The artists of SARTQ swapped their brushes for rollers and canvases for walls this week as the artist collective transformed an unused building in the middle of the Rosemary District into a pop-up gallery for a special exhibition opening tonight. Entitled SARTQ: 600°, the exhibition features nine SARTQ artists, including the SARTQ debut of painter Jennifer Leigh Jones, and runs for this weekend only, closing down on July 28. An opening reception begins tomorrow night, July 27 at 7pm, at 600 Central Avenue.

With a welcome from DreamLarge, the owners of the space, the artists of SARTQ gave the near-abandoned brick-and-mortar a serious makeover. Walls were painted white; the floors slate grey. Air conditioning was repaired, as were the lights. And what a week ago looked more like an abandoned building, tonight will entertain artists and their guests, complete with Caribbean-Asian street food from Dibs Food Truck and brand new work on display. “For me, this is what SARTQ has always been,” says Rae Ramos, SARTQ executive director. “It’s transforming a raw space into a space to show art.”

And though the new air conditioning should keep guests from melting in the evening air, artists indulge the theme’s skyrocketing temperature through their work. See a crowded sunny beach captured from above in eye-popping color by Tim Jaeger, whose popular series immortalizes these local sands. And see the return of multimedia artist Laine Nixon, who storms back onto the scene with a large-scale work composed on white board with dry erase marker, where hundreds of squares and lines and blues and reds evoke the boiling atoms of a roiling star.

Jones, new to Florida and SARTQ, arrived just in time for last year’s red tide—her first experience with the phenomenon. “So her work plays off the heat,” says Ramos. “The temperatures and what they do to our waters and our environment.” Also on display will be work from Jeffery Cornwell, Zachary Gilliland, Julie Kanapaux, Taylor Robenalt, Javier Rodriguez and Tom Stephens.

As for Ramos, he’s already eyeing the next spot for SARTQ to takeover and transform. “This is us showing what artists can do for this community,” he says.

SARTQ: 600° opens tonight at 600 Central Ave., Sarasota, with an opening reception Saturday night from 7pm to 9pm. 

Pictured: 'Turning Tide' by Jennifer Leigh Jones.

The local philanthropic community in Sarasota and Manatee counties assembled at the Hyatt Regency Sarasota yesterday for the latest in SRQ Media Group’s SB2 Luncheon Symposia Series, “Transformative Philanthropy.” Featuring a panel discussion and audience Q&A with David Moore, founder of Moore Strategic Consulting; Sabeen Perwaiz, executive director of the Florida Nonprofit Alliance; and Lilly Weinberg, the program director managing the Knight Foundation’s $140 million investment in small to midsize communities across the country, topics ranged from local success and demanding donors, to the costs of overhead and the nonprofit sector’s underinvestment in itself.

“We forget that nonprofits are also businesses,” says Perwaiz. “They have overhead.” And though many donors have expectations that every dollar given should go to a specific program or direct service, she says, the fact is that a professional staff needs to be paid professional wages in order to address continued issues of high turnover. In other words, there needs to be an investment in the organization and its people, not only the service it provides. Most nonprofits, she notes, do not even have 90-day reserves in case of economic hardship. Moore agrees.

“The sector is under-resourced,” he says, and Moore’s seen too many nonprofits investing in everything but themselves, working in shabby offices with old technology on meager salaries. It all affects the work. “It’s a really serious capacity problem,” he says. “That’s not OK.”

And nonprofits investing in themselves means standing up for themselves and their values as well, sometimes even in the face of donors’ demands. If a gift comes with strings attached, says Weinberg, the nonprofit needs to be sure the donor and the organization are a good fit, regardless of the size of the gift. “If a donor conflicts with those values, then we need to say, ‘No,’” she says. “That is when you need to stay firm.”

Even when taking a stand can seem politically or economically dangerous—and Perwaiz warns that nonprofits must be sure to not run afoul of the Johnson Amendment and lose their tax-exempt status, and therefore their ability to provide a service—nonprofits can be important voices for important issues. “They are the experts,” she says.

Or, as Moore puts it: nonprofits should stand for something and they should care. “When they silence themselves,” he says, “it hurts us all.”

Sponsored by Hyatt Regency Sarasota, Cool Today and JFCS of the Suncoast, the SB2 Symposia Series continues this December 9 with a look at trends in philanthropy for the coming year. 

Pictured: Lilly Weinberg engages fellow panel-member David Moore at the SB2 Symposia Series event, 'Transformative Philanthropy'.

Last week, the Board of Trustees at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens approved the final payment on the organization’s long-term debt. In 2008, Selby Gardens carried long-term debt and a line of credit totaling more than $2 million. Today, Selby Gardens has zero long-term debt and a zero balance on its line of credit.

Selby Gardens President and CEO Jennifer Rominiecki attributes the financial turnaround to two primary operational changes: the implementation of The Living Museum operational model and the creation of revenue-sharing partnerships for ancillary services. Over the past four years, these changes have resulted in a 70 percent increase in earned revenues. Implementing The Living Museum model in 2015 has resulted in a 55 percent increase in admissions and membership has increased by 67 percent. Revenue-sharing partnerships with an exclusive food service provider and retail partners has contributed to a 172 percent increase from rental and catering commissions and a 57 percent increase in retail for the organization.

As a result of revenue, Selby Gardens has been able to hire two additional botanists and expand educational programming. Further, new outreach programs for underserved youth in the Sarasota community are in the works. 

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens

GAZE Modern closes out its inaugural season with the second part of its summer invitational, Intro, opening tonight. The second of this two-part exhibition brings a range of regional artists to the gallery and asks the local audience to voice who among them should become the next artist(s) officially represented by the gallery. Artists can submit work in any medium, from painting to prints and from sculpture to photography, but only one or two pieces maximum. From that select representation, audiences will cast their votes on what they would like to see more of in the coming season. Voting can either be performed in-person at the gallery, or online at a later date.

And for the artist or artists who do become gallery artists, the benefits are myriad. In the coming season at GAZE Modern, they will receive their own exhibition, either solo or in collaboration, as well as having their work featured on the GAZE Modern website and in annual group shows such as Shopliftable and the November anniversary exhibition.

Intro: Part 2 opens tonight at GAZE Modern with an opening reception from 5pm to 8pm. The exhibition, and the voting, runs until August 24. 

GAZE Modern

The Bradentucky Bombers has announced the next home game of its 13th Season for this Saturday, August 10, against All City Rollers Hunnies, a team out of North Central Florida. This is the Bombers’ first official season as a Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) league. The Bombers will be hosting the game at Ellenton Ice & Sports Complex at 5pm, with doors open at 4:30pm. Tickets are now available: presale for $10; at the door for $12; kids 6–12 are $6, and kids 5 and under enter free. All students get a Buy One, Get One ticket deal by presenting a valid student ID at the register.

After party begins at 8pm at Darwin Brewing Company and Taproom. All raffle proceeds will go to Buckle Up 4 BSwag and Bubba. For more information visit the website below. 

Bradentucky Bombers

Historic Spanish Point, Sarasota’s regional living history museum, has again achieved accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM). Accreditation represents excellence in museum policies, practices and public accountability. Historic Spanish Point was opened to the public in 1982 and first achieved AAM accreditation in 2002. Accredited museums must maintain the highest standards and undergo periodic accreditation reviews. Of the nation’s estimated 33,000 museums, only 1,078 are currently accredited. Historic Spanish Point is currently one of 56 accredited in Florida. Historic Spanish Point is owned and operated by Gulf Coast Heritage Association.  

Historic Spanish Point