As Sarasota Rising’s Living Arts Festival gears up for its 2024 launch, festival organizers have already issued a call to artists, searching for what will become the signature design of the debut festival. The call is open to all, regardless of age or artistic experience, and the winning artist will receive a $1000 stipend and see their artwork emblazoned on all festival materials and merchandise. The only real stipulation is that artists must come from the greater Sarasota-Manatee region.

“A festival is a community celebration,” says Sarasota Rising Executive Director Jeffery Kin. “And so we would love for that artist to be someone in our community, so we can celebrate their creativity.”

According to the call, proposals should “capture the spirit of Sarasota’s arts community,” with a focus on the many performing arts—such as theater, dance, opera and the circus arts—that enrich the local cultural scene, along with the fine and culinary arts. Artists should also be cognizant of the fact that designs will need to be scalable and perhaps even croppable, as the chosen artwork will be used not only for the festival’s official poster and magazine, but also printed on t-shirts and hats and bags and pins and all sorts of merchandise that, if all goes well, will turn local art into yearly collectibles connected to a growing city tradition. “Because we plan to do this every year,” says Kin.

And though the submission deadline is June 30, Kin encourages artists to submit their designs as early as possible, so festival organizers have the opportunity to collaborate with the artist on what will be a defining aspect for the inaugural festival. “If we find something that has merit and promise, we want to have time to work with the artist,” says Kin. “And the earlier you submit, the more time we can spend with you and the more energy we can spend on you.”

While Kin fully expects to get plenty of proposals from the established fine artists and graphic designers of the Cultural Coast, he’s particularly excited to see what comes from the students and hobbyists and first-time artists putting their work out into the community—and hopes the Living Arts Festival encourages them to further pursue their artistic talents. “I hope that this festival is something where everyone feels like they can participate, that they have a piece of this,” he says. “And I’ve found that, in the long run, my main job is to create a great environment that makes people want to participate.”

Because in the end, Kin says, everything about the Living Arts Festival comes back to collaboration as celebration. “It’s just how I view the world,” he says. “We are better together and we’re stronger when we collaborate.”

Proposed designs should be 18.5” by 24” and submitted either as a full color printout or a high-resolution digital file. The winning proposal will be selected by August 15, followed by a public announcement and event. 

For more details on how and where to submit proposals, visit

When it comes to the exhibitions at The Ringling Museum of Art, there is always more than meets the eye. There is an effort by the curators to pursue art that is on the vanguard of its medium, it feels as if there is never just a typical painting or photography exhibition, but instead something more. The Ringling’s latest exhibition, Lorna Bieber: The Natural World is no exception to that rule.

Lorna Bieber is not your typical photographer. Actually, it might not be correct to call her a photographer at all, but instead an artist who operates on the edge of photography. Using recycled and manipulated imagery, such as pictures from magazines, paintings, or stock images found online, Bieber creates massive textile masterpieces often as large as 10 feet tall and 20 feet wide. These pieces make up Bieber’s Montage series, which will be on display at The Ringling this summer, including her two latest works Ordinary Day and Quiet Night.

“It’s such a unique exhibition and I couldn’t be more excited about it,” says Christopher Jones, the Stanton B. and Nancy W. Kaplan Curator of Photography and Media Art at The Ringling. “I’ve been in conversation with Lorna since before the pandemic trying to figure out a time to bring her here. Her work’s really unique because she’s creating these really massive montages that she creates out of fragments of images.”

Bieber started her artistic journey back in the 1980s, when she was working in the photo editing rooms of major magazines in New York City. Bieber became entranced by the images that came across her desk and started to use the magazines’ photocopy machines to create her own work. “Lorna works in this very small studio in New York City and when I got the chance to visit her I was able to actually understand the scale of the work she was creating. She spends so many hours putting these little pieces together, almost like a giant jigsaw puzzle, constantly photocopying and making changes to this ever growing work of art,” says Jones. “You’re unprepared for the experience you have when you’re actually looking at her art in person. Your jaw drops.”

