SRQ DAILY Apr 25, 2022
Monday Business Edition
"In 2020, the whole world changed, and if you remember back, people were trying to figure out how to work remotely, to secure PPE or how to keep people employed. In 2022, it has been two years but I think the long-term effect everyone was anticipating and looking toward are now here, whether it is mental health or changes in education or how people work. In 2020, The Giving Challenge helped in a crisis. Now in 2022, The Giving Challenge will help organizations rise to that next new normal."
How much money will flow to charities in the region this week? The Community Foundation of Sarasota will host The Giving Challenge once again from noon on Tuesday to Wednesday. During that period of time, some 670 participating organizations in Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte and DoSoto counties will raise unrestricted dollars with the promise of matching funds.
The Giving Challenge has been held seven times before since 2012, during which time more than $59 million has come to area nonprofit organizations. The last event in 2020 raised $19.1 million in 24 hours. The way the challenge works is that donations of $25 to $100 made through The Giving Challenge online portal will be matched by The Patterson Foundation.
“It’s particularly important because these are unrestricted dollars,” said Mischa Kirby, vice president of strategy and communications for the Community Foudnation of Sarasota. “That provides flexibility for organizations as they need to adapt."
“In 2020, the whole world changed, and if you remember back, people were trying to figure out how to work remotely, to secure PPE or how to keep people employed," says Kirby. "In 2022, it’s been two years but I think the long-term effect everyone was anticipating and looking toward are now here, whether it’s mental health or changes in education or how people work. In 2020, The Giving Challenge helped in a crisis. Now in 2022, The Giving Challenge will help organizations rise to that next new normal.”
A host of organizations have already started promoted the donations and encouraging funds during the event. Theatre Odyssey sent out an email blast promoting its 18th season. “One thing that you may not know is that Theatre Odyssey is completely operated administratively by volunteers,” the email states. “So, all the money we receive from ticket sales, and from donors--all of it--goes to support our mission.”
The Suncoast Humane Society sent out a blast touting the story of a particular adoption. That organization also promised a second match on donations of up to $500 for each unique donor. That means a $500 could result in $1,100 in donations with both the Patterson and Humane Society matches.
Similarly, The Florida Center has an anonymous donor also matching funds between $25 and $100. “Your support can help change the life of a child, like Oliver, who was born with a rare brain disorder that caused him to have partial paralysis on one side of his body. Thanks to you, he has make great progress working with his occupational and mental health therapists,” reads an email from CEO Dr. Kristie Skoglund.
These organizations are just a few working to drive interest and donations during the challenge. Throughout the day, The Giving Challenge will provide updates on new donations and post a leaderboard on those organizations raising the most and doing the greatest goods. Kirby said this year, an addition $250,000 in gifts will be awarded to groups in a range of contests like best use of social media, best commercial and so forth. 
The Florida Center for Early Childhood invites the public to attend its Build Them Up Family Festival, sponsored by Jon F. Swift Construction, on Tues., April 26, 3 pm – 7 pm at its Sarasota Campus (4620 17th Street.)
Free family-friendly entertainment will be provided to attendees including a DJ, bounce houses, face painting, food trucks, games, and a petting zoo.
The event will kick off the 24-hour Giving Challenge happening from noon to noon April 26-27. During this time supporters will have the opportunity to TRIPLE their impact as all donations to The Florida Center will be matched 2:1, thanks to The Patterson Foundation and an anonymous donor. Giving Stations will be situated throughout the festival with volunteers to help guests contribute to The Florida Center’s programs, which focus on infants and children, birth through fifth grade, who need therapeutic services or other specialized support
The Florida Center is committed to helping local children by providing families with a strong foundation to support the healthy development of their children. But strong foundations need support! YOU can Be the One to Build Them Up by visiting www.GivingChallenge.org and selecting The Florida Center as one of your benefiting charities.
The Giving Challenge is hosted by the Sarasota Community Foundation, with giving strengthened by The Patterson Foundation.
