SRQ DAILY Jan 15, 2021
Friday Weekend Edition
"Just as business owners, career seekers, and parents had to pivot to pandemic era arrangements, so too did authors."
As a ceramicist who built a clientele through in-person pop-ups and social media outreach, Osa Atoe is uniquely attuned to the emotional currents of others. Meeting and engaging people is, for her, one of the best parts of what she does. “A lot of people who buy my work become my friends,” she says. So, at the end of 2020, as the death toll of COVID-19 broke 300,000, she directed that same friendly impulse at a series of pieces that fell outside of the popular mugs, tea sets and planters that comprise her usual body of work. “There was so much loss and grief,” she says, “and I wanted to speak to that through my work.”
Atoe made urns.
If it seems a touch macabre, the spirit in which these “commemorative jars” were made meant that many who purchased them saw a vessel with which they could honor the life of a loved one. She recently shared a post on Instagram in which she marries the creative energy of her process with the piece’s final destination. “There is so much personhood in this pot,” she says, “it gave me masculine energy and, indeed, it now holds the ashes of its new owner’s father.”
The comments on the piece praise its beauty and the simplicity of its shape, the exquisite designs etched into it, the slight tilt that gives it some personality. “Bless you for making him such a beautiful resting place,” comments one user. For Atoe, the gratitude went both ways. “I was really happy to be able to offer people some peace and comfort,” she says.
For 2021, she has plans for a commemorative plate series for Black History Month that celebrates the Black leaders that helped usher in one of the most politically engaged elections in U.S. history. She also plans to return to some of her “greatest hits,” like planters, mugs and teapots. Most of all, she’s excited for the day when she can be around people again. “My goal is to connect with other artists and appreciators of art,” she says, “because interacting with people is at the heart of what I do.”
Atoe will be teaching a workshop titled “Terracotta Textures” at Sarasota Clay Company on Friday, January 29th. 
Photo by Marianna Massey.
Just as business owners, career seekers, and parents had to pivot to pandemic era arrangements, so too did authors. And we readers reap the huge entertainment benefits. Enter Nadia’ Owusu’s Aftershocks: A Memoir in which she organizes her life story within the metaphorical context of an earthquake.
I was already greatly enthralled by her traumatic upbringing, a nomadic childhood in two continents with an impermanent stay in Rome ending with abandonment by her birth mother. She then deftly switches time and venue to navigating life in her twenties as full-time student and breadwinner in the Big Apple where she’s hit with another shocking revelation. And just when all this seems plenty thrilling, here comes the tragedy of her Ghananian and Armenian genealogy for which she attributes her shaky core to epigenetic inheritance.
Herein lies the beauty of being a lifelong reader; the ability to know the world better with each reading. With Nadia’s astute writer’s voice, I now understand the historical tracings of Ghana, Armenia and her birthplace of Tanzania. With gorgeous prose and raw self-awareness, Aftershocks: A Memoir is an original and accessible read for women and men of all ethnicities.
Roxanne Baker is a Bookseller at BookStore1 Sarasota. Bookstore1Sarasota was opened in 2011 with one mission: to bring a high-quality independent bookstore to the Sarasota area. Their passion for the joy of books inspired them in the beginning and continues to drive them today. They offer a shopping experience curated with their customers in mind, and are gratified by the long-term relationships they have built with those who have come through their door: patrons and authors alike.
Bookstore1, 12 S Palm Ave, Sarasota, 941-365-7900, georgia@sarasotabooks.com
The Sarasota Concert Association (SCA) today announced “Musically Speaking,” a free, three-concert virtual series featuring preeminent classical musicians in unique performances, highlighted by informal conversations with the artists. World-acclaimed pianists Garrick Ohlsson and Kirill Gerstein launch the series with a duo piano performance and conversation on Thursday, February 25, at 7 p.m. Violinist Samantha Bennett and percussionist George Nickson will share their unique artistry on Thursday, March 11, at 7pm. The world-renowned chamber orchestra, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, concludes the series on Thursday, March 25, at 7pm Conducting the conversations with the artists is Charles Turon, a musician, educator, and SCA board member. The series is free, but registration is required. Each link will be viewable for seven days.
