The Ringling Museum continues its New Stages series this month with a transformative campus-wide performance arts tour curated by the Brooklyn-based Institute for Psychogeographic Adventure (IPA). Entitled Experiment #42.000 (RINGLING), the sprawling exhibition leads ticketholders by the ones and twos through a personalized exploration of some of the more than 50 performance art pieces arranged across the grounds and rediscovering The Ringling in the process.

Formed by four master’s students as the culmination of their studies, the IPA looks to revitalize community by reimagining the geography through performance. “Sites are really important to them,” says Ringling Museum Project Coordinator Sonja Shea. “They deconstruct the site and want people who maybe are there every day to see it in a new way.” Staging performance tours through downtown Brooklyn, colleges in the area and even the Brooklyn Museum, the work caught Shea’s eye and she knew she had to bring them to The Ringling. “I fell in love with them,” she says. “And they’re perfect for The Ringling because the Ringling Museum is a museum but we’re also a neighborhood in itself with the huge estate.”

Ticketholders arrive at the museum at the appointed time and are directed to an “intake space.” There they will be met by a surveyor from the IPA in a white lab coat, who will provide a form with questions ranging from childhood dreams to deepest fears. “Questions that start to open your mind and get you in the zone,” says Shea. Based on the responses, the IPA charts a personalized tour stopping at 12 to 13 of the performances. At the end, the separate tours, each comprising an IPA member and only one or two ticketholders, convene at the exit area to mingle and share experiences.

Featuring more than 50 local artists creating and performing at the various stops, sites span both the exterior grounds and interior buildings, including a few behind the scenes locations and areas typically off-limits to visitors. “It runs the gamut,” says Shea, with local participants ranging from the Bradentucky Bombers roller derby team to muralists like Grace Howl, who will be painting a mural with help from touring visitors. Across campus, aerialists twirl in the Banyan trees and somewhere Mabel Ringling is reading poetry and a 12-year-old aspiring baker decorates cupcakes with ticketholders. “I’m hoping that people will develop beautiful connections to the performers, to the other audience members, but also to the sites,” says Shea.

Experiment #42.000 (RINGLING) debuts March 16 at Art After Dark with more tours scheduled for March 18 and 19 throughout the day. Tickets are required and space is very limited. Tickets are $25 and can be reserved by calling 941-360-7399, with a discounted rate of $10 for students. 

Pictured: The Institute for Psychogeographic Adventure. Photo courtesy of The Ringling.

Some of the Gulf Coast’s aspiring athletes will get the chance to meet with retired NBA point guard Kenny Anderson at a screening of the biographical documentary Mr. Chibbs this year as part of a special event organized by the Sarasota Film Festival. The bridging of the film and sports world in a region working tirelessly to boost its reputation in both fields represents just one of the ways festival organizers this year hope to further engage the community. “The notion of the Sarasota Film Festival becoming a tradition entrenched in the community is already the case,” says SFF President Mark Famiglio. “We don’t want it to become a stodgy old operation. This year, it’s anything but.”

The screening of Mr. Chibbs, announced exclusively to SRQ Media Group, will be held for students of nearby IMG Academy and the Boys & Girls Club of Sarasota County. The movie, directed by Jill Campbell and produced by Coastal Transportation President Barry Greenstein, follows Anderson’s life during a mid-life crisis following a DUI arrest and the death of his mother while exploring chapters of his past including a revelation about being the subject of sexual abuse. In addition to the screening, students will attend motivation speaking engagements with Anderson.

The festival, scheduled to run this year from March 31 through April 9, will announce its tentpole films today (check SRQ Backlot at 10am) and will release its complete program of films at a special event at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens on Monday. Those involved in the programming promise the selection of movies will satisfy a Sarasota audience famously hungry for engagement with film. “I always describe it as a smart cinephile crowd,” says Joe Neumeier, who this year serves as co-creative director alongside Michael Dunaway.

Neumeier previously covered the Sarasota Film Festival for the New York Daily News before becoming a juror and later joined in programming for the festival. While he could not reveal too many details about this year’s program, he says he;s bursting at the seams to announce the many internationally celebrated filmmakers expected in town this year. “What you can get from this program is the eclecticism and the range of the cinematic experience,” he says. From films on war to movies on modern romance, documentaries on environmental issues and shorts and veteran experiences, the festival is set to explore issues social and cinematic. 