Sarasota’s public art will be in the spotlight next week as the Florida Association of Public Art Professionals annual conference comes to town. The Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County will host this statewide conference for public art professionals April 27 - 29 at the Art Ovation Hotel in downtown Sarasota. Intersections 2022: The Union of Public Art + People, is a three day conference, filled with inspiring think-tank sessions, panel discussions, presentations and of course, Sarasota’s remarkable public art collection, which expresses the city’s beauty, history and creative spirit. “This conference comes at an interesting time for all of us after what we’ve experienced collectively over the past 2 years and it is our hope that conference attendees walk away from these three days feeling reconnected and empowered in their roles as public art professionals,” said Jim Shirley, Executive Director of the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County. The Florida Association of Public Art Professionals (FAPAP) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the development, advocacy, promotion, and education of public art in the State of Florida, as well as the promotion of national best practices in the field.
The conference will allow members from all over the state to reflect upon and celebrate their past accomplishments, reconnect with colleagues while meeting new ones, and learn and discuss public art challenges and opportunities. The conference environment is open for dialogue, questions and sharing ideas at all levels.
On day two of the conference, attendees will hear from keynote speaker, Jane Golden, Executive Director of Mural Arts Philadelphia. Golden has been the driving force of Mural Arts Philadelphia since its inception, overseeing its growth from a small city agency into the nation’s largest public art program and a global model for transforming public space and community through art. Under Golden’s direction, Mural Arts has created over 4,000 works of public art through innovative collaborations with community-based organizations, city agencies, nonprofit organizations, schools, the private sector, and philanthropies.
In partnership with the Office of Public Art for the City of Sarasota, the conference will include three sessions that will be open to the public:
—“Nuts & Bolts: Foundations for Success in the World of Public Art,” 9-10:30 am Wednesday, April 27: Artists and professionals are invited to this “town hall” moderated panel setting with working professionals from around Florida.
—Year in Review, 9-10:15 am Thursday, April 28: A virtual tour of diverse public art installations completed in 2021 throughout Florida, plus some of the public art projects that received the prestigious Americans for the Arts “2021 Year in Review” Award.
—Keynote speaker Jane Golden, 10:30 am to noon Thursday, April 28: Golden has been the driving force of Mural Arts Philadelphia since its inception, overseeing its growth from a small city agency into the nation’s largest public art program and a global model for transforming public space and community through art.
All three open-to-the-public sessions will be held at Art Ovation Hotel, 1255 N. Palm Ave., Sarasota. Participants can register online for any of the free sessions. Registration closes Tuesday, April 26 at 5:00 PM.
The community is invited to attend an outdoor, family-friendly Arbor Day celebration Friday, April 29 from 9 am to noon at North Water Tower Park, 4700 Rilma Ave. The first 20 attendees will receive a free Florida native sapling. The event will feature a self-guided eco-tour through the beautiful North Water Tower Park woods. Certified arborists will be available to answer questions and discuss a wide range of tree topics, from scientific and common names to their numerous benefits. A ceremony will start at 10:30 am near the park pavilion and feature the planting of a pignut hickory by City Commissioners, arborists and Parks and Recreation staff. For over 35 years, the City of Sarasota has been honored by the National Arbor Day Foundation with a Tree City USA award for maintaining and expanding the City’s urban forest. Trees provide significant benefits, including intercepting stormwater, purifying the air, preventing erosion, mitigating urban heat island effect, providing wildlife habitats, increasing property values, and reducing stress. For more information about the Arbor Day celebration, contact Kevin Greene, landscape supervisor: 941-263-6117.
The Players Centre for Performing Arts is back with the popular Broadway on the Bay series titled, The Sarasota Divas, at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens (1534 Mound St, Sarasota, FL 34236) May 17-20, 2022. This year some of your favorite Sarasota divas including Kathryn Parks, Alana Opie, Berry Ayers, Jennifer Baker and Eve Caballero will perform some of your favorite Broadway tunes. No food or drink will be sold at this event. Seats are provided. NO TICKETS will be printed for this event. Upon making your purchase your name will be on a reservation list.
