This modern contemporary home seamlessly integrates innovation and functionality, overcoming the challenges presented by the pie-shaped lot and stringent homeowners’ association restrictions. The exterior, characterized by modern design, combines stucco, simulated wood aluminum siding and aluminum louvers, creating a sleek and harmonious façade. The inverted, V-shaped roof design cleverly conceals solar panels and adheres to homeowners’ association requirements, presenting a striking modern elevation. The second-floor glazed hallway functions as a gallery, connecting bayside rooms and offering a shaded retreat with a louvered overhang above. As you ascend to the covered entry via floating stairs, the experience is enhanced by a subtle glow over the reflecting pool, setting the tone for the exceptional design within. Solid wood-clad volumes flanking the entry cube create a compelling contrast, emphasizing the interplay between solids and voids. In the great room, expansive glazing on the bay side establishes a visual connection between interior spaces and the two-story decks beyond. The floor plan strategically pivots at the stair and elevator tower, changing the angle to maximize the footprint on the challenging lot. The staircase tower, serving as a vertical axis, connects three floors with an open stringer and warm walnut tread design. Natural light bathes the interior through clerestory windows, creating an inviting atmosphere. Interior spaces boast walnut accents, complementing clean white cabinetry in the kitchen and wet bar area, adorned with thick stone countertops. On the bay side of the home, the inverted roof extends above the decks, offering unobstructed bay views through the mangroves. The symmetrical rear exterior stair progresses down to the pool deck, featuring a custom mosaic water feature that adds a touch of artistry. This modern residence seamlessly marries form and function, creating an unparalleled living experience that transcends the confines of traditional design. 

Architect: DSDG Architects Contractor: Trinity Custom Homes Interior Design: Trinity Design Kitchen Cabinets: Campbell Cabinetry Designs Landscape: DWY Landscape Architects, Siesta Key Landscape Pool: Water Designs of Sarasota Photographer: Ryan Gamma Eng

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What does it mean to connect the dots? At the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens’ Downtown Campus, the Yayoi Kusama: A Letter to Georgia O’Keeffe exhibit, invites visitors to explore the concept of interconnectedness by celebrating and creating visual representations of the two artists’ extraordinary relationship.

At first glance, the works of Georgia O’Keeffe, a modernist American painter best known for her compelling and abstract depictions of flowers and bones, as well as urban and natural landscapes, appear to have little in common with those of Yayoi Kusama. Born 42 years after O’Keeffe, Japanese artist Kusama has achieved notoriety for her colorful and playful paintings, sculptures and immersive works, like the Infinity Mirror Rooms. Both women experienced nature, giving them a unique artistic perspective, at an early age. O’Keeffe grew up on a Wisconsin farm and Kusama was raised against the backdrop of her family’s plant nursery in Matsumoto, Japan. As a young artist, Kusama found a book of O’Keeffe’s paintings in a local bookstore and decided to write a letter to her, in hopes of learning how to come and work in the United States. Visitors can see that letter, to which O’Keeffe did reply, on display in the exhibit. The two established a dialogue that was instrumental in inspiring Kusama to move to the United States where she developed her career.

The exhibit is divided into ten displays spread across the downtown campus. Each display highlights motifs and themes found in the works of both artists, oftentimes tying them together. “Kusama is very much interested in pattern and repetition and is most famous for the use of the polka dot,” says Vice President for Visitor Engagement and Chief Museum Curator David Berry. “We have not used polka dots, but we have used sources in nature that are either round or spherical.” One delightful play on the dot concept can be found in the tropical conservatory, where large spheres seem to float on the top of a goldfish-filled pond. The fish can swim up and into the spheres, which magnify their appearance. In another display, epiphytes, a research specialty of Selby Gardens which they define as “a plant which grows upon another plant, but does not take anything from it like a parasite would,” hang like stars dotting the night sky above visitors. Some displays feature desert dwellers, like cactuses, which call to mind O’Keeffe’s experience living and working in New Mexico. As a nod to Kusama, the cactuses are arranged in a repetitive pattern.

Each display features a QR code, which visitors can scan to reveal a quote from one of the artists relating to that portion of the exhibit, inviting them to enter into the dialogue with the artists. In the Museum of Botany and the Arts, works by O’Keeffe and Kusama and snippets of their writings bring the exhibition full circle, allowing guests to connect the dots between art, nature, the lives of two great and impactful artists and maybe even themselves.

Yayoi Kusama: A Letter to Georgia O’Keeffe, Marie Selby Botanical Gardens’ Downtown Campus, 1534 Mound St., Sarasota, 941-366-573, selby.org. 

Pictured: The Mirage Display at Yayoi Kusama: A Letter to Georgia O'Keeffe. Photo Courtesy of the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens.

Yayoi Kusama: A Letter to Georgia O'Keeffe

The Elizabeth Moore Sarasota Open Tennis Tournament, presented by Tommy’s Express Car Wash, will take place April 7-14 at the Payne Park Tennis Center in downtown Sarasota. Sarasota kicks off the clay court swing with the first stop on the United States tour. Some of the game's biggest stars have lifted the trophy in Sarasota, with Kei Nishikori prevailing in 2010, followed by James Blake (2011), Sam Querrey (2012), Nick Kyrgios (2014), Frances Tiafoe (2017), Tommy Paul (2019) and Daniel Altmaier (2023). This tournament is part of the USTA’s Roland Garros Wild Card Challenge. The 2024 French Open Main Draw Wild Cards will be awarded to the top performing american man over the 2024 Spring run of clay court events. Sarasota’s winner could be that player!  Tickets are on sale now on the tournament’s website. Sponsorship and volunteer opportunities are still available for this year’s event. For more information visit sarasotaopen.com or call 941-789-6869. 

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The Out-of-Door Academy has been working diligently to prepare a state-of-the art learning environment at its new Lower School Campus on Clark Road, which will open in August 2024 for students in Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten and first grade.  Each classroom will have its own multipurpose outdoor space accompanied by versatile technology enabling students to excel wherever they find their optimal learning environment.  In addition, a partnership with ODA’s Historic Siesta Key Campus (grades PK - 5) and Uihlein Campus in Lakewood Ranch (grades 6-12) will provide students with “a home away from home” and endless opportunities for collaboration. Enrollment is now open for families wishing to “get in on the ground floor” of an Out-of-Door education at the Clark Road Campus.  Next Wednesday, March 6, ODA will host a series of "Welcome Wednesdays" designed to provide an open house experience for anyone interested in seeing the campus, learning more about ODA’s curriculum, or meeting educators who will shape the student experience at the Clark Road Campus. All interested families are invited to attend and no RSVP is necessary. Please contact Mrs. Laura Murphy at lmurphy@oda.edu for more information.  Additional Welcome Wednesday open house events will take place on March 13, 21, and 28, and the school will host an official open house and play day for current and prospective students on April 13 from 9:00-11:00 AM. ODA’s Lower School Campus on Clark Road is located at 11011 State Road 72, Sarasota, FL. 

Last week, as part of the annual Orioles Health & Fitness Challenge, Orioles pitchers Danny Coulombe and Jonathan Heasley joined the Oriole Bird to visit Oak Park School, a district center school that provides educational and therapeutic services to over 300 students with disabilities. Students participated in various fitness activities with Coulombe and Heasley, rotating through circuits where they practiced hitting, throwing, and balancing. The five-week Orioles Health & Fitness Challenge is offered each year in 10 Sarasota County schools for approximately 4,500 students in grades six through eight. Participating students earned an Orioles Health & Fitness t-shirt, and two free tickets to the Orioles’ Spring Training game on February 24. Participants also receive vouchers for complimentary concessions at the Orioles Fit Grill at Ed Smith Stadium. For more information about the challenge, visit Orioles.com/Fitness.

The New College of Florida Board of Trustees unanimously approved an agreement to receive the donation of a nine-acre parcel from Manatee County on February 22. The land donation, which first came before the Board at its October 2023 meeting, was unanimously approved by the Manatee County Board of County Commissioners on February 13. “This land will be important for the rapid growth New College will experience over the next several years, allowing us to immediately plan for New College to meet its residential honors college mission while increasing the student population” said Richard Corcoran, President of New College. “The Manatee County Commission has been wonderful to work with and I’m grateful for their support of New College’s efforts to become America’s top liberal arts college.” The donated land is waterfront property located on the northern portion of the Powel Crosley Estate, north of the existing New College campus. New College is currently engaged in updating its Campus Master Plan, and the latest drafts shared at a public hearing last month call for a pair of student residence halls on the property. A copy of the full donation agreement can be viewed online at ncf.edu/bot. For more information about the New College Campus Master Plan, visit ncf.edu/masterplan. 

Registration is open now! Art Center Sarasota is once again encouraging young children and teens to set their inner artists free at its summertime art camps. The nine weekly sessions run June 3 to August 2. The programs target two different age groups: Creative Kids serves children, ages 6 to 9; Emerging Artists is for aspiring artists, ages 10 to 14. The camps are Mondays through Fridays, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Before- and after-care is offered. Fees are $275 per week for Art Center Sarasota members with a family membership; $350 per week for non-members. Scholarships are available to those eligible. Art supplies are included; participants will also receive a free art camp t-shirt. Art Center Sarasota is also looking for teens, 15 and over, to volunteer as teaching and after-care assistants. Volunteer hours count towards high school and Bright Futures and National Honor Society requirements. For more information about Art Center Sarasota’s summer art camp, scholarship eligibility and teen volunteer programs, visit www.artsarasota.org; or call 941-365-2032; or email youtheducation@artsarasota.org. 

This past October, members and instructors from area music school Music Compound presented a live musical tribute to one of the most revered albums of all time on the 50th anniversary of its release: Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side of the Moon.” Funds raised during this concert were donated to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of Sarasota and Manatee Counties, a nonprofit organization working in a field suggested by the history of the album. The event was such a success – thanks in great part to the vision and hard work of instructors Iain Harris and Taylor Galford – that Music Compound decided to create the "Music Compound Album Ensemble" program, to stage similar performances of classic albums in their entirety on a regular basis, with each performance being tied to fundraising for a local charity. On Saturday, March 2, the Music Compound Album Ensemble - composed of 14 students, ages 13 to 70, and five staff members - will present a performance of the complete "Rumours" album by Fleetwood Mac, with performances at 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. Proceeds from the concert will benefit SPARCC, a charity selected to reflect the troubled circumstances that famously surrounded the band during the recording of the album. Recorded between February and August 1976, and released in February 1977, "Rumours" was the band's first number-one album in both the U.S. and the United Kingdom. It featured four hit singles: "Dreams" (which sold more than one million copies and reached the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100), "Go Your Own Way," "Don't Stop" and "You Make Loving Fun." Pre-orders for the album reached 800,000 copies, at the time the largest advance sale in Warner Brothers' history. Frequently appearing in lists of “the greatest albums ever made,” "Rumours" stayed at the top of the Billboard 200 for 31 non-consecutive weeks, while also reaching number one in the U.K., Australia, Canada and New Zealand. The Album Ensemble is one of many programs Music Compound provides for adults and youth who wish to connect with like-minded individuals in a positive and fun learning environment. Future Album Ensemble performances, featuring "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" by the Beatles and Nirvana's "MTV Unplugged in New York," are planned for later this year. By selecting music from different genres and generations, Music Compound hopes to inspire a greater level of musicianship for all participants. The "Rumours" concerts take place at Music Compound SRQ (1751 Cattlemen Rd., Sarasota). The shows are free but registration is requested; visit musiccompound.com/rumours. 

Five local high school students are finalists for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota and DeSoto Counties 2024 Youth of the Year title. This prestigious honor will be presented to the selected candidate at the organization’s annual Steak & Burger, Youth of the Year Celebration on Friday, March 1. Since 1947, Youth of the Year has been the premier recognition program of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America that fosters a new generation of leaders, fully prepared to live and lead in a diverse, global, and integrated world economy. The program celebrates the extraordinary achievements of Club members across the nation. Candidates compete at the local Club, state, and regional levels before attending the national celebration. Youth who compete for these titles embody the values of leadership service, academic excellence, and healthy lifestyles. The following finalists have exemplified the Boys & Girls Clubs’ mission and are proof of the impact the Clubs make in transforming lives: Ashley V., Venice High School, 12th Grade, Ava M., Pine View School, 11th Grade, Bianca D., North Port High School, 12th Grade, Nishalle U., Pine View School, 12th Grade, Sierra M., Riverview High School, 12th Grade.

Friday, March 1, 2024 | 6:00 p.m at Lee Wetherington Boys & Girls Club | 3130 Fruitville Road | Sarasota. 

RESILIENT DESIGN | Architect Jerry Sparkman and builder Rob Dynan revisit a collaboration 20 years down the line, February 2024. 

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