“A different kind of season.”

That’s how Richard Russell, executive director of Sarasota Opera, has understatedly described his company’s artistic output right now. The Opera just kicked off its Winter Festival of “chamber operas” with Rossini’s The Happy Deception. Newly discovered and appreciated by Russell and Maestro Victor DeRenzi, these works allow for fewer performers, smaller sets, no intermission and well-spaced audiences. The Opera also livestreams the performances and records them for patrons to enjoy from home via online subscription.

Sarasota Opera was among the fastest and most forward-thinking of our region’s arts leaders in responding to COVID-19. It put artist and audience safety first, while still finding fresh ways to connect the two. Before the Sarasota Opera House could reopen safely, the company took its talent to the community. It staged outdoor performances at partner sites like Selby Gardens and Historic Spanish Point. It also assembled a first-of-its-kind “Opera Mobile,” a muscular red pickup that can haul a piano and a few performers behind it on a flat-bed trailer. Meanwhile, it optimized the AC system in the historic Opera House and added technology to eliminate airborne germs and viruses. Russell even took a course in contact tracing.

As I’ve talked to passionate people on both sides of the artistic relationship over the past year, I’ve seen just how big a void is left in our community when its stages must go dark. It’s a cultural, social and economic loss. Remember, the arts represent the second-biggest employer in our area, as Russell is quick to note. But it’s not only a paycheck that resident artists desperately miss. It’s also doing what they truly love—what they were born to do. Thank goodness, then, for the boundless imagination and talent of our community’s creatives.

Asolo Repertory Theatre constructed an entire new outdoor stage, complete with ingenious lighting design projected on its building’s facade. The Terrace Stage debuted for a much-needed holiday show, but it’s now being used for an outdoor season full of enchanting productions. I bet it continues to shine long after this pandemic is over.

The Venice Symphony programmed four 30-minute concerts for a fully virtual season sponsored by Gulf Coast Community Foundation that is free for anyone to watch online. (Click here for a rousing Saturday morning “fanfare” courtesy of conductor Troy Quinn and his brass and percussion ensembles.)

Embracing Our Differences’ annual diversity-themed outdoor art exhibit might seem made for these times. Visitors can view its 50 billboard-sized images while staying safely spaced throughout a sprawling and breezy bayfront setting. But EOD’s year-round impact is rooted in its educational outreach programs, which it nimbly adapted last year to virtual platforms.

Another of our region’s arts leaders that took the pandemic head on is The Sarasota Ballet. Director Iain Webb’s team has embraced technology, not only for presenting performances digitally but also for giving patrons unique access to the dancers and sneak peeks at rehearsals and new productions. Now in its Digital Winter-Spring Season, the Ballet is performing the likes of Ashton, Balanchine, Taylor and Tharp along with resident choreographer Ricardo Graziano. Tickets have been purchased from 20 different countries—something that wasn’t possible in the past. The Ballet also plans outdoor performances on the Asolo’s Terrace Stage. In a pearl anniversary year unlike anything it expected, The Sarasota Ballet has handled this crisis with the same aplomb and agility as principal dancer Kate Honea doing the Fanny Elssler Pas de Deux.

Last Saturday evening looked very different from a Saturday in “season” just a year ago. As the sun set, Sarasota’s Urbanite Theatre staged an edgy outdoor play-reading on the sand beside The Hermitage Artist Retreat’s beachfront campus in Englewood. Around the same time, a Sarasota Orchestra ensemble tuned up to serenade a small audience in Holley Hall with its Valentine Pops concert—which remains available for streaming online through Tuesday. Orchestra president and CEO Joseph McKenna recently said, “This season has required an endless reservoir of resilience, a pioneering spirit of innovation, and the discipline and character to know that we will emerge stronger than ever.” Bravo!

Please continue to support our region’s arts and cultural organizations as they continue to cheer, uplift, and entertain us all.

Mark Pritchett is president and CEO of the Gulf Coast Community Foundation.  

In 2015 the State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota, declared its desire to Boldly Engage its faculty, staff, students, community partners and donors to build a stronger, more responsive community asset. Now, six years later, it is ready to set forth a new vision – to Boldly Lead. SCF is a resource for every member of the community and fulfills leading roles in multiple areas – economic driver, higher education and workforce education standard-setter, employer, innovator and cultural centerpiece.

