With the Asian Art Center at Ringling Museum opening last year, the museum has now welcomed its first Curator of Asian Art in scholar and curator Dr. Rhiannon Paget. Beginning this month, Paget will be responsible for overseeing all Asian art exhibitions, as well as guiding research and development for the collection. Coming to The Ringling from the Saint Louis Art Museum, where she served as the Andrew W. Mellon Fellow for Japanese Art in the Department of Asian Art, SRQ sat with Paget to discuss her passion and goals for her new role.

SRQ: What drew you to Asian Art? Paget: In a way, I fell into it. I lived in Malaysia for four years as a child—my father was in the military—and Malaysia is a very multicultural part of Asia. I was very small at the time, but maybe that [was part of it]. Then I studied art history as an undergrad and after I graduated I went and taught English in Japan for two years as I got my master’s in Japanese art. I found the culture fascinating and my focus has been on modern Asian art.

Why the modern period? The early 20th century is a period of really fascinating change, with different forces driving modernization and responses to that. That’s very intellectually stimulating to me. When I walk through the Asian galleries at any museum, I feel gratified in my choice of specialization, because Asian art can be extremely beautiful—not everything, and not everything is designed to be beautiful—and some of the most compelling objects came out of Asia. But there’s a lot going on there in the meeting of cultures that I find fascinating.

What drew you to Ringling Museum? My specialization is the modern period and I’ve worked a lot with modern Japanese prints from the early 20th century to post-wartime. And Ringling has quite an impressive collection. That was something that really attracted me. Other areas that are really strong are Chinese ceramics, for example. It’s a really interesting collection to work with.

Where would you like to go with the collection during your tenure? Research, making the art accessible to the public, getting people interested in Asian art, reaching out to the community and making [The Ringling] more of a destination for Asian art and something that Sarasota can be proud of as such. I’m a Japan specialist, but that doesn’t mean I’m only interested in Japan. However, that will be featured fairly heavily in the program while I’m here. I’m looking to do some exhibitions to showcase the Japanese print collection. But I’m still getting to know the collection.  

When in search of comfort food that warms the soul, look no further than homemade pot pie at Patrick’s 1481. Warm and creamy, the dish’s base relies on a roux, a flour and butter sauce, cooked and stirred until thick. As the roux simmers in the pan, the meal’s namesake, chicken, joins the sauce, followed by cubed potatoes, which add a soft and starchy element to the mix. Peas and carrots then join the starch and protein, adding pops of color and subtle sweetness. Now a stew consistency, the pot pie filling pours into a bowl and a puff pastry tops the dish, veering away from the traditional pie shell and creating an elegant presentation. The flakey topping soaks up the thick stew underneath and becomes heavy with rich flavors, making each bite better than the last.  

Photo by Shelby Schwartz.

Patrick’s 1481, 1481 Main St., Sarasota, 941-955-1481.

USF Athletics and USF Sarasota-Manatee are launching “a herdfunder campaign” to support USF’s future NCAA Women’s Rowing Team.

The USFSM campus, which will host the team, is working with USF Athletics, the USF Foundation, and the Rowing Steering Committee to launch the new Division I program. The team will compete with seven other crew teams in the American Athletic Conference.

The NCAA gave approval for the USF team in 2016 but it required USFSM and USF Athletics raise $1 million by 2020 in order to launch the program.

USFSM is hoping to raise that amount sooner. Through fundraisers such as the online “herdfunder,” the campus and its partners are reaching out to USF and USFSM supporters, including alumni, to request financial assistance.

The herdfunder can be accessed at usfsm.edu/rowing. Suggested levels of contribution range from $25 to $5,000.

Gifts to the Foundation will help to acquire top-notch coaching, start-of-the-art equipment and inclusion of the team in most competitive regattas.

“What a wonderful initiative to support,” longtime USFSM supporter Dr. Anila Jain, a USF alumna, said. “The Sarasota-Manatee community is such an important area for rowing and competitive events with athletes coming here from all over the USA and worldwide.

“Through this new program, we can help so many of our outstanding female athletes stay in our hometown to compete at the collegiate level and receive an excellent education,” she said. 

USF Sarasota Manatee

Sarasota Memorial Hospital was one of only 48 hospitals nationwide to earn the top “high performing” ratings in all inpatient procedures and conditions evaluated in U.S. News' 2017-18 “Best Hospitals” report. The health system also was recognized among the nation’s highest performers (top 10 percent) in the adult specialty Gastroenterology and GI Surgery. This year’s ratings again earned SMH a spot on the “Best Hospitals” list for South Florida. In the 2017-2018 study, U.S. News evaluated the performance of more than 4,500 U.S. hospitals in specialty care, inpatient procedures and the conditions most commonly treated in patients over age 65. SMH was among just 48 hospitals that achieved the top “high performer” rating for all nine of the procedures and conditions that U.S. News measures. Now in their 28th year, the annual “Best Hospitals” rankings are designed to help patients make informed decisions when choosing a medical provider. Hospitals are rated “high performing,” “average” or “below average" for each condition or procedure. Barely 1 percent of the 4,500 hospitals evaluated got the top ratings across the board. 

Sarasota Memorial Hospital

Goodwill has received a grant of $225,000 from the US Department of Labor to fund the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program, which operates under the auspices of Goodwill’s Veterans Services Program. This grant will help to expand the available service offerings provided by Goodwill to assist our returning heroes. In 2015, in response to the growing needs of the homeless veteran community, Goodwill’s Veterans Services Program expanded to include three facets: the Veterans and Their Families Program (VFP), the Special Emergency Resources for Veterans (SERV) Fund and the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP). The focus of the latter program is solely homeless veterans and is funded directly through grants from the US Department of Labor. Goodwill received the first grant from the Department of Labor to fund the HVRP in 2015; this is the third year of funding. This is a pay for performance grant, meaning funding is dependent on successful outcomes; it allows Goodwill to draw down financing of up to $255,000. The goal of the HRVP is to help more than 125 homeless veterans annually by reducing or removing barriers to employment and helping them to reintegrate back into society. 

Goodwill Manasota