For the sixth year, Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe – in collaboration with The Jazz Club of Sarasota and the Sarasota County Schools – will help history to come alive for area students. Jazzlinks is an integrated arts experience to help illustrate, through music and theatre, the contributions of African Americans in U.S. history. Due to the coronavirus, WBTT will present Jazzlinks virtually this year, streaming the songs and stories of the Harlem Renaissance into high school classrooms from February 16 through March 12. The presentation will feature musical performances by WBTT artists and interactive discussions with cast members and students about the historical and cultural contributions of African Americans. This year’s installment of Jazzlinks is one of the programs supported by a 2020 Gulf Coast Community Foundation Arts Appreciation Grant to WBTT. At press time, Jazzlinks is slated to perform for more than 1,500 students. The presentation will be via Zoom and interactive, incorporating video from a previous Jazzlinks production with added commentary from artists Syreeta S. Banks, Brian L. Boyd, Brentney Stephens and Donovan Whitney. The subject matter will focus on the Harlem Renaissance. WBTT founder and artistic director Nate Jacobs worked with staff members Travis Ray, Michael Mendez and Adrienne Pitts on the script and creating related program materials. Jacobs directs and Ray is the coordinator. Teachers can sign up for Jazzlinks through the “EdExplore” website (edexploresrq.com).

Try Your Hand at Poetry a Writing Workshop led by Doug Knowlton will take place over the course of four Zoom sessions on Tuesdays at 6pm, including February 16, February 23, March 2, and March 9. Have you always wanted to write poetry, but thought the genre was just too difficult? This is your chance to give it a try using Mary Oliver's A Poetry Handbook as a guide. With passion, wit, and good common sense, the celebrated poet Mary Oliver tells of the basic ways a poem is built - meter and rhyme, form and diction, sound, and sense. She talks of iambs and trochees, couplets, and sonnets, and how and why this should matter to anyone writing or reading poetry. Doug's been writing poems and lyrics since the 1960s. He emceed the open mic at Java N'Jive Coffee House in Palmetto in 2002-2003. He was a regular at the Fogartyville Cafe Open Mic in 2002-2005 and hosted the Village Bookshop Poets and Writers from 2006-2011. Doug finds it especially fulfilling to encounter readers and listeners who are awakening to poetry's vast potential. A fee of $21 is required for participation. This includes a copy of A Poetry Handbook and all four sessions. The book can be picked up curbside or at the store (We will send you an email when the book is ready for pickup). The cost is $26.50 to have the book shipped to you via US Mail.

Welcome to the 30th Anniversary Season at the Sarasota Polo Club beginning Sunday December 13th, 2020 thru Sunday April 25th, 2021. Sunday Polo matches are open to the public every Sunday at 1pm beginning December 13th, 2020 through April 25th, 2021. Gates open at 10am. Fieldside general admission tailgating, reserved midfield premium seating or VIP midfield boxes are available for Sunday Polo. Children 12 and under are free, (general admission tailgating). Exciting polo action, opening parade, live national anthem, theme weeks, half-time entertainment, food, drinks, and divot-stomping. Dress comfortably and for the weather. Remember, you will be walking on the grass. Well socialized dogs are welcome on a leash.

Sarasota Polo Club

Found Forms: Sculpture by Carl Abbott: This exhibition features vibrant sculptures by the internationally acclaimed architect Carl Abbott FAIA virtually through March 5. Comprised of reformed metal ductwork and antique, agricultural implements, Abbott’s sculptures are both playful and monumental. Abbott is one of the most highly awarded architects in the Florida/Caribbean region. He received his degree in architecture from University of Florida, and his master’s degree from Yale, studying under Paul Rudolph. For several years, he worked with Mayan archaeologists in Mexico and Central America. “In/Formed By The Land” is a book about Abbott’s architecture.

