Artist Jacob Z. Wan. Provided photo.

Art Center Sarasota, established in 1926 as the city’s first visual arts organization, is closing out its season with four exhibitions slated to run from August 21 to September 27. The four exhibitions—which will precede the organization’s centennial season occurring from fall 2025 through summer 2026—bring a wide variety of artistic styles and mediums to the galleries with two solo exhibitions, a group show and a juried show.

The solo exhibitions include contemporary bookbinder Jacob Z. Wan’s Vol. 3: me, myself, and I and D’ Calvert’s Praxis. “Jacob is an art teacher in Jacksonville and is originally from China,” says Christina Baril, curator and director of exhibitions at Art Center. “He delves into a lot of identity issues in his work as a LGBTQ+ artist. His work is very playful, but there is a lot of underlying meaning behind it.” Wan, who created a number of new works for the show, will be presenting a series of lithograph prints, paintings, books and sculptural pieces.

Calvert is a ceramicist who works in both the functional and sculptural spaces and will host an artist talk on August 28 to delve more into the themes of global trade, displacement and socioeconomic issues that turn through her work. Pieces in Praxis include a roughly nine-foot tall rotating totem, sculptures of pears and vessels. “What’s great about D’s work is the texture that she gets on her pieces. She uses glazes and stains under glazes—she’s a master at creating pieces that you want to touch,” says Baril.

Art Center’s group shows are INK: Quilt of Identity and the juried show: Self Portrait. In Quilt of Identity, instructors from Art Center worked with teens from ALSO Youth’s, a local non-profit supporting LGBTQ+ youth, summer program over nine weekends to create an array of works. “They completed a couple of sculptures, some collage works and paintings that will all be on display, as well as two large tie-dye quilts that they’ve stitched together,” says Baril. “It was refreshing to work with teenagers—they still have their sensors up, but they’re a little bit more willing to express what’s really going on in their lives than some adults. I think doing this gives them a lot of confidence, plus it’s a great way to highlight what’s going on in the younger generation.”

Opening reception August 21, 5-7pm, Art Center Sarasota, 707 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, 34236

Artist Jacob Z. Wan. Provided photo.

To learn more click here