Cultural institutions on the Sarasota Bayfront are making plans for future growth and Sarasota city officials may be have started moving forward with ways to chart the waterfront’s future. There remain questions about the future of private land blocks, and of exactly how much activity there should be on public land, but the Sarasota Bayfront 20:20 process is moving forward. 

Michael Klauber, leader of the Bayfront 20:20 group, said he was pleased Sarasota City Commissioners would be considering implementing principles for the future of a 75-acre area of land on the Bayfront. “The goal right now is to get the community, and that includes our city, to adopt these guiding principles,” Klauber said.

At a workshop Monday night, consultants with HR&A advisors shared those principles, developed over more than 70 meetings and partnering with some 30 community groups. “[The Bayfront] has to be activated. Everybody seems to agree that is is an underutilized asset,” said Candace Damon, a consultant working on the Bayfront 20:20 effort. “People want for it to be culturally strengthened.” Right now, the Sarasota Orchestra plans to dispatch a team this month to assess the need for space for growth with the institution, and the Van Wezel Foundation on Tuesday moved forward with a feasibility study to be completed in the next five months. Additionally, other cultural organizations in town have been looking to see if there is space on the Bay; notably Mote Aquarium remains involved in the process..

In the meantime, developers have suggested plans for hotels and convention centers, all the while with some pockets of the community looking toward the creation of a waterfront park. “From what I am hearing from attending several meetings is that the public wants more parkland, as opposed to more buildings,” said Vice Mayor Susan Chapman, “and I listen to the public.”

Klauber, though, said developing the implementing principles should create a guide map for people on either side of that division. “We need to focus on getting a really good crystallized vision of what the community wants to happen,” he said. Once that is finalized, every time someone pushes for park use or new amenities, the principles can be consulted to see if that fits with the vision being developed now. 

Visioning process is far from done. Sarasota County Commissioners this week expressed interest in hearing a Sarasota 20:20 presentation themselves, and Klauber expects to be back in front of City Commissioners in a month to talk about the standards being promoted. 

All involved also say high issues like improving connectivity between the Bayfront and much of north and south Tamiami Trail must be deeply explored. But officials remain optimistic about the movement of the process. City Commissioner Suzanne Atwell likened the efforts to those in places like Chattanooga, Tenn. where riverfront development revitalized the region, but said that will take hard work. 

To read the most recent draft of the proposed Bayfront 20:20 implementing principles, go to SRQMagazine.com

Last night, glass collectors from the region gathered at Longboat Key Center for the Arts to preview “Masterworks in Glass,” a special exhibition of vintage work from acclaimed masters such as Dale Chihuly and Lino Tagliapietra, before being joined tonight by potentially thousands of enthusiasts from across the globe via phone and internet, as this collection from Habatat Galleries is placed for auction in a series of live bids. Featuring 42 pieces from seven countries and commanding an international audience, for Sarasota’s glass scene it’s either the culmination of a building trend or the beginning of something greater.

“With a community this size, to have as many glass collectors that are here is unprecedented,” said Jane Buckman, executive director for the Longboat Key Center, who testifies to the rise of glasswork in Sarasota, through exhibitions in her own gallery and the growing prominence of collections such as the Basch Collection. “It’s a big deal for Sarasota to have this quality of glass being show. It’s putting Sarasota on the map.”

Exploding with color and imagination, “Masterworks in Glass” represents the potential of the medium with gusto. With a variety of techniques on display - from blown to cut, fused to machined and cold-carved to sand-cast, there’s nary a method unmentioned. This variety is only rivaled by the multitudinous muses and subjects captured, as bucking horses abut a meticulously messy mise-en-scene and abstract imaginings mingle with formal mastery.

“The pieces are beautiful, but they transcend the beauty of the object – the artists have intent,” said Buckman, who brought the pieces in through a first-time collaboration with Ferdinand Hampson, president and co-founder of Michigan-based Habatat Galleries. Hampson, who delivered a talk on Glass Collecting 101 and the Glass Art Movement at last night’s preview, will also play host to tonight’s auction, introducing the work and providing context.

Space remains to attend, or collectors can make arrangements at any point up to the close of the auction to bid via telephone or online and participate in what Buckman sees as only the beginning.

“A glass focus is building in this area and it will only continue to grow,” said Buckman. “I can envision a whole lot.”

The “Masterworks In Glass” auction begins tonight at 7:30pm at the Longboat Key Center for the Arts. 

Sweetgrass Farms held its grand opening this Saturday and people flocked to the beautiful and surprising location tucked away off University Parkway. Sweetgrass Farms practices hydroponic growing techniques, which allow for clean vegetables and fruits to be grown in rows of vertical water “planters” without the use of soil. This means the fresh produce and herbs produced are incredibly clean and derive their nutrients from the water; it also means that less space is required to grow more food. Saturday dawned crisp and clear, the perfect day for a family outing to the farm. Enthusiastic patrons filled bushels with strawberries and sampled and purchased various fresh produce. Nik Wallenda, Sarasota’s favorite daredevil performer, was on hand for the festivities and a riotous Punch and Judy show kept kids of all ages entertained. Sweetgrass Farms is open to the public Tuesday-Friday from 7am-3pm and Saturdays from 9am-3pm. A surprising cold front delayed a special Farm to Fork dinner presented by Chef Paul Mattison and Sweetgrass proprietors Dr and Mrs. James Demler to be held at the farm that will utilize ingredients grown on the farm. The new date for this event will be Feb. 27, so be sure and contact Mattison’s to make your reservation.  

Goodwill Manasota reported record-breaking numbers for 2014, thanks to an increase in donations, expansion of services and an increasing number of shoppers who visit Goodwill stores throughout Manatee, Sarasota, Hardee and DeSoto counties. Last year, Goodwill Manasota assisted 16,000 individuals through training, services and programs, and placed 680 people in jobs throughout the region. The Veterans Services Program assisted 520 veterans, in part due to an increase in staff, funding and support from the local community. The Supported JobsPlus Program surpassed a milestone of 100 jobs created for individuals with significant disabilities. Approximately 39 million pounds were diverted from local landfills through donations and resale, and partnerships with “green waste” disposal experts. Goodwill Manasota continues to have an economic impact of $81.3 million as an industry-leading nonprofit organization. 

Goodwill Manasota

Lee Wetherington Homes (www.lwhomes.com), a luxury homebuilder based in Lakewood Ranch, Fla., unveiled the Windsong model this week in Seacroft, the newest section of Country Club East at Lakewood Ranch. The one-story design features 3,677 square feet, three bedrooms and three-and-a-half bathrooms. The great room floor plan showcases a West Indies-style architectural design and amenities including a 150-square-foot woman’s closet and dressing area, a sliding door in the master suite leading to an outdoor shower. Prices in the Seacroft neighborhood start in the high $800,000s. 

Lee Wetherington Homes

The new Gulf Gate Public Library will be open to the public Jan. 24 following a 9:30am ribbon-cutting ceremony. The two-story, 24,920-square-foot building has been under construction since 2013 and replaces the former library at the same site on Curtiss Avenue in Sarasota. During the construction, the library continued to operate from a temporary location inside Westfield Sarasota Square Mall, which closed earlier this month to facilitate the move to the new building. 

Sarasota County Libraries