Members’ Show: Contemporary Craft at its Finest is a juried exhibition of original art showcasing the best of handcrafted work by Florida CraftArt members. Forty-six artists created 79 pieces from intricate jewelry to glass sculptures. Visitors will have the opportunity to virtually meet the artists and the show’s judge Susana Weymouth at the virtual opening reception on Friday, January 29 at 6 p.m. The Zoom link is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82206474125. The show runs through March 20 when the People’s Choice Award will be presented at the closing reception. People can vote for their favorite work of art in the Florida CraftArt Exhibition Gallery.

As we enter the festival’s 12th year, we are especially proud to present a premier line-up of 21 remarkable and diverse films that will impact, provoke, and move you. They are documentaries, narratives, tragedies and comedies, mysteries and love stories. Most have won awards and will have special meaning to our community of viewers. All films are being held virtually. During this time of COVID we want to extend our heartfelt thanks to all of our Sponsors for their continued support of the Jewish Film Festival. In doing so, you are fulfilling our Federation’s mission and the tenet of Tikkun Olam – repairing the world, ultimately, helping to provide our community much needed enjoyment. The Jewish Film Festival is one of many programs also sponsored by The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee. The yearly Film Festival that attracts so many movie-goers, both Jewish and non-Jewish, is all about strengthening Jewish life in Sarasota-Manatee. We hope you will leave energized, inspired and moved by the rich traditions and culture of Judaism found in movies celebrated around the world. See you at the movies.

Skin’s in It: Cynthia Mason’s low-relief and sculptural wall pieces create abstract forms that riff off of grids and known structures that are uncanny and disarming vurtually through March 5. Some of the soft sculptures recall solid objects (shelves, windows), but lack rigidity. Some recall the body but lack smooth contours. Sewn from coarse fabrics and stuffed with shredded documents, they bloat and pudge. Gender is rendered in provocative shapes noisily on display, questioning gender performance in politics and how we consume it. Neil Bender’s work explores the complexity of sexuality and the body through paper and paint, making flattened images that play with the shallow spaces of slightly overlapping images, and the shallow spaces of popular cultural vernaculars. Recent images range from small-scale collages and sketchbook drawings to shaped, cut-paper garments, and large, expansive wall murals. Both artists use whimsy and play to make viewers aware of the potency of negotiating and reconciling art amongst other bodies in public spaces. Bender and Mason also collaborated on a site-specific atmospheric wall painting that will serve as a stage for the actors (the paintings, drawings, and sculptures) to have enhanced dialogues This is a kinetic, tactile, and immersive collaborative experience that is sensorily-engaging, ribald, and pleasurable.

Madeby Gallery hosting Disney Fine Artist - Ringling College of Art and Design Alumnus Tim Rogerson and the original Tinker Bell Margaret Kerry. Zoom Virtual Opening Reception on Wednesday, February 10 from 5:30pm to 6:30pm. Margaret, a Sarasota resident, will be sharing her amazing journey of how Walt chose her to be the original Tinker bell model for the Disney Animators’ in her book, "Tinker Bell Talks." Tim will be taking us on a tour of his magical Disney artwork. Originals, giclees and prints will be available for purchase. Tim has created exclusively for the show, his newest original of Tinker Bell, titled "Pixie Pose." The show runs from February 10 through Friday, March 12.

Suncoast Black Arts Collaborative and Art Center Sarasota Present The 2021 “Student Black Muse” Exhibit. The exhibit is presented virtually at Suncoast Black Arts Collaborative and Art Center Sarasota through March 5. Students from Booker, Riverview, Sarasota, and Northport high schools and Booker Middle School participated in this exhibit, which celebrates Black History Month. The Suncoast Black Arts Collaborative (SBAC) and Art Center Sarasota partnered with four Sarasota County high schools and one middle school to offer students of African descent the opportunity to participate in a visual arts exhibition commemorating Black History Month. The 2021 “Student Black Muse” exhibit, which showcases the works of 20 young artists, is available for viewing virtually through March 5 at www.artcentersarasota.org and www.suncoastblackartscollaborative.org.