May 20 to October 15, The Ringling Museum of Art, 5401 Bay Shore Rd., Sarasota. 

Pictured: Tapestry DETAIL inkjet on fabric, 11 feet x 24.5 feet, 2014-2016. Photo courtesy of Lorna Bieber.

To learn more, visit

The new biography by Washington Post Reporter David Von Drehle seems to be an organic idea from David’s meeting his 102 year old neighbor as the latter washed his car one morning. David’s study of Charlie White’s life focuses on how a man makes it to such an age with all his faculties and physical capacities still in place. In Charlie’s case, many of the anecdotes over his life span focus on his lens of seeing life’s challenges through a lens of comedy, joy and/or daring. Not only does the reader receive a beautifully told life story, Von Drehle, being a true reporter, gives one interesting facts about each time period of Charlie’s life, from the miraculous introduction of Ford’s Model T to radio to modern medicine. Besides his optimistic outlook, Charlie also possessed the intestinal fortitude to take action rather than accept defeat (though Von Drehle also chalks Charlie’s pragmatism up to his mother’s caring moral compass). A sub story that might be of interest to Sarasotans is the curating of some of the early Chautauqua programming completed by Charlie’s minister father. Best of all, this book is appropriate for seasoned readers to middle schoolers as The Book of Charlie looks back at less complicated times, yet gives great timeless advice for those of us still in the work world.

The Book of Charlie is available for pre-order at www.sarasotabooks.com or in store starting on May 23, 2023 at 117 S. Pineapple Ave. Sarasota.

The Book of Charlie by David Von Drehle Publication Date May 2023. ISBN:  9781476773926. 

Florida Studio Theatre (FST) kicks off its Summer Cabaret Series with The Surfer Boys, an energetic tribute to the music of The Beach Boys. Featuring such hits as “California Girls,” “Good Vibrations,” “Barbara Ann,” and “Surfin’ USA,” The Surfer Boys is filled with the honey-tinged harmonies and unforgettable melodies that defined 1960s California and pop music. The Surfer Boys begins playing June 13 in FST’s Goldstein Cabaret. Tickets are now on sale at FloridaStudioTheatre.org or at 941.366.9000. The Surfer Boys is part of a three-show subscription package. Also included in the Cabaret subscription package is Divas Three, a celebration of the great female vocalists from the ‘60s through the ‘90s, and Creedence Clearwater Remixed!, a rousing musical journey through the songbook of the pioneering country rock band. Subscriptions for all three Summer Cabaret shows can be purchased for as little as $49 at 941.366.9000 or FloridaStudioTheatre.org. 

Since 2007, the School District of Manatee County’s Food and Nutrition Services department has partnered with the Summer BreakSpot program to help provide meals for youth during the long summer months. Starting on Tuesday, May 30, 2023, meals will be provided at more than 60 sites across Manatee County. The meals are free for all kids and teens, 18 and younger, with no registration required. The Summer BreakSpot is a Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services program. This service is not based on income status and all kids and teens, 18 and younger, will be able to participate. This program was designed to ensure that children have access to nutrition during the summer and give them an opportunity to return to school healthy, happy and ready to learn. The School District of Manatee County General Funds are not used for this program. Free meals will be provided for students attending School District of Manatee County summer programs, as well as being delivered to local sites such as summer camps, community centers and churches. Three mobile feeding buses and two mobile “Caboose” food vehicles (provided in partnership with Tropicana), will deliver meals to multiple locations in Bradenton, Palmetto and Parrish starting on May 30th. Both buses have indoor and outdoor seating for the kids to enjoy their meal. Meals are required to be consumed on-site. There are 3 ways to find the nearest Summer BreakSpot location: Call: 211; Text: “Food” to 304-304; Visit: SummerBreakSpot.org. For more information about the Summer BreakSpot contact the Food and Nutrition Services Office at (941) 739-5700 or go to their website, ManateeSchoolFood.net.