Friends of Osprey Junction Trailhead and Sarasota County Centennial 2021 partner to present a free webinar celebrating Sarasota County’s 100th anniversary. The online presentation, “The History of Sarasota County”, is scheduled for Thursday, February 11 at 11am. Attendance is free, but you must register to attend. A grant from the Gulf Coast Community Foundation is underwriting this webinar. Discover the intrigue, drama, and perseverance that sparked Sarasota District civic leaders in 1921 to break from Manatee County to create Florida’s 62nd County. Come listen to Dr. Frank Cassell, a nationally known historian, and author of the book “Creating Sarasota County” as he recounts all this and more in an exciting, thought-provoking, and fascinating presentation.
Florida Studio Theatre (FST) announces its 2021 Winter Play Reading Series, presenting online readings of five new plays in progress written by some of the country’s top playwrights. Starting January 29, FST audiences will get a first look at a wide range of plays currently in development at FST—from a drama exploring American identity to a modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s As You Like It. These online readings are available for a suggested $10 donation to attend each event. All donations will go to support FST’s Playwright Collective, a select group of artists dedicated to developing new work for FST’s stages. “Since we ‘pressed pause’ on live productions at FST last March, we’ve really focused our time and resources into our New Play Development program,” said Catherine Randazzo, FST Associate Artist. “After months of development, these plays are now ready to be shared with our audience, who often help playwrights see their work in a new light. The plays featured in our Winter Reading Series explore themes that impact the world we live in—love, loss, personal and collective responsibility, and American identity, both in the past and the present.”
Key Chorale Chamber Singers, orchestra and soloists will come together virtually on January 29 for “Bach” Together Again. Originally scheduled as an in-person concert, this celebration of Baroque music, will be professionally recorded and made available online from the premiere on January 29 until February 21, 2021. “It’s what we have been doing all season long,” said Maestro Caulkins. “Continuing to find ways to deliver the music and mission of Key Chorale while navigating completely new ways of making music. I know this concert of Baroque favorites – full of festivity and joy – is just what we need during this most challenging time.” Tickets to watch the 75-minute streaming video are $30 per household; patrons will receive a viewing link that can be activated any time during the streaming run.
The Circus Arts Conservatory (CAC), health and safety and financial considerations have prompted leaders to cancel its upcoming Big Top season, including its Circus Arts Gala and Circus Sarasota 2021, the organization’s most notable international performance program. Also canceled is Cirque des Voix – Circus of the Voices, the annual collaboration of the CAC and Key Chorale. The Gala and Circus Sarasota show are the largest annual income generators for the nonprofit. This will be the first year in its history that Circus Sarasota will not present a winter show. “We share a common feeling of profound disappointment about these necessary cancellations with so many of our colleagues in the arts sector,” said executive vice president and co-founder Dolly Jacobs-Reis. “However, there are still plentiful ways in which people can continue to engage with the circus arts. And we must note that, without Box Office revenues, we need the community’s support more than ever to ensure our impact remains strong.”
Pictured: The Circus Sarasota Big Top at Nathan Benderson Park Photo by Rick Purdue.
January 21 through 31, 2021, come experience SOUVENIR: a fantasia on the life of Florence Foster Jenkins, an American amateur soprano, music lover, philanthropist, and socialite who gained fame for her notoriously off-pitch voice. The production takes place in the courtyard of The Bazaar on Apricot and Lime. Tickets: $20 adults/$12.50 student (under 24).
The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art is thrilled to announce the opening of three new exhibitions. All exhibitions will open during February 2021. The Ringling will also be offering virtual museum experiences in addition to exhibitions on campus. Frans Hals: Detecting a Decade will run February 14, 2021 through May 16, 2021. Also opening Feb 14 is Larry Rivers: Boston Massacre. In this series of 13 mixed-media prints, Larry Rivers, one of the pioneers of Pop Art, reimagines the tragedy of the Boston Massacre. The Ringling is pleased to announce a new exhibition of the work of Sam Gilliam. The exhibition, which is being drawn primarily from local collections and features work from the early 1970s to 2010, will run February 21, 2021 through August 15, 2021.