CreArte Latino Cultural Center is a major participant in the 2022 Suncoast Remake Learning Days Festival, presented by Remake Learning, which hosts festivals in 14 regions across the nation. This festival will be held in four Florida counties, including the Sarasota area, for the first time, April 29 through May 8. CreArte Latino invites children and families to three free special events promoting arts and literacy, created in cooperation with other community organizations and sponsored by The Patterson Foundation and The Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading. In the first event on April 29, 5:30-7:30 pm, CreArte Latino collaborates with the Dreamers Academy to present “Festival DreamArtes, Reimagining Literacy Through the Arts.” It’s a bilingual evening of hands-on art activities for children pre-K through Grade 2, held at the Academy, 1050 S. Tuttle Ave., Sarasota. On May 5, 4-6:30 pm, CreArte Latino partners with Sarasota County public libraries, the Asolo Rep, and Embracing Our Differences at the Betty Johnson Library, 2801 Newtown Blvd., Sarasota, for an afternoon of bilingual fun and exploration for children in grades 6, 7 and 8, called “Loud at the Library.” The third and final event, “Viernes de Creatividad/Creativity Friday,” is May 6, 6-8 pm, at the CreArte Latino Cultural Center, 8251 15th St. East, Sarasota. The event, presented in partnership with UnidosNow, is for families and children of all ages and will involve the creation of a garden mural dedicated to Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai. In addition, children’s literature author Pilar Vélez will lead art activities inspired by her books, “Carta a mis sueños”/“Letter to My Dreams,” and “Carta a mis sueños para el planeta tierra”/”Letter to My Dreams for Planet Earth.” Ms. Velez is also founder and president of the Milibrohispano/Hispanic Heritage Literature Organization and advocate for the preservation of Florida’s environment. The evening is in Spanish with English translation as needed.
“We’re thrilled to be part of the Suncoast Remake Learning Days Festival,” says Carolina Franco, CreArte Latino’s artistic director and president. “It’s a perfect opportunity to pursue our mission of connecting the Latino/Hispanic community with the community at large through the arts.” She is particularly excited for CreArte Latino to host the festival’s third special event in its home space, in association with UnidosNow.
The Giving Challenge is an exciting 24-hour giving event sponsored by the Community Foundation of Sarasota County supporting local nonprofits. From April 26th at noon to April 27th at noon, donors can make a donation, helping their favorite organization. The Patterson Foundation will provide a 1:1 match for all donations, up to $100 per donor, per organization. Explore the nonprofits participating this year and support them.
The Giving Challenge is an exciting 24-hour ONLINE event made possible because of generous donors who will match YOUR donation, up to $100, when you donate online between April 26-27, noon to noon to the Chalk Festival. The Chalk Festival is only made possible because of so many wonderful people, like you, willing to do their part, so collectively, we all can do a lot. Your donation will help us provide free tickets to the underprivileged, host artists locally and from around the world, host group projects, renovate the world record, and create the Chalk Festival giving tribute to the marvels of the natural world and the human imagination. The Giving Challenge is Presented by the Community Foundation of Sarasota County with giving strengthened by The Patterson Foundation, as well as support from Charlotte Community Foundation, Harbor Style, Herald Tribune Media Group, iHeart Media, John S. and James L Knight Foundation, Manatee Community Foundation, William G. and Marie Selby Foundation and Suncoast News Network.
Join The Florida Center for Early Childhood for a family-friendly Giving Challenge kick-off event sponsored by Jon F. Swift Construction on Tuesday, April 26 from 3pm to 7pm at the Florida Center, 4620 17th St. Stop by for some FREE family fun and help support local children and families. You can be “Be the One” to build them up as we kick off the 2022 Giving Challenge. This event has something for everyone including Entertainment, Prizes, Games, Bounce Houses, Crafts, and Food Trucks.
Woven from ancestral myths, traditional music and arts, and a three-person narrative, Andares reveals the extraordinary, untold stories of ordinary, humble people who inhabit Mexico's most remote corners. Created by director Hector Flores Komatsu’s personal search to know and understand the indigenous cultures of his homeland, Andares is a moving, fierce denunciation against a present that seems intent upon destroying what was once held as sacred. This performance will show on April 28, 29, and 30 at 7:30pm.
“Mi Historia, Tu Historia, y Nuestra Historia” (My Story, Your Story, Our Story). In “Cuban Project: Historias” Artistic Director Leymis Bolaños Wilmott dives into her family history, investigating her parents’ forced migration through the world’s largest political exodus of children, known as Operation Pedro Pan. Through original sound sculpting by José G. Martínez and thought-provoking movement research, this production explores personal stories, decision making, displacement, and the Cuban-American experience. Cuban Project: Historias will take place Thursday, April 28, 2022 through Saturday, April 30th at 7pm and Sunday, May 1 at 2pm. Tickets are $10 - $45. Available Virtually Friday, April 29th, 2022 through Sunday, May 1st, 2022. Virtual Tickets are $25.
