Wild Kratts: Ocean Adventure - a new exhibit created by Minnesota Children's Museum and the creators of the top-rated PBS Kids TV series "Wild Kratts" - will open soon at Mote Aquarium. The exhibit focuses on building STEM-based skills for children ages 3 to 9. It will be at Mote from January 30 to June 6, 2021. Wild Kratts: Ocean Adventure transports visitors to the Wild Kratts world, immersing them in whole body explorations of ocean habitats. Using Wild Kratts technology and the powers of science and teamwork, children and their families will join the Wild Kratts team to solve problems, help marine animals, and foil the villains' nefarious plans. 

Since 2011, The Bishop Museum of Science and Nature has partnered with the Toomey Foundation for the Natural Sciences to lead more than 50 Manatee County teachers on paleontology expeditions to the Nebraska Badlands, allowing them to gain hands-on experience they can bring back to their classrooms. Starting January 28, The Bishop will share these expeditions with guests through its newest special exhibition, Badlands to Bradenton: Lessons from the Field, which showcases some of the most fascinating fossil finds and tells the story of these summer paleontology digs and how they can support learning. Badlands to Bradenton: Lessons from the Field will be open through June 6 and visiting is included in the price of admission. Badlands to Bradenton also includes interactive features for smartphones and tablets, including 3D models of fossils and paleoart commissioned especially for the exhibition.

Get in touch with Sarasota’s psychic influence on this interesting trolley or van tour. Learn why Sarasota is called Sedona by the Sea, explore the tools psychics and mediums use, hear about the history of the tarot, and learn why Sarasota is a psychic and spiritual energy center. Visit Pixie Dust on Sarasota’s Main Street, walk the sands of Siesta Key Beach, explore a labyrinth, and then enjoy a Spirit Gallery Reading and a mini tarot reading on the trolley or van. You can also book a 15-minute personal tarot reading with tour guide Michael Newton-Brown at the cottage after the tour. Ages 12+; young people ages 12-20 may attend if accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. Tours with fewer than 10 guests will travel in our comfortably air-conditioned high-top van. Tour tickets are $34.99 and include FREE Parking.

Learn about the rich circus history of Sarasota on an unforgettable trolley or van tour. Pass by key city landmarks as our informative and passionate tour guide, Bob Collins, tells stories about the colorful cast of circus characters, showmen, and performers who called Sarasota home. Meander through historic neighborhoods such as the Rosemary District, known for its vibrant food and art scene. Learn about the rich history of the Ringling brothers, the five brothers who owned and operated the circus renowned as the “Greatest Show on Earth.” Pass by the 21-gallery museum John Ringling constructed to house his extensive artwork collection, which opened to the public in 1931. Explore several other locations intimately involved in Sarasota’s circus history, including Sarasota Jungle Gardens, Circus Arts Conservatory, and the Circus Ring of Fame on St. Armands Circle. This 90-minute trolley or van tour is perfect for all ages and shows you a whole new side of Sarasota. Get ready for a fun-filled circus adventure during this show on wheels. It’s an illuminating experience you don’t want to miss. Tours with fewer than 10 guests will travel in our comfortably air-conditioned high-top van. Tour tickets are $34.99 and include FREE Parking.

On this air-conditioned City Sightseeing Trolley or Van Tour, see the BEST places to tour, shop, and dine through Sarasota’s historic downtown neighborhoods of Gillespie Park, Burns Court, Laurel Park, St. Armands Circle, Lido Key, and the Rosemary Design District. You also see our world-class artistic and cultural organizations: The Ringling Museum, Ringling College, Asolo Theater, Selby Library, Van Wezel Performing Arts Center, Selby Gardens, Sarasota Opera House, Art Center Sarasota, and Sarasota Symphony Orchestra. Learn more about the architects and developers who designed some of our most unique homes and buildings, like the Blue Pagoda, Crocker Memorial Church, and Splendida. Circus history, Amish culture, real estate development booms and busts, and colorful stories about Sarasota’s founders give you a true overview of Sarasota’s rich and amazing cultural history. Trolley tours usually run on Fridays. Tours with fewer than 10 guests will travel in our comfortably air-conditioned high-top van. Tour is year-round, tickets are $34.99 and include FREE Parking.

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.

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.

This exhibition showcases the legendary Pop artist's screen prints based on Monet's world-famous paintings of waterlilies and haystacks from February 13 until June 27, 10am to 5pm. Lichtenstein's rarely seen Water Lilies and Haystacks provide an unexpected homage to a staple of the public imagination - Monet's paintings of his garden and home at Giverny that inspired them. The display of Lichtenstein's art in the midst of a horticultural evocation of Giverny creates a unique experience for more than 100,000 garden visitors. Selby Gardens, transformed into Monet's famed gardens at Giverny through the Pop Art lens of Roy Lichtenstein, includes iconic elements of Monet's garden such as the green Japanese bridge, trellises, and benches. This conjuring of Lichtenstein's world also serves as the dynamic backdrop to the lush plantings and mixed borders for which Monet's paintings were renowned. An avid gardener, Monet once said, "My garden is my most beautiful masterpiece." Marie Selby Botanical Gardens evokes this crowning achievement with a surprising Pop Art twist.

Dabbert Gallery presents "Spring's Promise" Tuesday through Saturday from 11am to 5pm March through April, 2021. As winter gives way to natures renewal, nine Gallery Artists explore the wonder of Spring's Promise. Featured artists include Kasia Bruniany, Arnold Desmarais, Bill Farnsworth, James Griffin, Candace Knapp, Barbara Krupp, Joe Palmerio, William Suys, and Tom Swimm.

Join us for BEER YOGA outside at Big Top Brewing Co, in the beer garden from February 24 through May 2 from 12:30pm to 1:30pm. $10/ Yoga + 1 beer (or cider). Approachable for ALL levels. BYOM: Bring Your Own Mat & any props you desire. Enjoy your (1 included) tasty Big Top Beer before, after, or during class. If you choose to have it during class, we will use it! Be prepared to raise your beer to the sky in Triangle Pose or maybe take a sip as you balance in Dancer Pose. Each class, Tara offers a fun yoga routine designed to provide a well-balanced practice. Modifications are always offered to make asanas more approachable or more challenging for a student at any level. Yoga with Tara Garland. Space is limited, so sign up today.

The spring semester features 50 classes and other programs covering a wide variety of topics. Highlights include Alzheimer’s Talks, a two-part series exploring 10 ways to love your brain; Only Hope: My Mother and the Holocaust Brought To Light, about a woman’s internment in Polish ghettos and two Nazi concentration camps; and From Public Health To Public Enemy: What Happens When Public Sentiment Obstructs Public Health. Classes and lectures are offered using a hybrid model—in-person on the Ringling College Museum Campus and online via the Zoom platform. Registration is now open for the spring 2021 semester at Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Ringling College (OLLI at Ringling College), which runs March 8 through April 30, 2021. The semester features dozens of classes and programs covering a wide variety of topics. Classes are offered using a hybrid model—in-person on the Ringling College Museum Campus and online via the Zoom platform. Classes cover a rich diversity of topics, including art and music appreciation, health and well-being, global issues, philosophy, religion, culture and travel, and science. When offered in-person, classes will be held at the Ringling College Museum Campus (1001 South Tamiami Trail); masks and physical distancing will be required.