In an effort to respond to the increasing impact of stress on the mental health of youth, SRQ Strong and Healthy Teens Coalition of Manatee County (HTC) have partnered to develop a local youth trauma training team, called the Trauma Leadership Corps. According to psychologist Andrea Blanch, a founding member of SRQ Strong, “When people understand the impact of stress and trauma, they are better able to manage their own wellness and to be more compassionate to others.”
The Florida Center for Early Childhood’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Kristie Skoglund, has been appointed to the board of directors for the Florida Association for Infant Mental Health, or FAIMH. “What happens to a child in their first 1000 days can actually affect their entire life – even if they can’t remember,” said Skoglund. “So if they are not in a loving relationship where they form a bond with a parent or caregiver, it can delay their development, both emotionally and physically. Early interventions in cases where there is a known trauma can change the course of their life for the better."
Neuro Challenge Foundation for Parkinson’s, a local nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life of people with Parkinson’s and their caregivers, recently selected April Spagnuolo-Moschini as its program director. “We are so pleased to have April join our team,” said Robyn Faucy-Washington, chief executive officer of the Neuro Challenge Foundation for Parkinson’s. “She has an impressive professional background with long-term care, nonprofit programming and management experience that makes her the ideal program director for Neuro Challenge. We look forward to working with April to serve the Parkinson's community.”
SaraFresh Juice moves mobile rove to a fixed destination.
Click here to read the full article from SRQ's January 2021 issue.
Souvenir, by turn hilarious and poignant, tells the story of Florence Foster Jenkins through the eyes of her accompanist, Cosme McMoon. Eyewitness accounts of their concerts vary so wildly it is almost impossible now to separate fact from gossip. Hence this fictional "biography," in which we follow the story of their partnership from its earliest days to their infamous concert in Carnegie Hall and its aftermath. With each new imagined triumph Florence's confidence soars. Faced with her boundless certainty, Cosme comes to revise his attitude, not only towards her singing but to the very meaning of music itself. A musical odd-couple for the ages. Enjoy Hamlet's Eatery Thursdays through Sundays up to 30 minutes before show time. Seating is provided. Dates include January 21-23, 26-30 at 7:30pm and January 24 and 31 at 2pm.
The online presentation, "The History of Sarasota County", is scheduled for Thursday, February 11 at 11am. Attendance is free, but you must register to attend. A grant from the Gulf Coast Community Foundation is underwriting this webinar. Discover the intrigue, drama, and perseverance that sparked Sarasota District civic leaders in 1921 to break from Manatee County to create Florida's 62nd County. Learn how the Tamiami Trail and the 1920s Florida land boom impacted the formation of Sarasota County - and how visionary Sarasotans persevered to fulfil their dreams and economic ambitions as they led a county independence movement. Come listen to Dr. Frank Cassell, a nationally known historian, and author of the book "Creating Sarasota County" as he recounts all this and more in an exciting, thought-provoking, and fascinating presentation.
Frans Hals: Detecting a Decade will run Feb. 14, 2021 through May 16, 2021. The Ringling's portrait of Pieter Jacobsz. Olycan, by the Dutch Baroque master Frans Hals (1582/83 - 1666), is one of the museum's treasures. Renowned in his own day for his lively brushwork and uncanny ability to capture the vitality of his sitters, Hals continues to be a favorite among art lovers, collectors and artists alike. In this exhibition, organized by the Dallas Museum of Art, The Ringling's painting, which was executed about 1639, will be displayed side-by-side with a second portrait by Hals of Olycan (private collection), painted about 10 years earlier. Through close examination and comparison of these two portraits of the same person, the exhibition will shed light on Hals's revolutionary painting technique, and will explain how his work evolved over the decade of the 1630s. On March 18, at 10:30am, Dr. Sarah Cartwright, Ulla R. Searing Curator of Collections, will present a Virtual Gallery Conversation: Frans Hals: Detecting a Decade.
