After a day of downpour, the rain let up just in time yesterday evening for the arts community to gather outside the soon-to-open Sabal Palm Bank Plaza at the intersection of Ringling Boulevard, Links Avenue and Golf Street for the unveiling of the latest piece of public art to grace Sarasota’s cultural landscape. Entitled Ba’al & Yizhaq, and the work of the late internationally known Israeli artist Boaz Vaadia, the unveiling marked a “historic moment” for the city, says Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County Executive Director Jim Shirley, and not just because of what the sculpture is, but how it got here.

Coming in at roughly 4,000 pounds, a crane was definitely involved, and probably lots of strong people with hard hats as well, but that’s not quite what has Shirley excited. Instead, it’s the introduction of a novel public-private partnership that made this piece of public art possible—despite the $200,000+ price tag. “This has really been a community effort,” Shirley says, and a model for the future. “This is a symbol of the next phase of Sarasota,” he says.

Sum it up in a word: collaboration. Add another: flexibility. The project began with developer Dr. Mark Kauffman of Red Property Management, who petitioned the city to allow him to bundle his three existing public art obligations (based on three developments in the downtown area) into one, and go in with the city on a single, substantial piece of public art. The city agreed to the notion, and set about amending the city code to allow it. Kauffman would supply around $70,000—a bit more than his obligations originally entailed—but that left roughly $140,000 up to the City of Sarasota.

The city could do half that, but suggested Kauffman fundraise for the rest. “It took me about five seconds to answer,” he says, “and the answer was no.”

Enter Sam Alfstad and Alfstad& Contemporary, which offered to become the third partner in bringing Ba’al & Yizhaq to Sarasota. The move required another look at the city code, to ratify this new breed of partnership—developer plus city plus private business—as a player in the world of public art, and the city made its final changes in August 2017, allowing the project to move forward to fruition.

But what began with the artist’s blessing would finish without him, as Vaadia passed in February of 2017. “Fortunately, a piece of his genius and his passion is right here,” says Alfstad.

Looking to the future, Alfstad hopes that this partnership represents only the beginning, and many more developers and businesses follow in their footsteps. “We’re calling on them,” he says, “to do it again.” 

Pictured: "Ba'al & Yizhaq" by Boaz Vaadia. Photo by Phil Lederer.

In 1981 the Ringling College Library Association had an idea to raise funds—bring in a series of the most noteworthy speakers from across the world to the Sarasota Audience and charge a subscription to come hear them speak. Starting from humble beginnings out of the Sarasota High School Auditorium, the Ringling Town Hall Lectures Series now reigns out of the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall and has become one of the largest series of its kind in the country. Spanning over a few months a year, the programming brings in a mix of topics ranging from politics, education, science, nature, pop culture and many more subjects. Attendees have heard from noteworthy politicians like former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, esteemed minds like Dr. Charles Krauthammer and Sir Ken Robinson, notable journalists like Charlie Rose and Walter Isaacson, as well as documentarian Ken Burns.

Eight years ago, the idea was brought up about how to best leverage the impact of these notable speakers coming into town. While many residents were able to afford the opportunity to hear from some of history’s greats, there was one audience that was missing—students. The Community Foundation of Sarasota County decided to partner with the Ringling College Library Association and the Sarasota County School District to create the RCLA Town Hall Scholars program, which created the opportunity for the region’s outstanding student leaders to hear diverse ideas and opinions while learning about the world around them. Thanks to this partnership, principals from 14 different high schools in Sarasota and Manatee counties personally select the best and brightest students from their senior classes to attend one of the Town Hall Lectures, and the Community Foundation underwrites all the tickets so that nothing comes out of the students’ or schools’ pockets. Even more unique about the opportunity is that each student is afforded the opportunity to meet backstage with each speaker before the lecture. Students are able to ask a number of personal or professional questions to the speakers to help guide them on their own academic journey. It’s often a mutually beneficial experience, with many of the speakers giving feedback about how they enjoyed the experience of meeting some of the most outstanding students in the state of Florida—

Story to continue in next Wednesday's Philanthropy edition of SRQ Daily. 

The Community Foundation of Sarasota County is proud to partner with SRQ Media Group to highlight stories about community impact powered by philanthropy in our region, thanks to the support of donors and our local nonprofit partners. The Community Foundation is a public charity founded in 1979 by the Southwest Florida Estate Planning Council as a resource for caring individuals and the causes they support, enabling them to make a charitable impact on the community. For more information, visit www.CFSarasota.org 

Image provided by The Ringling College Library Association

RCLA Town Hall Scholarship Program

The Sarasota Ballet perform, for the first time, George Balanchine’s evocative and exotic Bugaku April 27-28. This remarkable ballet was a tribute by Balanchine to the refined elegance of Japanese music and dance, and during its world premiere renowned dance critic Anna Kisselgoff referred to it as the “sexiest show in ballet.” Bugaku portrays a Japanese wedding ceremony and has been described as having the “subtlety of Japense painting on silk, the strength of Japanese wrestlers.” With its use of color, stylized movement and ritualistic mood, alongside the respect shown for the dance and consummate courtesy of the dancers to each other, Bugaku plays a faithful tribute to the ‘Gagaku’ traditions of Japanese art. These performances also mark a special anniversary, as The Sarasota Ballet pays tribute to the genius of George Balanchine during the 30^th Anniversary of his passing. Bugaku is performed alongside Antony Tudor’s The Leaves are Fading and Sir Frederic Ashton’s Marguerite and Armand in The Sarasota Ballet’s production of Great Masters of Dance, April 27 – 28 at the Sarasota Opera House and accompanied by the Sarasota Orchestra. Tickets available at 941.359.0099 and www.SarasotaBallet.org 

Sarasota Ballet

The groundbreaking ceremony for Dr. Mona Jain Middle School is scheduled for this Friday, April 13, at 2pm. The ceremony will take place on a 27-acre site near 44th Avenue East and White Eagle Blvd., which is adjacent to Gullett Elementary School in Lakewood Ranch. The school is scheduled to open in August 2019. It is being built to house approximately 1,100 students. The total projected budget for Dr. Mona Jain Middle is $45 million. Both a medical doctor and an educator, Jain taught at Bayshore Middle School and Bayshore High School in Manatee County, and, as an educator, was a strong advocate for inspiring young women to go into science and math. Appointed to the Florida Commission on the Status of Women by Florida Governor Lawton Chiles, Jain later served as the Director of Family Health Services for Manatee County’s Head Start program. Dr. Mona Jain Middle will be the first new middle school opened by the School District of Manatee County since Buffalo Creek Middle opened in 2007. 

School District of Manatee County

Each year, Sarasota County Schools conducts what is known as a “climate survey” to better understand how the school district is operating. Students, parents and staff are invited to lend their feedback about how their school or workplace is meeting their needs and expectations in such areas as communication, curriculum, management, school safety, academics, maintenance of facilities and parent involvement. Information received from parents and guardians through the survey is used in measuring satisfaction with school services and in identifying areas for improvement. The survey will be posted on the Sarasota County School District website from April 6–April 20. Respondents may take the survey by clicking on the “School Climate Survey” link for both parents and students in the Hot Topics section on the right side of the homepage. The parent survey has been translated into five languages other than English that are most often spoken in student’s homes, including Spanish, Russian, Ukrainian, Vietnamese and Haitian Creole. Individual responses are anonymous. The school district will use summary information from the survey to identify successes or issues, but it does not identify individual respondents. Anyone with questions about the survey may call the district Research, Assessment and Evaluation Department at 941-927-9000 x32257. 

Sarasota County Schools