The Season concludes with Program 7 – Serendipitous Movement, a triple bill that epitomizes the depth and range of The Sarasota Ballet, and features George Balanchine’s Serenade, the Company Premiere of Mark Morris’ The Letter V, and Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s Elite Syncopations. Balanchine’s gorgeous Serenade opens, coursing through the four movements of Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings in a mesmerizingly graceful display. The Company Premiere of Morris’ dynamic The Letter V follows, marking the first time the Company will have worked with this astounding choreographer. Originally premiered in 2015 by the Houston Ballet, The Letter V sets Morris’ dynamic approach to dance and distinctive musicality to Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 88 in G, a pairing that Alistair Macaulay stated, in his New York Times review, “exemplifies the same qualities as Mr. Morris: high spirits, terrific humor, a strong inclination to the pastoral and a keen instinct for structural experimentation.” The long-awaited return of MacMillan’s Elite Syncopations closes the Program with a ragtime-fueled, comedy-infused dance-off. Created for The Royal Ballet in 1974 with MacMillan at his most whimsical, the curtain opens as Elite Syncopations’ cast dances wildly on a virtually bare stage surrounded by a live band. Serendipitous Movement will take place on April 29 2022 at 7:30pm and April 30 2022 at 2pm and 7:30pm at Sarasota Opera House, 61 North Pineapple Ave.
The Ringling is pleased to present an exhibition that celebrates the life and artwork of Eleanor Merritt from February 18, 2022 to August 21, 2022. Eleanor was a dedicated volunteer at The Ringling for many years as a docent and Board member. She also served as president of the Venice Art Center and was active in other arts organizations as well. Eleanor passed away in 2019 leaving a legacy of art and public service. This exhibition is dedicated to her spirit and creativity and represents a small sample of a significant body of work the artist created over her long career. Beginning with an early work from the 1950s Untitled (Seated Figure) and concluding with her last painting Blue Embrace of 2018, the exhibition highlights her creative use of materials, movement between figuration and abstraction, and her commitment to women’s rights. The works in the exhibition come from the artist’s estate and from a few prestigious private collections. The artist’s daughter, Lisa, and artist Mike Solomon were critical guides in the development of this exhibition.
A Skeptic and a Bruja by Rosa Fernandez Directed by Patrice Amon is A WORLD PREMIERE produced in Collaboration with freeFall Theatre and will run from April 1 to May 1, 2022. Priscilla buys a home in the middle of nowhere with the hopes of turning it into a lucrative bed and breakfast. When she starts having paranormal experiences, she calls Sam and Jess from the hit ghost-hunting show "A Skeptic and a Bruja" to help her. None of the women are prepared for the haunting they encounter next.
PARC will hold its 48th Golf Tournament Weekend presented by Raymond James on Friday, April 29, 2022 and Saturday, April 30, 2022 at the Countryside Country Club. The weekend will kick off with a 70’s themed Friday Night Party that will start at 7pm. There will be food, drinks and live music provided by The Black Honkeys. The Golf Tournament will be held the following day with lunch starting at 11am followed by a shotgun start at 12pm. Join in on one of PARC’s longest running fundraising events where golfers, business leaders and friends of PARC come together to raise critical funds for the numerous programs and services that the organization offers. These programs and services include but are not limited to: Residential Housing for almost 100 individuals, Early Intervention programming for children as young as 2 months old with developmental delays, Art and Music Therapies that encourage PARC’s clients to express themselves through the arts, and Adult Life Enrichment Programs that include a variety of daily activities and opportunities for individuals with intellectual disabilities to earn hourly wages working in our production facility. Every year, PARC teams up with local businesses and residents in the community that believe in PARC’s mission and strive to help make the weekend a success. Sponsorships and tickets are available.
