Sarasota’s latest addition to the studio/gallery scene is also the latest addition to the growing SPAACES creative community, as Imparo Art Studio celebrates its grand opening this weekend. With a dedication to sculpture and a mission to promote more public art in Sarasota, the studio will not only serve as home base for Imparo’s three working artists, but also as a teaching space for various classes on offer, a gathering space for weekly studio sessions with a live model and an exhibition hall for curated shows. The grand opening celebration will be this Saturday, from 6pm to 8pm, at SPAACES, featuring work in bronze, terracotta and oil on canvas, by the artists and their students.

Founded by sculptor Thomas Satcher and joined by classical figure sculptor Stephen Perkins and fine artist Christine D’Andrea Gahagan, the name comes from the Italian word for ‘to learn,’ more specifically a quote from none other than Michelangelo, who reportedly said at the age of 87, “Ancora imparo,” or, “Yet, I am learning.” It’s a philosophy that permeates the studio, seen in the many classes and workshops available and expected of the artists themselves. “The idea,” Satcher says, “is that there really is no master of this. And the best use of any of the knowledge that you gain in the arts is passing it on.”

In its second month of operation, some classes are already up and running, including sculpture classes where students work from a live model, making armatures and learning anatomy, and some mixed-media classes, which Satcher finds particularly interesting at the moment. “It’s kind of representational of the time,” he says. “Because never before have artists had so much access to so many great materials, all at once.” Other courses are coming soon, like wildlife sculpture classes and poured resin workshops. And every Saturday, artists of every stripe and skill are invited to studio sessions with a live model. “Come in with an easel and paint, set up a sketchpad and draw, or sculpt,” says Satcher. “The goal is basically an art party, all bound together by the love of working with a live model.”

Therein lies the greater goal of Imparo: to build the community. This also explains the studio’s proclaimed emphasis on public art. “It’s how you pull a community together,” Satcher says. “It’s how you inspire people to make sure that they’re keeping beauty close to their heart.” And so he wants to see Imparo lead the charge in producing and placing more sculpture in public spaces, from life-size work to even larger, from the figurative to the abstract, a community statement writ large in bronze and steel and whatever else will hold up to the heat and the salt air. To ask Satcher why is to invite a dissertation on the positive impact that public art can have on a people, from the statistical to the philosophical, but he can also sum it up as bluntly as a bumper sticker.

“Life is better when you have great art around you,” he says.

The Imparo Art Studio grand opening celebration featuring works from the artists and their students begins this Saturday, July 8, at 6pm at SPAACES, 2087 Princeton Street, Sarasota. 

Pictured: Classical figure sculptor and Imparo Art Studio instructor Stephen Perkins working with one of his students. Photo courtesy of Imparo Art Studio.

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“Sveta Osborne is from Belarus, where she grew up next to a sculptor who really inspired her textural style of painting,” says Robyn Holl, the Cultural Curator at Sarasota’s Art Ovation Hotel. “Now, she resides in Cape Coral, where you can see the Gulf Coast has a huge influence on her art–Sveta has about 14 to 15 paintings of hers throughout the lobby as a part of her exhibit, The Ocean, all of which are inspired by beaches, shells and seascapes.”

This Saturday at the Art Ovation Hotel, Holl is hosting a live conversation with Osborne as the latest installment of the hotel’s Conversations with Artists Spring 2023 Series, a series of live interviews in which Holl and attending guests can start a dialogue with the Hotel’s featured artists. The program, which started this January is aimed to be an extension of what the Art Ovation Hotel does best: give viewers an inside eye into an artist’s process.

The hotel already has their Artist in Residence program, featuring a different artist working live in their hotel’s studio nearly every week–now with their Conversations with Artists series, guests can get an ever deeper dive into the background of the art that they see around the hotel. “We rotate our exhibits in the hotel every six months,” says Holl. “So while each week we have an artist in residency, the exhibiting artists in the hotel are not nearly as physically present. This is really an opportunity to hear their insight and stories–I have a very thorough list of about 20 questions that I have for the artist and then we turn it over to the audience to continue the conversation.”

July 8, 5pm to 6:30pm, Art Ovation Hotel Gallery Lounge, 1225 North Palm Ave, Sarasota. 

Pictured: Painter, Sveta Osborne. Photo courtesy of the artist.

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For the eighth summer, aspiring actors, dancers and singers ages 13-18 are taking the stage with Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe. WBTT is proud to present "Stage of Discovery," an intensive, five-week summer musical theatre program that is offered at no cost to participants; the program will culminate with two public performances of FAME The Musical in mid-July. The teens are under the direction of WBTT Founder/Artistic Director Nate Jacobs and Education Director/Artistic Associate Jim Weaver. WBTT staff and guest instructors – including choreographers, musicians, actors and vocal coaches – offer lessons in dance, acting, singing and improvisation, and provide behind-the-scenes experience with set and costume design. Students are also enjoying the “creative lab” headed up by WBTT’s Resident Property Artisan Manager, Annette Breazeale. The Stage of Discovery program is free to students, thanks to support from the community. Founding Sponsor is the Robert E. Dods Family Foundation. Presenting Sponsors are: Carol Beeler (in memory of Tom Beeler); The Community Foundation of Sarasota County; Sy Goldblatt; Gulf Coast Community Foundation; Lee & Lydia Rainer, Rainer’s Grace Donor Fund; and Pat Singletary. FAME The Musical is a stage musical based on the 1980 musical film of the same name. It follows the lives of students at New York's High School for The Performing Arts as they navigate their way through classes, auditions, and life's highs and lows. This bittersweet but uplifting story explores the issues that confront many young people today, with an almost entirely new score (except for the title Academy Award-winning song, Fame). Weaver is the director, WBTT Resident Choreographer Donald Frison is handling the choreography, and Resident Music Director Matthew McKinnon is the show’s music director. Performances take place in The Donelly Theatre at WBTT (1012 N. Orange Ave., Sarasota) on Saturday, July 15 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, July 16 at 2 p.m. Tickets, which are $27/adults, $17/active military and students age 25 and under, are now on sale; visit westcoastblacktheatre.org or call the Box Office at 941-366-1505. 

Pictured: Students participating in the 2023 Stage of Discovery program rehearse the culminating musical, FAME The Musical. Photo by Sorcha Augustine.

City Commissioners will consider 36 applications for the Ad Hoc Van Wezel Purple Ribbon Committee when they make seven appointments on July 17. The new seven-member committee will study financially sustainable options, as well as the use, purpose, and lease of the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. 36 applications were submitted for seven seats in the following required categories: 20 - residents of the City of Sarasota; (2 individuals to be appointed); 6 - expertise in historical preservation; (1 individual to be appointed); 4 – financial expertise in the field of the performing arts; (1 individual to be appointed); 3 - expertise in architecture, design of performing arts center, reuse of large public structures and buildings; (1 individual to be appointed); 2 - expertise in climate adaptation, FEMA, and flood plains; (1 individual to be appointed); 1 - expertise in civil structural engineering; (1 individual to be appointed). The application process is closed. The number of applications being considered may vary due to individuals withdrawing. The committee will have two years to provide recommendations to the City Commission. The City of Sarasota and the Sarasota Performing Arts Center Foundation entered into an agreement in April 2022 to establish and define responsibilities for the planning, financing, design, and construction of a new performing arts center to be located at The Bay Park. 

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The Circus Arts Conservatory and The Ringling are happy to partner once again to present the Summer Circus Spectacular at the Historic Asolo Theater. Don’t miss this family-friendly show that runs Friday, June 9 through Saturday, August 12! The Summer Circus Spectacular showcases some of the finest circus artists from around the world, performing acts to thrill audiences of all ages.

Tuesday - Friday  11:00 am and 2:00 pm, Saturdays @ 2:00 pm and 5:00 pm. 

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