When Virginia Shearer took over as executive director of the Sarasota Art Museum (SAM) in 2021, she stepped into a leadership role of an organization on the brink. Not of collapse, but rather the precipice of something special. SAM had opened a mere two years prior—Sarasota’s only museum dedicated to contemporary art. In a city with a cultural history defined by arts and entertainment, SAM was becoming a pillar in continuing that legacy. What Shearer quickly learned was that the legacy left behind by John Ringling, Paul Rudolph and the mid-century boom of the Sarasota Artist Colony, was alive—not just in the myriad of arts organizations in the region, but in the homes of collectors around the region. “I was invited into different supporters of the museum and art collectors’ homes,” says Shearer of her introduction to Sarasota. “They wanted to talk about the future of the museum, but also wanted me to see what they’d collected. As I had these visits, I began to note these extraordinary works of art that these people lived with.”

Thus began the spark that became Something Borrowed, Something New, an exhibition of works from some of the foremost modern and contemporary artists, all drawn from private collectors across the region. Curated by SAM’s former senior curator Rangsook Yoon, Something Borrowed, Something New is a carefully chosen amalgamation of mediums spanning from paintings, prints and mixed media works to bronze, ceramic and glass sculpture. The work of modern icons such as Richard Serra, Robert Mapplethorpe, Chuck Close and Alex Katz are juxtaposed with 21st century trailblazers like Ai Weiwei, Hank Willis Thomas and Katsutoshi Yuasa in an exhibition so eclectic, so layered that it interrogates the very premise of why we look at contemporary art. “The through line is that these are exceptional, world-class works of art that speak to the last 40 years or so of art making in contemporary practice,” says Shearer. 

The other through line is that the works, often unbeknownst to the collectors, are in conversation with one another. On one wall sits a series of papercuts from Chinese contemporary artist and activist Ai Weiei—The Papercut Portfolio, from collector Stanton Storer—adjacent to another work of Weiwei’s, Coca-Cola Vase from the Mark and Donna Salzberg Collection. Weiwei’s critique of the Chinese government and commentary on consumerism within communism seem to speak aloud to one another. 

Part of what makes Something Borrowed, Something New unique is the fact that art is inherently personal. These collections reflect the personalities of collectors within the region—not just of what they’re drawn to, but of what art means to them. “Much of my collection has to do with the underdog,” says the St. Petersburg-based Storer. “I have quite a few works by African-American artists, by Cuban artists who have struggled living on the island. I have a number of works by artists that speak to me and hopefully others in regards to racism, to war, to dominance.” Amongst Storer’s pieces in Something Borrowed, Something New are works from American conceptual artist Hank Willis Thomas—including the striking sculpture of two adjoining arms, Loving Day (Marble No. 2)—and Palangre (reclusion), a depiction of the horizon using oil, nails and fishhooks on canvas that cries of desperation. 

For collectors Warren and Marie Colbert, their contributions to the exhibition reflect a visceral approach to collecting art, often influenced by technical innovations by the artist. In the case of the visually striking print The Long Road from Ethiopian photographer Aida Muluneh, the chance to explore the genre of afrofuturism photography was too good for the Colberts to pass up. “We found Aida’s work at Art Basel six years ago,” says Warren. “This piece was visually arresting and part of a series that reflected on social troubles the subjects were going through. This work in particular was inspired by the Underground Railroad and documented folks in the past, present and future coming out of that experience.”

The Colberts were drawn to the work of pioneering 20th century African-American printmaker Dox Thrash in large part due to Thrash’s technological advancements in his field. Thrash is credited as the co-founder of the carborundum mezzotint printmaking process. His print Untitled (Boat Workers) from the 1940s-50s evidences this ground-breaking technique. “It is supposedly the most important printing process, second only to the lithograph,” says Warren. “That printing process takes a softer tone to the black and white images he creates. They become very figurative.”

For lenders such as the Colberts, the exhibition as a whole was a reminder of just how alive this enthusiastic community of fine art collection is here on the Gulf Coast. “It’s a great feeling to see part of our collection here because the presentation is just exceptional,” says Marie. “You have these vignettes, so it feels as if you’re walking through all of these different galleries within one gallery space. All of these different art forms are just so special—additionally, these are the collections of our neighbors, so some of these works we’ve seen before because we’re close friends with the lenders.”

When it came to accruing the 10 pieces for Something Borrowed, Something New from the collection of Keith Monda and Veronica Brady, it was something of an inside job for the team at SAM. Monda, who has been collecting contemporary art for the past four decades, was on the founding board of SAM. Brady is a current member of SAM’s Advisory Committee. The 10 pieces represented in the show range in size and medium from the very small—Yoko Ono’s palm-sized plastic box, A Box of Smile—to the gargantuan, such as Richard Serra’s 79 x 152 in Untitled, a two-paneled piece of screenprint and Paintstik on coated paper. Serra’s work, two massive, textured black rectangles placed adjacently with a small crack of white canvas peeking through, displayed Monda’s love of black and white and carried emotional heft. The piece is complex work to mount on the wall, so much that whilst Monda and Brady were moving, it was in storage at The Ringling. “It had last been on view at The Ringling in 2018,” says Brady. “It is hung with magnets—there are magnets embedded in the art and then magnets have to be embedded in the wall—so it’s quite complex to hang. The sad part of this is that Richard Serra passed in 2024, between when it was in storage at The Ringling and displayed at SAM. The fun part for us was to actually be able to see it again.”

“He was a terrific artist,” says Monda. “He was incredibly creative in terms of his ability to create art.” Part of the fun for Monda and Brady is seeing connections between their collection and that of other lenders featured in Something Borrowed, Something New. Their collection features two works from American figurative artist Alex Katz, Impatiens and Brisk Day II. Also present in the exhibition is another work from Katz, Nicole, a lithograph, woodcut and screenprint from 2016, drawn from Storer’s collection. “I was fascinated by his commitment to his art and ability to be creative in a flat, human space,” says Monda. The pair also had a history with Nicole, which was published by Graphic Studio. “We had actually seen that piece at Graphic Studio at the time that it was being pulled and it’s just a fabulous work,” attests Brady. “I love how Rangsook did this juxtaposition of three works by Katz.”  SRQ  Something Borrowed, Something New, April 19-September 27, Sarasota Art Museum, 1001 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota