The West Coast Black Theatre Troupe will be opening its 2022-23 season on October 5th with their production of the Tony-award winning musical Guys and Dolls. The production, one of five headlining the West Coast Black Theatre Troupe’s season, speaks to the thematic tone of the season. “It’s about a group of guys trying to achieve the American dream–through gambling. It's a microcosm of what we’ve tried to do here and accomplish at WBTT,” says Nate Jacobs, founder and artistic director of WBTT.

Interrogating the concept of the American dream is something that the WBTT looks to achieve through all of its productions this season, which includes Langston Hughes Black Nativity and Flyin’ West - a play about a group of African-American women who flee the South and settle in Kansas in the 1890s. “We had talked about doing something new with a twist, which is kind of our signature. We develop a lot of new pieces because as the WBTT, we are the steward for Black American, Caribbean, and African culture in the region,” says Jacobs

The idea to put on Guys and Dolls was partially due to the show’s director, Jim Weaver, experience with the musical. Weaver, who is an Artistic Associate and Director of Education at the WBTT, saw a production of Guys and Dolls that featured an all African-American cast on Broadway in 1976. The key twist of the production was that it featured Mo-Town style arrangements of the original showtunes. Look for the WBTT to weave in their own versions of the production’s classic showtunes when it premieres on October 5th.

Box office: 941-366-1505, 1012 N. Orange Ave., Sarasota. 

Pictured: Brian L. Boyd and Warren G. Nolan Jr. Photo by Sorcha Augustine.

For more information or to purchase tickets click here.

JFCS of the Suncoast is hosting its first Push for Mental Health on Saturday, Sept. 24. The event, which is a fundraiser, health fair and push-up challenge, will be held at the Sarasota Classic Car Museum from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sponsors include the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, Florida Blue, and several local health and fitness organizations. The focus of the event is fun and fitness while raising money and awareness for mental health. During the event, participants will do push-ups at their own pace, competing not against others, but against their own fitness goals. Some may set a pace of 4 push-ups per minute, while others may do 10 every 5 minutes. All ages and skill levels are welcome; participants can do traditional push-ups, wall push-ups, knee push-ups or other modified forms. JFCS offers a range of programs to help youth, teens, adults and seniors cope with long and short-term mental health challenges. Many of these services are offered without any reimbursement, so philanthropy and community support ensure that JFCS can continue to offer assistance to all who are in need. Push for Mental Health will take place from 9:00 am - 12:30 pm. The push-up challenge will take place from 10 a.m. – noon at the Sarasota Classic Car Museum, 5500 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. 

To learn more click here.

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens will host a second year of the cutting-edge contemporary-art exhibition Seeing the Invisible at its Historic Spanish Point campus. The most ambitious and expansive show to date of contemporary artworks created with augmented-reality (AR) technology, the exhibition launched last year at 12 botanical gardens around the world. Selby Gardens is one of four inaugural sites that will continue to host the show for a second year, through September 2023. Six new garden and museum sites will join the global exhibition in October. Seeing the Invisible features works by more than a dozen internationally acclaimed artists, including Ai Weiwei of China, El Anatsui of Ghana, Isaac Julien CBE RA of the United Kingdom, and Sarah Meyohas of the United States. At Selby Gardens’ Historic Spanish Point campus, the show’s 13 AR works are installed in carefully curated locations throughout the 30-acre preserve. Visitors engage with the art through an app that can be downloaded to a smartphone or tablet. An updated version of the app for Season 2 will be available in October. Seeing the Invisible is the first exhibition of its kind to be developed as a collaboration among botanical gardens around the world. The same commissioned artworks are placed in outdoor settings at the participating institutions, creating parallels and contrasts between them. The AR nature of the exhibition has allowed for the creation of expansive, immersive works that engage with existing features of the natural landscape, going beyond the limitations of what is possible with physical artworks. The collaboration also allows the partner gardens and museums to bring leading contemporary art to their communities in a sustainable way. The show was initiated by Hannah Rendell, Executive Director at the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens, and Candida Gertler, co-founder of the London-based Outset Contemporary Art Fund, with support from The Jerusalem Foundation’s Innovation Fund. Seeing the Invisible is co-curated by Hadas Maor and Tal Michael Haring. For Selby Gardens’ installation, Vice President for Visitor Engagement and Chief Museum Curator Dr. David Berry led the local curatorial team. The show is sponsored here by Gulf Coast Community Foundation. 

Pictured: El Anatsui, AG + BA (AR), 2014, 2021. Photo courtesy of Selby Gardens.

Teachers change lives every day. Many of us find ourselves conjuring up memories of how a teacher changed our journey during important moments in our personal and professional lives. Outside of family, teachers are one of the important factors in shaping a child’s future. Amazing teachers can lead to amazing trajectories for growth and change and success in a child’s life. Recently, Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation recognized five Sarasota County teachers for going above and beyond in their profession. Barancik Foundation named five Ripple Effect Teacher Awards winners in partnership with Sarasota County Schools in memory of Margery Barancik. The semi-annual prize acknowledges five outstanding teachers on Chuck’s birthday in May and five on Margie’s birthday in September. Each teacher recognized for their positive impact on their students’ lives is awarded $5,000 to spend on professional development experiences, material, and equipment for their classrooms. Margie’s fall awardees are: Amy Baldwin, Gocio Elementary; Xiomara Dearing, Ashton Elementary; Dr. Carmen Larson, Sarasota Middle School; Katie Leworthy, Atwater Elementary; Jamie Davidson, Woodland Middle School.

A surprise to the teachers, each winner was recognized by the superintendent, their principal, and members of the School District during a special ceremony at their schools. The recipients were commended for their innovative efforts in building positive cultural changes at their schools—among their students and peers. All were recognized for the lasting impact they have on their students. Launched in 2021, the award was inspired by the late Barancik couple’s philosophy on their charitable giving, often noting, “We can’t change the world, but we can change little pieces of it and hope for a ripple effect.” Facilitated by the School District, each Sarasota County principal nominated one teacher to be considered for the award. A committee made up of community leaders then identified the top candidates. Previous winners have used the funds for classroom improvement projects, professional development workshops across the country, and items like musical equipment and state-of-the-art robots to help pique students’ interest in the classroom. Barancik Foundation has made an ongoing commitment to award the 10 $5,000 teacher grants each year. 

Pictured: Atwater Elementary teacher Katie Leworthy and her class. Photo courtesy of the Barancik Foundation.

The Child Protection Center (CPC)’s Personal Safety and Community Awareness Program (PSCA) celebrates its 30 th anniversary of educating the community on reducing child abuse. As the longest tenured prevention program in the state of Florida as well as Sarasota County’s sole provider of this type of holistic and comprehensive child abuse prevention education, PSCA has served over 800,000 individuals in its 30-year history. PSCA provides workshops at no cost to pre-school through high school aged youth and facilitates workshops for their caregivers, teachers, school board staff, and community members to help empower kids and enable adults to help make our entire community a safer and more stable place for children and families. The Personal Safety Team, led by Program Director Michelle McSwain, offers lessons for over 20 different personal safety topics, “All of which have the goal of empowering children over their bodies, decisions, and mind,” Michelle explains. The hope is to prevent a child from becoming a victim of sexual abuse, but in some cases the program serves as the entry point into the system. Michelle commented that it’s not unusual for a child to disclose abuse during a presentation. “In one workshop, a child disclosed that her dad liked to touch her private body parts. In these situations, PSCA staff makes the abuse report. This was the first step to healing for that child, who was able to receive therapy services at the Child Protection Center and is now a survivor of sexual abuse because of a PSCA workshop.” Since its inception 30 years ago, the growing program has developed a strong reputation as the professionals in prevention, presenting at national conferences such as Krimes Against Kids and receiving requests from child advocacy centers across the country wishing to emulate their work. “Preventing children from experiencing the traumas of abuse and providing them a life where they can just be a kid, that’s the goal we want for all children,” said Doug Staley, CPC’s Executive Director. “Our children are worth the investment! I see the successes this program makes daily and want the community to know your support and actions are saving lives and making a difference every single day.” Doug went on to confirm an initiative for PSCA to expand into DeSoto County in the near future. 

To learn more click here.

MSD Engineering, LLC (MSD) an engineer-owned structural and forensic engineering company located in Manatee County, Florida is pleased to announce the creation of an additional engineering firm called Florida Structural Forensics, LLC (FLSF). FLSF specializes in visually examining multi-story buildings to discover defects that could become disastrous or -- worse case -- deadly. Like highly trained medical specialists, our expertise laser focuses on the structural health and wellbeing of your building. Our experience taught us an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure -- and financially crippling, preventable rehabilitation. It is best to find the cause and origin of your structural defects and neutralize them before they have a chance to spread. Florida Structural Forensics, LLC is ready, willing, and able to work with your organization so it complies with Florida's mandatory Senate Bill 4-D Milestone Inspection law and to ensure your buildings are safe and sound. Select Florida Structural Forensics and be assured you will be working with a personable, engineer owned/operated Manatee County, Florida company dedicated to solving your complex problems efficiently and within your budget. You can connect with FLSF at www.FLSFengr.com or by calling 941.462.4800. 

To learn more click here.

Making An Impact (MAI) recently enhanced the online version of its Community Connections Resource Guide with the addition of GIS spatial software. “ With the help of this new software feature, online guide users can now pinpoint the location of one or more agencies in relation to other landmarks, and can further use that information to answer questions regarding resource scarcity, as well as potential community and organizational challenges or opportunities,” said MAI board chair, Victoria Kasdan. Making An Impact has more than 4000 printed resource guides in circulation. Users include most local health and human service nonprofits, law enforcement agencies, and faith-based institutions. Their comprehensive Community Connections Resource Guide, now available in print and online, lists over 250 agencies providing essential need services in Sarasota and Manatee counties. The MAI resource guide has quickly become one of the area's most trusted and widely used references for where to go to get help. For more information about Making An Impact, to view their online resource guide, or support their mission, visit www.Making-An-Impact .org or contact them at info@Making-An-Impact.org. 

SEPARATE AND BETTER? | Once this year’s Sarasota County Commission elections conclude, the board will be made up entirely of commissioners elected in single-member district elections.

Hear more about the elections through this link, on our social media, or in the September edition of SRQ Magazine! 

Read Here!