Art News: Visions In Black, Selby Gardens, MicroWIP At The Ringling

SARASOTA-BRADENTON, FL — Check out the latest art news in the Sarasota and Bradenton areas.

Selby Gardens Announces Exhibits, Events

The Marie Selby Botanical Gardens has shared its upcoming schedule of events for January and February:

• “Rainforest Masks of Costa Rica” exhibition, on display Jan. 7-22 at the downtown Sarasota campus
• “Seeing the Invisible” exhibition, on display through September at the Historic Spanish Point campus
• Performances at the Point: Choral Artists of Sarasota, Jan. 11, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., at the Historic Spanish Point campus
• Noshing in Nature: Juniper ReimaGINed, Jan. 13, 6 to 8 p.m., at the downtown Sarasota campus
• “Tiffany: The Pursuit of Beauty in Nature” exhibition, on display Feb. 12 to June 25 at the downtown Sarasota campus
• The Orchid Ball 2023: The Gilded Age, Feb. 11, 6 to 11 p.m., at the downtown Sarasota campus
• Exhibition Evening: Palm Street Quartet, Feb. 15, 6 to 8 p.m., at the downtown Sarasota campus
• Family Saturday, Feb. 18, 10 a.m. to noon, at the downtown Sarasota campus
• Garden Music Series: Rae Radick, Feb. 26, 1 to 3 p.m., at the Historic Spanish Point campus

Visions in Black Submission Deadline Approaches

The submission deadline is approaching for Visions in Black, a juried art exhibition organized that showcases artists of African descent who live in Florida.

Works must be submitted by Dec. 23. Learn more about submitting artwork here.

The show, organized by the Suncoast Black Arts Collaborative, takes place Feb. 2-25 at three venues in Sarasota and Manatee counties: Manatee Performing Arts Center, Arts Advocates, and Arts & Cultural Alliance.

43 Architectural Firms Vying to Build New Sarasota Performing Arts Center

More than 40 architectural firms from around the world submitted their qualifications applications to design a new Sarasota Performing Arts Center, the Van Wezel Foundation and City of Sarasota announced in a news release.

The 43 respondents included many well-respected, world-renowned architectural firms. The architect selection task force was charged with narrowing the applicants down to a shortlist of approximately 15 to 20 candidates, who will be invited to respond to a request for proposals (RFP) for the project.

The 18 firms invited to submit proposals are Adjaye Associates, Arquitectonica, Diamond Schmitt, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Foster + Partners Limited, Gehry Partners LLP, Henning Larsen, Pelli Clarke & Partners, Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Rex Architecture P.C., Safdie Architects, Sanaa Jimusho Ltd., Shigeru Ban Architects, Snøhetta, Steven Holl Architects, Studio Gang, Studios Architecture, and Zaha Hadid Limited.

“As a once-in-a-generation project, these applicants represent the best of the best firms from around the world, having designed some of the most world-renowned institutions across the globe," City Manager Marlon Brown said. “This remarkable response shows how highly regarded the world views Sarasota’s arts and culture as we look to continue to build upon our future as a cherished destination.”

The architect selection process will include six public meetings and is funded through an appropriation from the state. Task force meetings will be open to the public and the selection process will culminate in a short list of finalists coming to Sarasota to present their qualifications to the community.

Ringling Event Focuses On Works-in-Progress By Local Artists

As part of a commitment to providing a platform for Florida-based artists, The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art presents MicroWIP on Jan. 21, 7:30 p.m. @theHAT.

“The Sarasota-Bradenton area is home to a community of musicians, playwrights, choreographers, and multidisciplinary artists in need of a space to work and gain visibility,” the museum said in a news release. “By providing a platform to show local work, our audiences can experience and impact the diverse societal growth in the arts.”

This year the MicroWIP artists are Ralph Barnette, Alexander Judd, Megan Kendzior, Jess Pope, and Tihda Vongkoth.

MicroWIP is an open, interdisciplinary work-in-progress (WIP) platform for emerging and established performance artists within the community. The 2022-2023 selected artists received a stipend and 10 hours of rehearsal time in The Ringling's Perret Performance Studio to develop a low-tech presentation of their works in progress.

“Work-in-progress showings are critical for an artist’s research and creative development. Putting something in front of an audience tightens an artist’s focus and allows for immediate feedback that informs choices and discoveries. It is an invaluable element in making new performance and strengthens the making of local work,” Elizabeth Doud, the Currie-Kohlmann curator of performance, said.

Tickets are $10 for general admission and $5 for Ringling Members.

Westcoast Black Theatre Troup Presents ‘Flyin’ West’

The Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe will present “Flyin’ West” by Pearl Cleage Jan. 4 to Feb. 12.

Set in the 1890s, the show tells the story of four Black women settlers as they build new lives as homesteaders in the all-Black town of Nicodemus, Kansas, according to a news release from the theater.

WBTT had previously presented this show as a staged play reading in the summer of 2018 as part of the national Project1VOICE program, during which Black theatres around the country present the same play on the same day. The full production was originally scheduled for the 2019-2020 season but the pandemic altered those plans.

“Cleage’s story draws on a seldom-told aspect of American history, reminding us that Black people settled the West, too. The four female characters are homesteaders in Kansas in the 1890s, coming to Nicodemus to accept free public land for cultivation, with the understanding that after five years of continuous residence they would own the land themselves,” the theater said. “The original Homestead Act, signed into law by President Lincoln in 1862, welcomed both women and immigrants who applied for citizenship, and an updated Act in 1866 encouraged Black citizens to take part as well.”

Tickets are $50 for adults and $20 for students and active military. A talkback with the cast will take place Jan. 22.