Guests attend the 10x10 Speaker Series event on September 25. Photo by Dylan Campbell.

What makes a city great? Is it the vibrancy of its downtown area? Is it the city’s access to public spaces such as beaches, parks or hiking trails or the depth of its arts and cultural sector or even its economic output? While all of those components factor into what makes a city—and the surrounding metropolitan area—stand out, what makes a city truly great boils down to one thing: how much its citizens care about the place they live.

Last Thursday, the Sarasota Art Museum (SAM) hosted a 10x10 event, in which 10 leaders and creative minds in the community take five minutes to present 10 images of their work and inspiration. The slides change every 30 seconds, keeping the presentations brief, but impactful. The 10x10 series, initially organized by Michael Halflants of Halflants + Pichette Architects, occurs every four months and has been in production since 2009. On September 25, the Thomas McGuire Hall in SAM was packed to the brim with Sarasotans who care deeply about the history and future of the city in which they live.

The most recent lineup included photographer and long-time faculty member of Ringling College of Art and Design Thomas Carabasi, visual artist Keith Crowley, urban planner Phillip DiMaria, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune’s recently retired art critic Jay Handelman, RLCA executive director Lauren Kurnov, historian Jeff Lahurd, community activist David Lough, architect John Pichette, real estate broker and Sarasota Performing Arts Foundation chair Drayton Saunders and cultural historian Skyler Smith.

DiMaria, who has served on the Bay Park Conservancy, spoke on his research into improving St. Armands Circle following the disastrous flooding from last year’s storms. “I tried this three-pronged approach of taking a look at the buildings themselves, looking at the huge public investment we've made as a community in the parking garage and then looking also at what I've learned from some of the other projects that I've worked on in regards to activating and reinvesting in the circle itself,” says DiMaria.

Saunders, who helps lead the Performing Arts Foundation’s vision to reimagine the Bayfront, talked about the importance of creating a place that will drive Sarasota into the future. “Being a parent puts you in a timeframe and you realize that you’re not here forever,” says Saunders. “Somebody will be inheriting what you do and it was with that sense of importance and the unique aspects of Sarasota, our culture of investing in things that are inspirational, that I knew the Bayfront was what I had to be committed to until it was done.”

Guests attend the 10x10 Speaker Series event on September 25. Photo by Dylan Campbell.

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