel Blue.

  • Arts + Culture
Arthur Bosage is the new artistic administrator of the Sarasota Opera.
    By
  • Observer Staff
  • August 15, 2025
Sarasota Opera names new artistic administrator

Arthur Bosarge, who recently served as chorus master and director of the Apprentice Artists Program, has been named artistic administrator of the company.

  • Arts + Culture
Carole J. Bufford stars in the summer cabaret "Too Darn Hot." Her band includes Angela Steiner on piano and Isaac Mingus on bass.
    By
  • Monica Roman Gagnier
  • August 13, 2025
The heat is on at Florida Studio Theatre's summer cabaret 'Too Darn Hot'

Carole J. Bufford's sizzling ode to summer contains some familiar favorites and some unexpected discoveries.

  • Arts + Culture
Cheryl Medow's 2014 photo "White Ibis with Fish" overlooks Sarasota Bay in "The High Life" exhibition at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens.
    By
  • Monica Roman Gagnier
  • August 6, 2025
An eye-catching exhibition of bird photography lands at Selby Gardens

"The High Life" captures our feathered friends in nature, museums and studios.

  • Arts + Culture
Sarasota Ballet School names new principal
    By
  • Monica Roman Gagnier
  • August 5, 2025
Sarasota Ballet School names new principal

Alberto Blanco succeeds Jennifer Welch Cudnik, who has moved to Kansas City Ballet School.

  • Arts + Culture
Loretta Pettway Bennett, Sarasota Art Museum Associate Curator Lacie Barbour and Louisiana Bendolph
    By
  • Monica Roman Gagnier
  • August 4, 2025
Gee's Bend quilters learned to 'make something out of nothing'

Loretta Pettway Bennett and Louisiana Bendolph share their stories at Sarasota Art Museum.

  • Arts + Culture
The cast of "Cabaret" gets ready for their close-up at the Kit Kat Club, the setting of the musical set in Weimar-era Berlin.
    By
  • Monica Roman Gagnier
  • July 30, 2025
The Sarasota Players stages a thrilling, chilling 'Cabaret'

Sarasota Players brings Kander and Ebb's sexy, ominous musical to a round stage.

  • Arts + Culture
Louis Tucci, Luke McMaster and Miles Aubrey star in Florida Studio Theatre's cabaret show, "How Sweet It Is," which runs at the Goldstein Cabaret through Aug. 3.
    By
  • Monica Roman Gagnier
  • July 28, 2025
Florida Studio Theatre gives blue-eyed soul a spot in the limelight

Luke McMaster pays tribute to Lamont Dozier and other Motown songwriters in "How Sweet It Is."

  • Arts + Culture
« 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 »
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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.
  • April 10, 2026
Manatee County Commission changes course on Bradenton EDC
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Drugs, cash and a rifle bullet were among the items found by Sarasota Police in a search of a 31st Way home, resulting in the arrest of Demarius R. Jones, of Sarasota.
  • April 10, 2026
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