The Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau reported record tourism growth in the past year, and will focus energy this year on increasing the number of hotel rooms in the Manatee County market. “In the next three to five years, we believe 800 to 1,000 rooms could be added,” said Elliott Falcione, executive director of the BACVB.

The county right now has roughly 6,200 hotel and motel rooms in its total rental pool, a number that represents only 15 percent of the lodging places for the 2.92 million visitors that came to Manatee County during the year. Falcione said any growth in the number of rooms would be useful. The market saw a 2.7 percent increase in total visitors over the year 2013, and expenditiures by visitors in commercial lodging jumped up to $451.64 million, up 12.1 percent. The buruea report, done by Dr. Walter Klages of Data Research Status, calculated a $994.74-million total economic impact from tourism in the county.

John Osbourne, Planning and Zoning official for Manatee County, said there are large swaths of Manatee County where new hotels are allowed to be built right now. Around 2,000 hotel rooms are approval already, and only need construction plans submit to the county for construction to be permitted. “We are very committed in efforts to have more sites available for hotel sites,” he said.

Falcione said the bureau is inviting bids to build a hotel attacked to the Manatee County Convention Center in Palmetto, and seeking out redevelopment opportunities for private builders to construct hotels in downtown Bradenton and new development opportunities for hotels in places like Lakewood Ranch. On the barrier islands, he said hotel space is largely built out by comparison, but noted developer Ed Chiles in building a hotel in Anna Maria. 

David Teitelbaum, a hotel developer in Manatee County, said he considered the market assessment “spot on” as far as how many more hotel rooms the market could handle in coming years. Financing should follow, he said, depending upon developer track records and the competitive nature of particular marketplaces where hotels could be built. 

[blank] slate gallery tops off its first season in Sarasota and welcomes in the summer heat with a multi-artist show entitled “WHIMSY,” opening May 8. Heavily featuring the paintings and original prints of Sarasota artist John Whitney, work by other artists such as local ceramicist Scott Causey, painter Cassie Taggart and mixed-media sculptors Bill and Marcia Finks will also be on display for this charming and exuberant presentation of two-dimensional and sculptural art.

“Getting John in here was something I’d wanted to do earlier in the season and it just didn’t work out,” said [blank] slate owner and operator Eric Davison, who has long represented Whitney in his gallery in Delaware. “There’s a sense of happiness in all the work that he does. It’s all about good times and his technique is really fantastic.”

Although Whitney has worked in many media throughout his career, “WHIMSY” focuses on his most recent work in oil painting, which sees the artist capturing quiet moments and high society cocktail scenes in his singular style, with bold brushstrokes and intentional distortion working a sort of expressionist magic. It may not look exactly like a party, but it feels like one. In addition, Davison has laid out a collection of Whitney’s original prints he refers to as “Works on Paper.” These aren’t prints in the usual sense – they’re one of a kind – because Whitney uses the printing process as the beginning, not the end. After printing the image, Whitney attacks it with his brush, sometimes for days, leaving each print a distinct work.

Adding to the atmosphere, Cassie Taggart’s paintings carry the same sense of freewheeling thought; but where Whitney blends and smudges, Taggart draws a stark line, composing meticulously busy and carefully balanced scenes where the everyday meets the absurd.

“A lot of clients are attracted to the fun feel,” said Davison, who sees “WHIMSY” as a good fit for the end of season and the influx of local gallery-goers out for a day on the town in their free time. It’s relaxed, he says, but still quality. Amidst Causey's brightly colored patchwork ceramics and Christine Schukow's shadow box dioramas, Whitney fit perfectly.

“WHIMSY” opens May 8 at [blank] slate gallery with an opening reception with Whitney, as part of the Burns Court district’s final “Second Friday, Sip and Stroll” of the season. 

Pictured: "Party Girls" by John Whitney. Photo by: Eric Davison

Girls Inc. of Sarasota County, a nonprofit organization that focuses on innovative programs to help prepare young women to lead successful, independent and healthy lives, is launching a national search for an executive director. Robin Rose, who has successfully led the award-winning organization as the executive director for the past two years, is relocatingto St. Augustine to be closer to her husband.The organization in those two years completely retired its the Nadel settlement debt related to a Ponzi scheme involving a donor to the organization, hosted its most successful annual luncheon in the organization’s 27-year history and launched programs including Code Initiative, Champions for Girls giving circle and the High School Initiative. Girls Inc. of Sarasota County was also recently designated as a national pilot site for the Literacy Program and awarded the Kellogg Foundation grant. 

Girls Incorporated of Sarasota County

Counseling Associates of Sarasota leased a 614-square-foot office space on Wood Street in Sarasota from Eastwood Associates. The transaction was handled by Linda Emery and Brad Lindberg, advisors with the downtown Sarasota office of Sperry Van Ness Commercial Advisory Group. 

Sperry Van Ness Commercial Group

It looks like I am playing, but I am using my natural curiosity about the world to practice scientific processes, such as observing, hypothesizing, experimenting, recording, reporting and concluding. When I am able to explore in a multisensory, hands on way I can truly experience the world around me. I am able to develop my problem solving skills, practice new vocabulary and learn how things work. These skills will come in handy as I grow older- I may even become a pharmacist, scientist or doctor. My early childhood experiences help shape my mind and outlook as I grow. They are laying the foundation for a bright future.

The early childhood education programs provided by Forty Carrots Family Center are designed to provide children with the skills they need start off on the right foot. Experiencing the world through exploration and play encourages healthy brain development, critical social skills and responsible behavior. By providing opportunities for children to play alongside their parents through programs like Partners in Play, Forty Carrots nurtures the whole family for a lifetime of learning and positive relationships. 

For more information about the programs and early childhood learning opportunities at Forty Carrots, contact Preschool Director, Rebecca Lockwood.

Forty Carrots Family Center is a 2015 SRQ Story Project partner and the featured non-profit organization this May. To learn more about the numerous education and outreach programs provided by Forty Carrots, visit them online at FortyCarrots.org or call (941) 365-7716.