Top 10 arts stories for Sarasota-Manatee in 2021

In an eventful year, perhaps the biggest story in the Sarasota area arts scene is the good news that dozens of performing and visual arts organizations survived months of closure, found new ways of connecting artists with audiences, and have reopened their doors to sometimes nervous patrons.

While arts organizations across the country were forced to shut their doors permanently because of the impact of COVID-19, similar groups around the Sarasota-Manatee area have survived thanks to some federal financial help, grants and private donations, and generous ticketholders who didn’t demand their money back when performances or seasons were canceled.

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Many organizations moved entertainment outdoors, at least temporarily, and some tried online programs that were distinctive at the start, though many audience members missed the personal connection.

Survival for everyone could be the story of the year, but there were plenty of twists and turns in the Sarasota arts scene worth recalling as we get ready to begin a new year.

Here’s a look back at some of the key moments.

Staying safe in the arts

Throughout the pandemic, leaders of Sarasota’s top arts organizations met regularly to discuss the best practices in their individual industries for opening doors and presenting performances while keeping artists, staff and audiences safe. To prepare for traditional fall openings of new seasons indoors, they jointly developed the #SafeArtsSarasota program, a series of protocols designed to protect everyone. Adopted by nine organizations and then joined by more than 30 nonprofits, the protocols had to work around state bans on vaccine mandates. So #SafeArts requires masks to be worn indoors at all times, and all patrons must show a recent negative test result or proof of vaccination. There were some complaints (mostly from non-patrons), but arts groups are back up and running, albeit often with smaller crowds.

Innovating in desperate times

Pivoting might not be named word of the year, but it’s one of the most frequently used by arts leaders in how they adapted to keep artists working and audiences entertained. At the Sarasota Opera, the traditional grand opera productions gave way to more intimate chamber operas with limited casts and smaller orchestras. In the winter and spring, they were presented to limited capacity audiences. One more, “The Silken Ladder,” was produced in the fall. By February, bigger productions will return. The Sarasota Orchestra gave up its masterworks series for a number of chamber performances played by masked string musicians. Brass and wind musicians presented a series of outdoor concerts. Asolo Repertory theatre presented a series of concerts and small musicals outdoors on its Terrace Stage, and Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe moved to its parking lot for two concerts and a filmed stage play. Urbanite Theatre presented some play readings outdoors and presented the original play “Safe House” in its home base limiting attendance to just four people per presentation. Some theaters performed to just limited crowds; others, like the Manatee Players, had artists wearing clear face shields to protect them.

Battling a COVID outbreak on stage

Despite safety protocols, COVID still can break through even among vaccinated people. That proved to be a growing problem this fall at Asolo Repertory Theatre, which planned to open the musical “Hair” on Nov. 20. But one positive test result required more testing among company members and eventually, 10 performances, including the opening night, were canceled as at least five cases were detected. Fortunately, no one was seriously ill, and after days of quarantine, the cast is now back on stage to let the sunshine in. Similar problems have been reported at theaters across the country, and on Broadway, numerous shows have had to temporarily shut down for a performance or two because of breakthrough cases.

Drawing attention to the arts

Developer Mark Kauffman, who has helped transform downtown Sarasota with a number of major projects over the years, including the creation of Sarasota Main Plaza and the Hollywood 11 movie theater, is hoping to bring more widespread attention and recognition to Sarasota’s vibrant arts and culture scene. He has proposed creating some kind of arts festival, highlighting the work of local organizations, and he has the support of the downtown business community. He’s hoping it could turn into a Sarasota variation of the annual Spoleto Festival in Charleston, S.C. And Kauffman has recruited Jeffery Kin, the producing artistic director of the Players Centre for Performing Arts, to become the general director for the festival, which means he’ll be leaving his job at the Players after 15 years.

Year of changes for Players Centre

It has been a year of planned and unexpected changes for the Players. The company is conducting a search for a new artistic director to replace Jeffery Kin, who will leave later this season to lead a proposed new Sarasota arts festival. Kin has been the public face of the Players during his tenure as the company raises money for a proposed new theater complex in Lakewood Ranch.

Then the theater company, under CEO William Skaggs, signed a deal to create a temporary home in a former Banana Republic store in what is now called the Crossings at Siesta Key shopping mall. When pandemic-related shortages of materials and delays forced the company to push back the opening of the new space, it presented its first show of the season at Art Center Sarasota and then its second at the Sarasota Municipal Auditorium.

And that decision led to another twist in the Players’ 92-year history in Sarasota. The company is now negotiating with the city of Sarasota to take over operations over the historic auditorium, where it could present shows and host traditional events like coin shows and the annual Atomic Bazaar. It has been a money loser for the city, but Skaggs believes it could be a benefit to the Players. It could provide the theater company with a space just north of downtown Sarasota where it could present shows even after it moves to Lakewood Ranch.

