Pictured: Seeking (detail), 2026. Sarasota Art Museum. Photo: Nancy Guth.

Are you a “museum person”? If so, what, exactly, is a museum?

I used to ask myself that question when my children were of the age to go to “children’s museums.” Often, the experience of play (central to any self-respecting museum for kids) took the form of pretend grocery stores or penguin costumes or any number of activities where the collection, so to speak, was actually my family and all the others who were there to learn and enjoy.

Of course, that’s not always what we think of when we think about museums. So, once more, what exactly is a museum?

The word derives from the ancient Greek word “mouseion” and it means a place dedicated to the Muses. You know, those nine goddesses who inspired arts and culture! The Muses were the daughters of Mnemosyne, herself the goddess of memory. So, from this perspective, a museum connects creativity, knowledge, art, and preservation.

And Sarasota Art Museum (SAM) of Ringling College of Art and Design—did you know it was part of Ringling College?—is an excellent example of these wonderful connections. If you haven’t visited, you have likely driven past: it’s the old Sarasota High School that, through the work of many dedicated founders, became an amazing example of adaptive architectural reuse.

Here’s a great example: The wooden floors on the second and third floors are made from reclaimed Florida longleaf heart pine. Some estimates suggest the wood is between 200 and 600 years old and first came from the forests near Parrish in Manatee County. Before its use as SAM’s floor, the wood was part of the structural joists of the high school, and it’s no exaggeration to say that the wood that once supported generations of students now supports the arts. The tie-in with our local ecosystem makes it extra special.

Of course, when you visit—and we invite you to visit!—we also want you to look up from the ground and admire the art all around you. The exhibits change seasonally, and three new exhibits have just debuted on the second floor.

First, there is Presence: The Photography Collection of Judy Glickman Lauder (Now–April 4, 2027). This showcase brings together more than 100 iconic photographs by over 50 artists, including Diane Arbus, Richard Avedon, Gordon Parks, Dorothea Lange, and James Van Der Zee. The exhibition explores photography’s power to preserve memory, document history, and show the range of human experience (hey, that’s a museum thing!). You’ll find images of everyone from Marilyn Monroe and Mick Jagger to the Danish writer Isak Dinesen, as well as Glickman Lauder’s own striking work documenting World War II concentration camps. She also appears as the subject in her father’s photography, which became the basis for Kodak’s memorable “Turn Around” television commercial in the 1960s. It’s a great example of mid-century advertising.

Second, you can find the astounding Chie Fueki: Painting the Floating World (Now–April 4, 2027). Fueki is a 1996 alum of Ringling College, and this exhibit covers 25 years of her impressive career. The compositions are vividly colored and mix drawing, painting, and collaged mulberry paper. There are portraits, still lifes, and landscape paintings, with work that combines Western painting techniques and Japanese ukiyo-e traditions to illustrate an enchanting “floating world.”

Third, we have Eszter Sziksz, a current Ringling College Fine Arts faculty member and Fulbright U.S. Scholar. Seeking, I Don’t Know What I’m Looking For (And I Hope I Never Find It) (Now–April 4, 2027) asks visitors to enter into an interactive installation of wax paper hanging from the ceiling. Using magnifying glasses, visitors can read (or not!) philosophical musings inspired by thinkers such as Plato and Camus as they move through the strips of fragile paper. The words are pressed into the paper without ink, making the act of discovery part of the experience.

I can’t fully describe the experience in words, and that’s the point of all of these works: to visit a museum is to visit a place that you can’t simply read about or watch on your phone. To be in a place where creativity, memory, and knowledge come together—and to also grab an artisanal meal in a world-class Bistro, stroll through the old high school, and visit the new Natural Curiosity, a brand-new playscape on SAM’s Great Lawn designed by The Urban Conga to encourage creativity and exploration through play—well, the Muses will smile upon you.

And that brings us back to those children’s museums. Whether we’re contemplating an amazing photograph, discovering a new idea, or watching children play, SAM is not just a place to look at things: it’s a place to experience them.

Sarasota Art Museum, located at 1001 South Tamiami Trail, is open seven days a week, 11 am–5 pm. Thanks to generous funding from the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation, admission is free for everyone on the second Sunday of each month (Free Second Sundays at SAM), with special performances and art-making activities for the whole family. SAM’s Bistro is open daily, 10 am–3 pm. Learn more at the Museum’s website, www.SarasotaArtMuseum.org.

See you there!

Dr. Davis Schneiderman is the President of Ringling College of Art and Design.

Pictured: Seeking (detail), 2026. Sarasota Art Museum. Photo: Nancy Guth.