Also opening February 14 is Larry Rivers: Boston Massacre. In this series of 13 mixed-media prints, Larry Rivers, one of the pioneers of Pop Art, reimagines the tragedy of the Boston Massacre. This event, marking the beginning of the American Revolution, occurred March 5, 1770, when British Army soldiers fired their muskets into a crowd of civilians gathered on the streets of Boston, killing five colonists and galvanizing American sentiment for independence from Great Britain. Two hundred years later, Rivers revisits this moment in a series that disrupts traditional depictions of historical narrative through fragmentary visual references to the past that intermix with imagery from the political unrest of the 1960s. This exhibition presents the Boston Massacre portfolio from The Ringling's permanent collection. The exhibition will run until May 16, 2021. On February 23 at 10:30am, the Ringling will offer a Virtual Conversation: Images of Conflict. Guests will join curators Ola Wlusek and Sarah Cartwright in a conversation about artworks depicting conflict and trauma in The Ringling's collection. While focusing on the exhibition Larry Rivers: Boston Massacre, in consideration with examples of European Renaissance and Baroque art, representations of power and violence across time will be explored and how these images can help us understand conflict and address societal change today.
The Ringling is pleased to announce a new exhibition of the work of Sam Gilliam. The exhibition, which is being drawn primarily from local collections and features work from the early 1970s to 2010, will run February 21, 2021 through August 15, 2021. Sam Gilliam is one of the most important abstract artists working today. He will have a career retrospective, at the age of 87, in 2022 at the Smithsonian Institution Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC. Known for his experimental exploration of materials and constant invention, Gilliam first came to critical attention in the 1960s as a later member of the Washington Color School artists. To emancipate his art from constraints, Gilliam infused his appreciation of blues and jazz improvisation to be conceptualized in abstraction. His radical freedom to express spontaneity when working with materials created the first of his important "drape" paintings in the late 1960s that he would continue to explore throughout his career. By removing the canvas from the traditional stretcher, Gilliam created innovative work that was both painting and sculpture. His installation of the "drape" works filled galleries with painted canvases suspended off the walls or from the ceilings and often draped over objects such as sawhorses or ladders. These pieces encouraged improvisation because they could not be hung in the same manner twice.
This presentation precedes a reading of Kaczmarek’s play, Sam & Lizzie, which will be presented live on the Hermitage Beach on Saturday, February 13. Kaczmarek is a Hermitage Fellow and a rising star in film, theater, and television. The Hermitage Artist Retreat's 2021 winter season continues with "In Conversation with Emily Kaczmarek," a virtual conversation with playwright and recent Hermitage Fellow Emily Kaczmarek, Friday, January 29, 5pm, via Zoom. This presentation precedes a reading of Kaczmarek’s play, Sam & Lizzie, which will be presented live on the Hermitage Beach, in collaboration with Urbanite Theatre Company, on Saturday, February 13, with two presentations at 5pm and 7:30pm. To register for this Zoom event on January 29, visit HermitageArtistRetreat.org.
On Friday, January 15, 2021 and Saturday, January 16, 2021, enjoy live jazz with the Michael Ross Quartet in the Van Wezel's Grand Foyer with food and beverage by Mattison's. Doors open at 7pm and the performance begins at 7:30pm. "Get a good sound, swing hard and play the bass like a bass," says Michael Ross about his one and only instrument: double bass. A fixture in Florida's jazz scene, he has lived by those words for some 37 years. Dynamic jazz and world music vocalist Fred Johnson, who has toured with Chick Corea, Roy Haynes, Christian McBride, Richard Elliot and more, joins him alongside keyboardist Ron Reinhardt and drummer Walt Hubbard. Tickets to the general public go on sale on Friday, December 18 at 10:00am.
We are gathering our leaves on the ground to color & then we are leaf threading them with a nature needle to make our original necklaces on Friday, January 15 from 11am to 11:30am. This is included in admission.
