Just as our cultural community could not exist without the artists who populate the galleries, it similarly cannot exist without those appreciators willing and able to put their money where their hearts are and actively support artistic works. “For us, I don’t think we could be in business without collectors,” says David Dabbert, owner and operator of Dabbert Gallery on Palm Avenue. By his estimation, collectors account for as much as 60 to 70 percent of the gallery’s sales. “Sarasota has always had this reputation as an arts community, and this adds to it,” he says. “This keeps an artistic community going.”Sometimes collectors zero in on individual artists such as James Griffin, who Dabbert reports sells rather well, but more often than not, collectors are just looking for that next piece that moves them, that grabs them and won’t let go. They can’t predict what that will be, meaning Dabbert certainly can’t, so he has to trust his own sensibilities. “All we look for is artists who are good and have good work.” From there, it’s hoping Suncoast collectors feel that personal connection.

“We started with posters, like everyone else,” says Robert Lifeso, who lives with wife Sue on Lido Key, where their modern home now teems with sculpture and painting. “You gradually develop an eye and an appreciation.” For the Lifesos, this included taking a couple years after graduation to explore the museums of Europe, before returning to Canada for Robert’s orthopedic training and delving into the world of Inuit art, some of which still dots their inner landscape. Later, a decade in Saudi Arabia, with Lifeso attending to a series of three Saudi kings, brought an interest in, of all things, English art, particularly medieval, including suits of armor.

After 25 years in Buffalo, enjoying the relative nearness of art both in Toronto and New York, the Lifesos relocated to Sarasota. They brought some of their favorite pieces, as well as an eagerness to explore the Sarasota art scene. A large piece by David Steiner, owner and operator of State of the Arts Gallery, commands center-stage in the main room and a sculpture from regional Venezuelan-American artist Jorge Blanco, whose whimsical figures can be seen throughout Sarasota, including “The Runners” on North Tamiami Trail with their great yellow melon-slice heads peeking from the median, graces the back patio. “[Blanco] called it The Thinker,” says Lifeso. “We call it Bob.”

Exploring the Lifesos’ residence, the only commonality seems to be art, with everything from Laotian weaving to early ‘60s art from San Francisco to Canadian Kree painting represented. There’s an obvious love of color, with hardly any black-and-white pieces, but the collection is mostly brought together by none other than its creators. “We eventually developed our own taste, although we worked our way through multiple genres, and we’re starting to trust our own taste,” says Lifeso. “We’re looking for color, for movement, to have a painting that poses questions.”

For some, such as Dorothy Lawrence, who lives in Downtown Sarasota, the paintings and tapestries that surround her home are as much collected memories as they are art. It’s a foggy day and the clouds are rolling in off the water with an ominous beauty, but the view inside Lawrence’s condo rivals the natural wonder through the window, as the eye alights on a collage from Mexico, then a self-portrait from Chinese artist Yuqi Wang, then a brilliantly colored wood-mounted piece from Brazil. Sarasota is well-represented, with Craig Rubadoux, Robert Baxter and James Griffin all shown prominently alongside Lawrence’s global finds. Her journey in collecting began in 1979 with a tour around the world. A piece of that adventure hangs in the front hall, facing the door as you enter, a Japanese painting sporting vibrant orchids.

Lawrence’s approach is simple, “I just look and see if I like it,” she says. Her only problem is wall space. “I have paintings even in my bathroom.” Recently, Lawrence found herself captivated by a rather large piece by James Griffin in Dabbert Gallery and knew she had to have it. “The energy and the life in it makes me think of my daughter,” she says. So she bought it, even with no room to hang it. But solutions present themselves if you look hard enough. Her daughter has moved in next door, and Lawrence will move one of her paintings there and hang the new Griffin painting in her room.

“We don’t think about collecting to be collectors; we think about having beautiful things that complement where we live and how we live,” says Terry Kees, pithily reflecting a common sentiment among Sarasota’s collectors. To have the role of “collector” thrust upon them feels odd, an unexpected epiphenomenon of what came naturally. Kees and husband Terry Defibaugh (together they go by the affectionate nickname “TNT”) have always held an interest in art and in expressing that art through their lives and environment. Part of TNT’s collecting began as a conscious choice. Both avid travelers, they would purchase a watercolor at every stop, not discriminating between street artist and gallery artist, looking for the piece that captures the place. Today, this is the most apparently “collected” part of their collection, occupying the entire powder room and spilling out into the hallway, with a few choice works reserved for the master bedroom in the very modern condo overlooking Downtown Sarasota.

But their style has changed quite a bit over the years, and has adapted to the environment. When they were in their first home in Virginia, their tastes reflected the Old Virginia sensibilities, and leaned towards an European eye with lots of jewel tones and colors. “We enjoyed those colors,” says Defibaugh, not downplaying, but owning his changing tastes. “Golds and greens and raspberries,” quips Kees. But when they retired and decided to move to Sarasota, they got rid of just about everything except a dark wooden desk, which happened to fit nicely in their new Sarasota life.

“This is a whole different style,” says Kees of Sarasota and her new home. It’s modern and clean, full of sharp lines, metal and glass. It’s a far cry from the rustic timbers and thick hues of Virginia. Regular visitors to State of the Arts Gallery, Kees and Defibaugh have three David Steiners showcased throughout the rooms, one custom-made, as well as a rare LeRoy Neiman not about sports. “It is an artsy community, and we really wanted to buy art that reflects the community and artists here,” says Defibaugh.

“Art is something that you really should enjoy, and not do it for financial or investment reasons,” says Larry Gillis, another collector who frequents Dabbert Gallery. “Art is something that you look at. When you look at it, you always see something different.” Gillis collects with his wife, going through their phases just as other collectors went through theirs. There was a ceramic phase he remembers well. Craig Rubadoux can be found on Gillis’ wall, as well as fellow local artist Barbara Krupp, but Gillis may be one of the most collector-y of the collectors around in that he has actively amassed his own assortment of works solely by Robert Baxter. While he admits his wife may perhaps have more reign over the art in the rest of the house, he reserves the walls in the pool room for his Baxters. Typically aiming for street scenes, Gillis enjoys them individually, but hung together on the wall they form a greater picture, a whole vibrant little town coming to life. “It’s almost a mural,” he says.

“I had a good feeling, a good energy here, especially the Burns Court area,” says Eric Davison, owner and operator of [blank] slate gallery. The gallery opened only less than a year ago, so Davison is reticent to concretely characterize his new surroundings, but reports an optimistic beginning, with season bringing visitors as he hoped it would. In a happy coincidence, Davison even sees a fair amount of familiar faces from his gallery up north in Delaware. While he acknowledges the importance of collectors, Davison also makes an effort to present [blank] slate as a place where everyone is comfortable. “It is important,” he says of a collector community, “but a gallery can be for anyone.” SRQ

PHOTOS BY EVAN SIGMUND