The Boldly Leading 2021-2026 Strategic Plan is SCF’s vision to be the community’s first choice for higher education, economic development, philanthropic investment and cultural fulfillment in order to respond to an evolving higher education landscape. Student populations are more diverse and there is no longer an agreed upon version of the “traditional” student. Students demand flexibility in information delivery platforms, scheduling and curriculum. They also expect more return for their investment and for degrees that lead directly to meaningful, long-term employment. This plan leads us to meet those expectations.

SCF began its strategic planning process in the summer of 2018, conducting internal and external surveys, focus groups and interviews to gather the thoughts and opinions that helped shape the development of this plan. The feedback gathered through the planning process coalesced around four broad categories that became the plan’s four strategic priorities: Quality, Opportunity, Growth and Diversification.

Commitment to quality at SCF means that we will always do what we say, deliver on our promises, and provide a strong return on investment to our students, donors, and taxpayers. SCF will be the community’s academic cornerstone by providing the only four-year, full-college experience in our region and enriching the quality of life in Manatee and Sarasota Counties through workforce training, continuing education, visual and performing arts and athletics.

Opportunity is at the heart of our College. We create opportunities for a better future for our students and community members. As we focus on our strengths, we know that creating more opportunity is the pathway to taking a leading role in our region. SCF will lead with bold opportunities as our region’s first choice for higher education, employment, cultural enrichment, and as a high-impact choice for donors. 

The growth of our institution must mirror that of our service area, but our strategic priority of growth is about more than just physical expansion. We must effectively and impactfully manage the growth of our institution’s physical and virtual presence to best serve our community. We will expand our regionally relevant two- and four-year degree programs and develop and deliver the programs, services and activities required by a changing economic, social and educational environment.

SCF will reflect the socio-economic vision of Manatee and Sarasota Counties with its focus on diversification. With multiple physical campuses and the online campus, SCF will offer higher education and workforce training where our community members work, live and play. We will adapt with our community to serve targeted population needs and create an inclusive atmosphere where all are welcomed and supported.

SCF is setting forth a new vision – to Boldly Lead.  By prioritizing Quality, Opportunity, Growth and Diversification we will be a fiscally resilient institution that can readily withstand both economic and political changes, sustain an environment that will attract and retain students and employees from all backgrounds, and enjoy a concrete reputation for creating and providing high-quality educational opportunities.

Dr. Carol Probstfeld is president of State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota. 

The Argus Foundation has written extensively about government regulation and its effect on affordable housing. Today, we are going to focus on government fees.

According to the community movement Strong Towns, the first of the five immutable laws of affordable housing is that “developers don’t pay the costs of construction: tenants and buyers do.”  

What this means is that fees don’t just magically disappear, and it’s not developers who absorb them. They are always paid by a buyer or renter, and that includes those who need affordable housing. Unless a government subsidy is involved or the housing is incentivized or partially paid for by government, fees fall on the consumer. 

This year, multiple government fees are being studied, reviewed, and updated. Mobility fees, fire fees, utility fees, and stormwater fees are among them in the county alone. City governments are doing the same, many looking at their fees. All of these fees add to the cost of housing and all will affect its affordability.

According to the Brookings Institute, soft costs, which include permitting and government fees, among other things, make up 30% of the cost of housing. This number is not insignificant. A house that is $250,000, contains about $75,000 worth of soft costs.      

It is important that each government take a moment and determine how a fee structure or cost will affect housing for our workforce and across the housing spectrum. Ignoring housing costs in the fee conversation is a recipe for disaster.

Just acknowledging affordable housing or trying to carve affordable housing out is not enough. You are then fighting the overall housing market and making things worse. 

You must try to control fees and costs for all housing types to create a complete step-up system of housing for the community. Doing this frees up affordable housing as owners gain more equity in their housing over time and use that equity to move into larger homes. 

If you shift the costs of affordable housing to other housing types, you then create large gaps in housing. The housing outside of what is deemed affordable jumps higher in cost, leaving those who want to graduate up from affordable housing unable to do so, and thus artificially keeping them in affordable housing. This then makes affordable housing hard to find as no one can move out of it to free it up.

Housing soft costs and how they affect the general housing market should be an important part of the discussion for government fees. It is not the only part of the fee discussion, but it should be a significant part of it. Governments can and do contribute to the problem by not looking at the overall market. The Argus Foundation encourages governments to have deeper discussions about the overall housing market when looking at setting government fees.

Christine Robinson is executive director for The Argus Foundation. 

The Sarasota Institute will explore the future of humanity on a global scale. 

Click here for the full article in SRQ's February 2021 feature.