Looking forward at Sarasota Orchestra

Speaking of moves, one of the biggest questions in town has been where the Sarasota Orchestra will finally build its planned music center after the Sarasota City Commission rejected the orchestra’s proposed site at Payne Park. There has been lots of speculation that the Orchestra will actually build in Lakewood Ranch, which a company spokesman categorically denied. An answer could come sometime this spring.

Wherever the building goes up, music director designate Bramwell Tovey will be leading the efforts to raise awareness and money for the project. Tovey, who was a guest conductor last season, was chosen in the summer to succeed Anu Tali as only the fifth music director in the company’s history. He led an introductory concert in October and is now at work planning a schedule of concerts for the 2022-23 season.

Evolving Sarasota Art Museum

The Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling College recently marked its second anniversary, two years marked by some profound changes since its gala opening in December 2019. Just a few months after it opened to large crowds curious to see the contemporary art exhibits and how the historic Sarasota High School building was transformed, the museum closed for about seven months due to the pandemic. A few months after reopening, founding executive director Anne-Marie Russell left to become executive director of the new Architecture Sarasota, a nonprofit that brought together the Center for Architecture Sarasota and the Sarasota Architectural Foundation. After a nationwide search, Ringling College hired Virginia Shearer to be the new executive director in July. She had worked years ago as education director of The Ringling but was most recently working as education director at Atlanta’s High Museum. She is working to build up an exhibition schedule and lure people back. One of the changes is that the museum is now open seven days a week.

Hermitage Artist Retreat grows

The Hermitage Artist Retreat has been experiencing a growth spurt since Andy Sandberg took over in late 2019 as artistic director and CEO, replacing Bruce Rodgers. It has enlarged its staff even as co-founder Patricia Caswell retired as program director. With substantial grant money, the Hermitage renovated and upgraded some of its historic buildings and it launched a series of collaborations with other arts organizations to bring Hermitage artists to more places, like Selby Gardens and the Bay Park Conservancy. But the biggest news may have been the $800,000 gift it received from local arts patron and philanthropist Flora Major, who funded the newly launched Hermitage Major Theater Award. The award was announced in June and by December, playwright and filmmaker Radha Blank was named the winner of the first prize, a $35,000 commission to create a new play. It is one of the largest play commission programs in the country.

Construction projects

In April, Asolo Repertory Theatre broke ground on the expansion of its production facilities at the Robert and Beverly Koski Center, which already houses a scene shop, rehearsal room, and storage areas for costumes and props. The expansion includes a new $6 million “super rehearsal hall” in an adjacent warehouse building that will allow actors to rehearse on actual sets before they move into the theater. Producing Artistic Director Michael Donald Edwards said it will be ready in time for rehearsals for the fall musical in 2022. asolorep.org

In June, Marie Selby Botanical Gardens broke ground on the first phase of a major renovation project designed to create energy-producing buildings and more green space on its 15-acre campus. The project was revised several times to overcome protests from neighborhood residents concerned about a tall parking garage with a rooftop restaurant. The revised version finally won approval from the Sarasota City Commission. Selby is seeking to raise $92 million for its three-phase project (including a $20 million endowment and operating fund) and is working to cap off the $45 million it needs for the current first phase. Costs have gone up since the project was first announced. Selby has raised nearly $43 million. A group of donors has committed $2.5 million to match year-end gifts to the campaign. selby.org

Transitions

It was the end of an era for The Sarasota Ballet, which said farewell to longtime principal dancer and assistant ballet mistress Kate Honea, who had been with the company for 19 seasons. She became a local favorite. Over the summer, she left to become artistic director of the Colorado Ballet Society in Colorado Springs, where her husband, Dex Honea, another former dancer, will serve as executive director and school principal.

The community mourned the sudden passing of member pianist Derek Han, a founding member of the La Musica International Chamber Music Festival, at 63. Many assumed that he would become the artistic director after the eventual retirement of Bruno Giuranna, who is 88.

Susan Brainerd, a longtime executive at the Ringling Museum who raised the money to complete a major renovation to Ca’ d’Zan, the historic home of John and Mable Ringling. She came to Sarasota in 1993 after working with such arts organizations as the New York Philharmonic, American Ballet Theatre and Big Apple Circus. She was 82.

Many in the theater community also were surprised to hear of the passing of actor and singer Robby May-Place, who was just 41 when he died in February. He appeared in just a few shows in Sarasota, in community and professional theaters, before moving on with his career. He died in Springfield, Missouri, from complications of liver disease.

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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: What are the Top 10 arts stories of the year for Sarasota-Manatee?