Please join Michael Murphy Gallery, Tampa's premier fine art gallery, for the closing reception of Rythmique: a solo exhibition of the works of world-renowned contemporary abstract artist Sara Conca. Sara's museum-provenanced work graces international & celebrity private art collections, luxurious European chateaus, and venerable municipal collections throughout the globe. Her natural mixed media paintings, flecked with gold and dynamically textured, invite the viewer into their colorful movements. Sara will be making a very special live in gallery appearance on January 15 and available for private appointments to discuss her work and private commissions. Gallery curators are onsite and private curatorial tours are available. All artwork is currently on exhibition and available for acquisition. An in-gallery reception is planned for Friday, January 15th from 6pm to 9pm. This event is complimentary and open to the public with RSVPs recommended.
Thirst by Ronán Noone and directed by Brendan Ragan will be read outdoors on January 14, 15 and 16 at 6pm at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Downtown Campus. Set in the Tyrone family kitchen during Eugene O’Neill’s classic play Long Day’s Journey into Night, Ronán Noone’s Thirst explores the comedy, tragedy and triumph of two Irish immigrant servant girls’ search for love, success, and a sense of belonging in their new world.
Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Downtown Campus
The John and Mable Ringling is pleased to welcome Sarasota based artist and
a 2020-2021 Ringling Artist in Residence John Sims to the stage of the Historic Asolo Theater for the premiere presentation of 2020: (Di)Visions of America. The work marks the culmination of artist John Sims’ 20-year long multimedia project Recoloration Proclamation, which features a series of Confederate flag installations, performances and exhibitions that explore the complexity of identity, cultural appropriation and visual terrorism in the context of Confederate iconography and African American culture. In celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. day, Sims will offer a live-streamed presentation on Jan. 16, with recorded broadcast performances available for viewing January 17 and 18, 2021. The artist’s fall residency at the museum was dedicated to planning and producing the new work. After the performances, the Historic Asolo Theater will be open to visitors for AfroDixia: The Ringling Museum Session, a flag viewing and listening experience available January 18 to 25, 2021. This audio-visual-poetic pop-up exhibition will present a giant version of the artist's signature Afro Confederate flag, in conversation with the audio screening of The AfroDixieRemixes. Tickets to the performance are $15 per household, $13.50 for museum members.
Historic Asolo Theater
WSLR is making the film festival sensation WBCN and The American Revolution available for screening from January 16 through January 29, 2021. Interested parties can rent the film to stream online by visiting https://lcmedia.vhx.tv/products/wslr-presents-wbcn-and-the-american-revolution. Tickets are $10, and proceeds will be shared with WSLR as part of a nationwide campaign to support community radio, film and media arts organizations during the pandemic. All film rentals will include an invitation to join an online discussion on Tuesday, January 26 at 7pm, featuring film director Bill Lichtenstein and WSLR founders David Beaton and Arlene Sweeting, regarding the importance of community radio and how media can create social change. A portion of all proceeds from this non-profit production will benefit a scholarship in the name of Fred Taylor at the Berklee College of Music and a scholarship for documentary film students in the name of Danny Schechter at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
If you're looking at your telescope and wondering "How do I use this thing?" this hands-on workshop on January 16 from 4:30pm to 6pm at The Bishop is for you. Our experts will help you get comfortable setting up and using your telescope so you get the most out of it and avoid many pitfalls that can lead to frustration. Weather permitting, you'll see the moon and stars with your own telescope by evening's end. Then, when you head home, you'll be well equipped to enjoy the rich hobby of astronomy. This is a BYOT program - Bring Your Own Telescope. Cost is $35 and includes admission to the January 27 Stelliferous program on Zoom.
On Saturday, January 16 the spotlight will be on The Limelight Market. From 10am to 3pm special guest vendors will be outside in the courtyard of The Bazaar on Apricot & Lime. Enjoy food from Hamlet's Eatery, stock up on local honey, browse local jewelry, art, and so much more while enjoying afternoon live music. Support locals and check out the 25+ vendors inside The Bazaar. Rescue dogs from Tenderheart Charities will also be there looking for fur-ever homes. Located at 821 Apricot Avenue. Free parking, masks required and plenty of room to social distance
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