FST Improv Presents Comedy Freestyle Beginning on April 2 and through May 28, 2022 at 7:30pm. What happens when you take some of your favorite improv games…and remove all the rules? Anything goes at Comedy Freestyle, an off-the-wall improvisation potpourri. Featuring a mashup of both short-form and long-form styles, audiences get the best of the art form when styles and techniques collide! We’ll set our performers free from all of the traditional dos and don’ts of improv, and you get to watch them figure out what comes next, completely on the spot. Tickets are $15 per person and the performance will take place in FST's Bowne's Lab.
Join The Ringling for a conversation with Mimbre about their latest work "Lifted" which is a collection of funny, poetic and surprising moments, which explore in different ways what it means when one body is carried by another, on May 7 at 10:30am. Or when one person carries two people. Or when a person doesn’t want to be carried. Or when three people find the perfect balance. Mimbre is a London based female-led company creating nuanced, breathtaking and highly-skilled acrobatic theatre. They use circus and dance innovatively as a physical language to illuminate human connections and promote a positive image of women.
Join us Friday, April 29 (National Arbor Day), for an evening of tree-themed movement, art making and seed planting, followed by a screening of The Lorax. The celebration will take place from 5-7pm.
The world premiere of Knoxville is made possible by a generous grant from The Roy Cockrum Foundation. This moving and innovative new musical reunites the dynamic Tony Award-winning creative team behind Ragtime, one of the most beloved musicals of all time. Based on James Agee’s autobiographical, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, A Death in the Family, the story begins as Agee struggles to write his greatest work—about the event that touched his young life and the effect it had on his mother, his town, and his own future. A powerful illumination of the forces that shape who we are, Knoxville is a universal coming-of-age story about family, faith, and love—and about the boy who will grow up to write it. With a sweeping musical score and an extraordinary creative team and cast, this world premiere is a must-see event. Contains mature themes. Recommended for age 10+. Knoxville will show April 23 - May 11, 2022 with Previews April 15-22, 2022.
One of Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation’s most anticipated events, The Golf Tournament is a day of fun, food, and fast greens. The Tournament will take place on Friday, May 6, 2022 at 8:30am at Laurel Oak Golf & Country Club, 2700 Gary Player Blvd. Join Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation for their 20th annual Golf Tournament benefiting Physician’s Endowment at SMH, which provides continuing education for our health system staff and gives them the opportunity to earn new certifications and update existing credentials. For sponsorship opportunities, please contact Sally Schule, Director of Community and Donor Engagement, at 941.374.9700 or sally-schule@smh.com.
Musical prodigies have always fascinated. Britten wrote his Sinfonietta No. 1 at age 18, dedicating the ingenious work to his teacher. Mozart's highly dramatic Symphony No. 25, composed at 17, shows extraordinary musical maturity. Teen cellist Ifetayo Ali-Landing makes her Sarasota debut playing Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations, proving that young people of rare talent are not just the stuff of legend and will take place on Saturday, May 14 at 7:30pm at the Sarasota Opera House.
Botany and beverages meet in the first installment of a new series called “Noshing in Nature” at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. On Friday, May 6, from 6 to 8 p.m., the Gardens will host “Tequila Tasting and Succulent Science,” a program that delves into the tequila-making process and the resulting complex flavors, at its Downtown Sarasota campus. Senior director of gardens horticulture Christopher Elenstar will lead a dialogue on agave, cacti, and other succulents with tequila experts from award-winning distillery Hiatus Tequila. After learning about the key succulents that play a role in the distilling process, attendees can put their new knowledge into practice through a guided tasting of Hiatus Tequila varieties. Botany has never tasted so delicious! Cost is $65 for Selby Gardens members, and $70 for non-members. Advance registration is required, as capacity will be limited. Learn more and register online at selby.org/events/noshing-in-nature/.
The Women′s Resource Center (WRC) is partnering with the Tampa Bay Women’s Business Centre, Manasota SCORE, and CareerSource, to provide a free, business coaching seminar for female entrepreneurs, Wednesday, April 27, noon-1 pm, via Zoom. Speakers from all three organizations will discuss their programs and resources that assist entrepreneurs in building a successful business. The speakers are: Dr. Kerry Szymanski, director of the Tampa Bay Women’s Business Centre; SCORE certified mentor Arcinée Hermiston; and Michael Meerman, the workforce education director of CareerSource Suncoast.
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