Famiglio says the festival wants to engage the growing Sarasota community as well, and that organizers take note of the changing population. As more condos and hotels rise in town, the festival is bracing for dynamic changes in the community while continuing to bolster the event’s worldwide reputation.  

Looking for authentic Mexican street tacos but don’t have the time (or patience) to track down a food truck? Look no further than La Brisa Tacos y Mariscos, a mom and pop Mexican restaurant and the token hidden gem of 301. Complimentary chips and a tray of home-made salsas seem to be a rarity these days but La Brisa sticks to its roots and serves them up as soon as you sit down. The four unique sauces—including one made with sour cream and jalapeño along with pickled red cabbage and cucumber—pair well with the signature tacos de carnitas, a favorite with locals. The fried pork tacos come with your choice of home-made corn or flour tortillas, onion, cilantro and served atop a mound of rice and refried beans. Stop chasing food trucks and head to La Brisa for an authentic, relaxing sit-down meal.  

La Brisa Tacos y Mariscos, 1156 N. Washington Blvd., Sarasota, 941-552-8868.

Before heading out to Siesta Key Beach this weekend, stop at the Village Café for a quick and light bite. A local legend of sorts, the sand-blown café plays host to a number of Greek specialties—the traditional spanakopita will have you feeling like you are lounging on the shores of Mykonos in no time. Light enough not to weigh you down while luxuriating on the sand but with a hearty filling, the puff pastry is the perfect pre-beach snack.

Ingredients: 2 sticks butter; 3 lbs cooked spinach; 1 ¼ pound feta cheese; 1 large white onion, chopped; 3 bunches scallions, chopped; 3 oz. fresh dill, chopped; 4 eggs, beaten; 2 sheets phyllo dough; 1 cup butter, melted; 1 Tbsp. butter; garlic powder to taste; salt and pepper to taste.

Filling: Mix two sticks of butter with onion, scallions, and dill. Sauté mixture in pan over medium high heat until onions are translucent. Add cooked spinach to pan and stir. Add salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. Remove pan from heat and let mixture cool for 30 minutes. Once the mixture has cooled, add feta cheese and eggs. Mix well.

Lay out sheets of phyllo dough and brush with melted butter. Cut sheets in half. Add 3-4 tablespoons of filling to one end of the strip of dough. Fold and flip the dough over the filling a few times to create an enclosed triangle. Brush the end of the strip of dough with melted butter to seal up the triangle and brush butter over the top. Add assembled spanakopita to baking tray and cook at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. The spanakopita is finished when the top is golden brown and crispy. Serve while hot. 

Photo courtesy of the Village Cafe

The Village Cafe, 5133 Ocean Blvd., Sarasota, 941-349-2822.

The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office Mounted Patrol Unit is debuting their newest horse, LEO. LEO is a 13-year-old Hanoverian Gelding who was donated to the agency in August 2016 by Dr. Katherine Standley, a neurologist from Tampa, in preparation of the retirement of two other horses from the unit. He slowly began working with the sheriff's office mounted patrol riders and became a natural fit due to his calm demeanor and easy-going disposition. LEO quietly hit the streets during the holiday season to assist at local malls and during pub crawls and special events on Siesta Key. Since joining the unit, LEO has participated in emergency response training in Orlando and recently assisted with the search for a missing man on Lido Key. 

Sarasota County Sheriff's Office

State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota (SCF) will offer OSHA-30 General Industry training. The weekly classes begin March 16 and will be held at Sterling Manufacturing, 8293 Consumer Cir., Sarasota. They are designed to provide training in the aspects of workplace safety that will allow students to receive their certification. Training includes walking and working surfaces, personal protection, hazard communication, materials handling, welding, cutting and brazing, electrical safety, ergonomics, hazardous materials, blood borne pathogens and safety and health programs. Classes will be held Thursdays from 3-8 p.m. from March 16-April 6. The final class will be held 3-8 p.m. Tuesday April 11. OSHA-30 certification requires that you attend every class and be present for the entire class. Classes are $199 a person. For more information, contact Lee Kotwicki at kotwickL@SCF.edu or call 941-363-7218. 

State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota