Stepping off Palm Avenue and crossing the threshold into Art Ovation Hotel, one is presented with a fateful choice. Go left and find the hotel bar, fully stocked in spirits and potential friends. There’s an empty seat just for you. Or keep going straight, down the yawning hallway where the lights are dimmed and the shadows grow long, where thick carpet swallows the sound of your passage and the walls are covered in colored canvases and sculptures of the strangest kind. This is Light and Dark, if you choose to explore it.

Currently on display in the Crescendo Gallery at Art Ovation Hotel, Light and Dark showcases the work of 12 member-artists from the SARTQ artist collective, as they explore the nature of duality in the world. Love and Hate. Life and Death. Light and Dark. Seemingly at odds but neither can exist without the other, the result is a strange harmony that the artists of SARTQ investigate through everything from digital art and ceramic to largescale painting and even a standout sculpture from Zach Gilliland that looks like an explosion of twisted metal with a concrete epicenter, bursting from the wall like a crowned totem to the gods of modern infrastructure.

Perhaps not the typical hotel lobby fare, admits Art Ovation’s Cultural Curator Robyn Holl. “But in the Crescendo Gallery, we have the opportunity to allow a bit of an edgier touch.”

This includes monochromatic mixed-media from Ellen Kantro, taking the theme head-on with aggressive slashes of black and white on the canvas, as well as digital painting from Diana de Avila, where swirls of folding fractals seem to approximate the geometry of dreams, and a massive 12-foot-long painting by Dana Laag that blends the mythic with the modern. Sculpture in porcelain and stoneware by Taylor Robenalt—a pair of grasping hands with eyes sprouting from the palms and ringed by flowers in bloom—straddles the delicate line between whimsy and disquiet, while ceramic from Emmie Wells manages to be both oddly endearing and so startlingly biological as to approach the artistic notion of the abject. A triptych by Pamela Olin reduces a reclining figure to broad strokes of skeletomuscular suggestion and in doing so imbues the empty space with that much more.

“I love the diversity of the group,” says Holl. “It’s fantastic and it goes with our mission to connect with the community and be part of the art experience downtown.”

Currently on display at Art Ovation Hotel, Light and Dark is on display through October 30. Daily tours with Holl are at 5pm. Call ahead for pricing and availability. 

Pictured: Knot Comes Loose by Zach Gilliland. Photo by Phil Lederer.

Music Compound, Sarasota’s go-to center for music training and education, is back and better than ever with an all-new 10,000 square foot facility. The new building, which officially opened its doors August 12, marks a new chapter in the organization’s history, which launched in 2016. Dedicated to the training and education of musicians of all ages, Music Compound has emerged as one of Florida’s top music schools for the accessibility and versatility of their programs. Private, group lessons, homeschool options, jam sessions and music theory classes are offered throughout a multitude of disciplines from drums to ukulele and voice, all with the intention of inspiring future musicians.

“The process of opening this new space has been exhilarating and exhausting all at the same time. We signed our lease this past March, did some renovations and were able to merge both our Sarasota and Manatee locations into one facility,” says president and owner Jenny Townsend. “We were at 5,600 square feet previously and now we have ample space for group offerings, private lessons, a whole new recording studio and a stage that’s going to be twice the size of our previous stage with professional sound systems and lighting.”

This Saturday, Music Compound is hosting its annual Back to School Bash, a free event open to the public at its new Sarasota location. At the Back to School Bash, which will feature a bounce, food truck and various family activities, attendees will not only have the chance to tour the new facility and meet the staff, but they’ll also get to experience some of what the organization has to offer through sample lessons and live performances. Some of the highlights include demonstrations of the organization's Kidz Rock program, a band class for four to seven year-olds and Piano Jam, a group class for piano players aged eight to eleven.

Music Compound, 775 Bell Rd, Sarasota, 941-379-9100, August 24, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., musiccompound.com/backtoschoolbash/  

Pictured: The staff at Music Compound is excited to welcome the community to its new location for the 2024 Back to School Bash. Photo by Kayla Avirett

To learn more, visit.

The Sarasota Players opens its milestone 95th Season with the beloved musical Seussical the Musical with Book by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, Music by Stephen Flaherty, Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, Co-Conceived by Eric Idle, and Based on the works of Dr. Seuss. Running Sept. 12 through 22, 2024 at The Crossings at Siesta Key (3501 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL 34239) this show explores the powers of friendship, loyalty, family and community through some of literature’s most beloved characters. This show features both student performers and veterans, including some brand-new faces to The Sarasota Players stage. This performance is staged in the round and will add an immersive element to the colorful world of Dr. Seuss.

The Sarasota Players, 3501 S. Tamiami Trail, Suite 1130, Sarasota,941-365-2494, www.theplayers.org 

The Contemporary Art Music Project (CAMP) is an emerging organization dedicated to promoting innovative art music through global collaborations with living composers and performing artists. Under the leadership of co-founder and president Eunmi Ko, CAMP's 2024-2025 season features dynamic partnerships with USF School of Music students, USF’s Contemporary Art Museum, and dozens of musicians and composers, including the esteemed PAN Project, a global music project rooted in East Asian traditions, and the street dance group, DisFunktionals. 

As Sarasota Opera’s Fall and Winter seasons approach, the company has expanded its development staff and promoted a longtime employee. Brenda Tamm, has been named Patron Giving and Operations Manager at Sarasota Opera, where she now oversees STAR and Youth Opera giving programs and handles the training and technical needs of the development staff. She has been with the company since 2015, most recently serving as Individual Giving Officer. Tamm came on board as the assistant to General Director Richard Russell. She joined the development team in 2016. Before coming to Sarasota Opera, she worked as an office manager for a real estate developer and entrepreneur. A Florida native, Tamm grew up in Daytona Beach and moved to Sarasota in 2001. She enjoys Sarasota’s rich culture and volunteers at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. Davis Wolfe has been named Patron Giving Associate. He recently moved to Sarasota from Portland, OR where he was born and raised, to join the opera’s development team. Wolfe has had several years of experience in the performing arts field, most recently as a house manager for the Portland 5 Center for the Arts, where he facilitated the presentation of opera, theater, dance, comedy and music. Prior to that he has worked for the Pacific Northwest Ballet and the Willamette University Theater. Wolfe is an avid music aficionado and enjoys swimming and traveling. He is passionate about the arts and is excited to be supporting Sarasota Opera fundraising efforts at the individual giving level. Karen Misantone has joined Sarasota Opera’s development team as Leadership Giving Officer, working with high-level donors. She has more than two decades of local nonprofit experience, including with The Circus Arts Conservatory, the Child Protection Center and Asolo Repertory Theatre. Misantone also has a background in college instruction. She earned her master’s degree in sociology from the University of South Florida and her bachelor’s degree in sociology and English literature from St. Lawrence University in New York. 

 The Hermitage Artist Retreat today announced the first wave of new programs for its upcoming fall season. Continuing its commitment to innovative year-round arts programming, these events will be presented throughout Sarasota County, from the Hermitage’s beautiful beachfront campus on Manasota Key to the heart of Sarasota’s vibrant downtown arts scene. Hermitage programs introduce world-renowned artists to Florida’s Gulf Coast community for musical performances, candid and engaging conversations, theatrical presentations, literary readings, dance performances, and more.Each of these hour-long Hermitage programs offers a completely different experience, providing the Gulf Coast community a rare glimpse into innovative works and the creative process behind them. In recent years, the Hermitage has continued to expand the geographic reach and impact of these unique programs. “We look forward to introducing the work of these visionary and celebrated artists from all across the United States to the Gulf Coast region,” added Sandberg. In October, Pulitzer Prize, two-time Tony Award, two-time Emmy Award, and Grammy Award-winning Broadway composer Tom Kitt (Next to Normal, If/Then) and Emmy Award-nominated writer Daniel Goldfarb (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and HBO Max’s “Julia”) join forces to create theatrical gold as the Hermitage presents “Tom and Daniel Make a Musical.” These multi award-winning artists work across stage and screen to tell some of the most lauded stories of our time. Hear from both of these extraordinary artists as they speak about their process and share some of their original work on Friday, October 25 at 5:30pm on the Hermitage Beach. 

The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art (The Ringling)presentsI want you to know my storyon view in the Keith D. Monda Gallery of Contemporary Art from August 17, 2024, through February 25, 2025. The exhibition features the work of renowned contemporary photographer Jess T. Dugan. This solo exhibition includes new photographs from their ongoing series Look at me like you love methat consists of portraits, self-portraits and still lifes.Dugan’suse ofrichtextures,vivid colors, and dramatic lighting evoke a feeling of the Baroque and grants their interior scenes a powerful sense of intimacy. But when COVID restrictions pushed Dugan to work outdoors, the artist took their subjects into the landscape to create poignant scenes bathed in the ephemeral “golden hour” light at sunset. The exhibition also featurestwo videos,Letter to My Father andLetter to My Daughter. These worksconsist of autobiographical monologues by the artist that reflect ontheir struggles and discoveriesbeing a gender non-conforming person, both as a childand now as a parent.  

Pictured: Jess T. Dugan (American, born 1986), Self-portrait (blue room), 2021, pigment inkjet print, 40 x 30 inches. Courtesy of the artist.

Nathan Benderson Park (NBP) played host for the third year in a row to the 17th Annual RoboBoat Competition, July/August 2024.

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