All entries tagged with “Ringling College of Art and Design”SMOA and SAF Compromise on Rudolph Canopies
A compromise has been reached between Sarasota Museum of Art officials and the architectural community with regards to the canopies designed by father of the Sarasota School of Architecture, Paul Rudolph, slated for removal during the historic Sarasota High School’s transformation into SMOA, one Ringling College of Art and Design president Dr. Larry Thompson has called “a creative design solution… working in a collaborative way so it was a win-win-win for everyone," in a press conference this afternoon at the south side of the future museum. Initial plans put forward by SMOA called for the demolition of a lengthy stretch of the cantilevered canopies connecting the museum building to the Paul Rudolph-designed Sarasota High School, but new plans call for a more precise removal of a roughly 30-foot section. The removal was necessary to allow construction crews access to the rear of the building during renovation, said Thompson, but also to allow emergency vehicle access in the future, once SMOA opens. After concerns were raised last week by the architectural community, Thompson arranged a meeting between architect and Paul Rudolph protégé, Carl Abbot, members of the Sarasota Architectural Foundation and the engineers and contractors involved with the SMOA renovation. Abbot and SAF impressed the need to preserve what they saw as a functional and important piece of architectural art, while the SMOA team laid out what codes and regulations the new building would have to meet, which included fire truck access to the rear of the building. Both sides ceded ground and current plans mark only a portion for removal, leaving the stretch of the original canopy along the south face of the museum building, where it will serve as a drop-off point and shelter for museum visitors. “It will function in a different way, but it’s still functioning,” said Abbot, calling the compromise a fitting application of SMOA’s repurpose and reuse theme, and the canopies a fitting piece of SMOA’s mission, given Rudolph’s educational legacy. “It worked out for everyone. I am so pleased that we saved this.” A structural engineer has inspected the canopies with an eye to the updated proposal and the plans are currently in the permitting process, according to Thompson, who expressed optimism that things would move quickly and still plans for a Feb. 2016 opening. “The solution will distinguish Sarasota as a community,” said SAF board member Dan Snyder, mentioning that a Rudolph-designed building in Orange County is being torn down by the community there. “I’m not sure there are many communities that would have come together so quickly.” Ringling College Reports Avante Garde Success
Pictured: Captain Creative and The Imaginator. Photo Credit: Stephanie Lederer. Ringling College of Art and Design has reported that this year’s annual An Evening at the Avante Garde gala set the bar as the most successful Avante Garde to date, raising $225,000 in scholarship funds through charitable giving and a silent auction featuring Louis Cabot photography, Clyde Butcher giclees, jewelry and various ‘night-on-the-town’ packages. With a “Comic Capers” theme, the night’s costumes ran the gamut from superheroes to the Sunday funny papers, with Charlie Brown sipping drinks next to a pair of Mad Hatters while Minnie Mouse swaps tales on the promenade. The appearance of Batman flanked by a costumed entourage of Gotham skyscrapers created a stir, but it was the arrival of Captain Creative and The Imaginator (popularly known by their alter egos Ringling College President Dr. Larry Thompson and wife, Patricia), parting the crowds in a time-hopping DeLorean, that caused a ruckus. Special guests actor Dylan McDermott (In The Line of Fire, American Horror Story) and actor Maggie Q (Mission Impossible 3, Live Free or Die Hard) joined the Ringling community for the night, lending their support for a scholarship fund that would enable incoming upperclassmen in need of financial assistance to complete their education. “I wasn’t a good painter before I got to Ringling,” said Tim Rogerson, an Official Disney Fine Artist with an illustration degree from Ringling College who returned for the event. “But I worked really hard at Ringling and got my dream job at the start of my career.” Ten years post-graduation, Rogerson is now the official artist for Disneyland’s 60th anniversary. McDermott is also developing a new television project with Ringling College on board with production and at least one student doing conceptual work, according to a Ringling official. Currently called Sugar, the project is a coming-of-age story centering on the life of a young woman. |
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