The first step in any recovery process is to admit to a problem. To that end, last week’s panel discussion hosted at Florida Studio Theatre and produced by Suncoast Black Arts Collaborative (SBAC) gave an assemblage of students and school leadership an opportunity to reflect on where the region stands in its pursuit of greater equity in higher education, particularly as it relates to the arts. And for many in the panel, the event served as an opportunity to admit that the road to equity is winding.

Comprised of four students, four school presidents and four school administrators, “The Black Experience in the Arts in Higher Education'' panel discussion was led by Dr. Denise Davis-Cotton, program director for USF Sarasota-Manatee’s PAInT program, which champions the integration of arts in educational curriculums. Dr. Davis-Cotton’s questions centered on some of the obstacles to better equity and also gave many, especially the students, an opportunity to speak to their own experiences as Black students in the arts.

Some of the evening's most impactful moments came from the college presidents who were present. Dr. Larry Thompson of Ringling College shared some of the success his school has found in championing diversity with its galleries and exhibitions programming, but he was also candid in sharing some stark statistics about his school’s diversity. “We simply do not have as diverse a student body as I would like to see,” he says, “roughly 18% of our student body are people of color and only 3% are Black.” He cited cost as a major contributing factor and spoke about some of the plans currently in place to help alleviate that obstacle for students of color.

“I was very proud of the honesty I saw on stage,” says SBAC founder Michele Des Verney Redwine. “That kind of honesty can be problematic sometimes, but I always tell school leaders to stand tall and do what you need to do.” 

But for Redwine, the evening was not without its surprises, even as someone who has spent an entire career trying to lift disadvantaged populations. “I was a little shocked to learn that USF [Sarasota-Manatee] has no board members of color,” says Redwine, “but, again, I was proud of Dr. Holbrook for being willing to be so honest and that she saw it as a problem.”

Still, when it comes to diversity, Redwine hopes the panel discussion leads to more than just talk. “I’ve been at this for a long time, and I know firsthand that change takes work,” Redwine says, “but I’m very optimistic based on what I heard from everyone on stage that there’s real commitment.” And much of that commitment will be ushered in by SBAC. Beginning next year, the organization will begin a strategic partnership with the Gulf Coast Community Foundation to implement some of what Redwine calls her “Syllabus of Color.” “I’m at a point in my life where I’m looking for real, lasting change,” she says, “and I think with events like this or with our ‘Visions in Black’ exhibition at Art Center next year, I’m seeing that change happen.”

Pictured: Michele Des Verney Redwine shares some closing remarks at last week's diversity panel discussion

In 1951, a young man named David Budd saw a video of Jackson Pollock in action and it changed the trajectory of his life forever. An interior design graduate from the Ringling College of Art, Budd dove headfirst into the world of abstract painting. And he was good at it. At least, people like Syd Solomon said so. And within three years, Budd was up in New York City, painting and drinking with the likes of Willem De Kooning, Lee Krasner and even Pollock himself, holding his own and developing what would become his signature style. Still, years later, when the art history books were written and the new pantheon installed, Budd’s name was frequently, and conspicuously, absent.

With its latest exhibition, David Budd: Motion Within Stillness, Sarasota Art Museum celebrates the materiality of the medium and gives audiences the chance to really see, not just look at, the work of an artist too often left out of the conversation. “This was definitely overdue,” says Sarasota Art Museum Assistant Curator Emory Conetta.

Featuring 16 large-scale paintings from Ringling College’s collection, some of which haven’t been seen in decades, the exhibition highlights Budd’s exploration of paint as a medium—an exploration one could argue bordered on obsessive. Toiling in isolation, Budd would spend days mixing his paints to get not just the preferred hue but the perfect texture and viscosity. Then, with his concoction complete, the exploration would pivot to something formal, with the artist laying the paint on thick in his signature palette knife technique, pushing the physicality of the medium into something even sculptural. “He gave everything to every painting,” Conetta says. “It was a total commitment to the process.”

Minimalist and monochrome, the results reward the lingering eye and the patient viewer. What seems pure black at first glance reveals sneaking subtleties in the hue’s construction, purples and greens. The myriad marks, like fugitive thumbprints in icing, leave clear tracks of the artist’s path, begging to be reverse-engineered and decoded. “There’s so much nuance in one painting, in the texture and the surface,” says Conetta. “It’s like a little treasure hunt.” 

(She offers a tip to those looking for gold: examine the borders and sides of Budd’s paintings for a glimpse of how the artist used undercoats to achieve his aim.)

Hard to categorize, Budd’s work differed from both the first and second generations of abstract expressionists, not quite fitting in with either and somewhat falling through the cracks of art history as “this odd character somewhere in between,” says Conetta. But she hopes that exhibitions like this can help give the artist his proper due. “The most important thing is seeing the work,” she says, noting the all-important difference between seeing and merely looking. “Seeing requires that you actually engage with what you’re looking at.”

“Because that’s when the magical details come out.”

David Budd: Motion Within Stillness is currently on display at Sarasota Art Museum. 

Pictured: A selection of David Budd's "Thirty-Six Views of Mount Atlantis" series on display at Sarasota Art Museum. Photo: Rich Schineller.

Six popular Sarasota Opera past productions will be broadcast on Classical WSMR radio beginning Saturday, October 23^rdat 1pm Eastern Time: Verdi’s Otello (2012), D’Albert’s Tiefland (2018) on October 30^th, Puccini’s La bohème (2020) on November 6^th, Montemezzi’s The Love of Three Kings (L’amore dei tre rei) (2017) on November 13^th, Verdi’s Rigoletto (2019) on November 20^th, and Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Golden Cockerel (2015) on November 27^th. The broadcasts will be hosted by WSMR Music Director and Host Russell Gant and introduced by Sarasota Opera Artistic Director Victor DeRenzi and General Director Richard Russell. Listeners can tune-in to Classical WSMR at 89.1 and 103.9 on the radio, listen online at WSMR.org, or through the WUSF Public Media app.

Sarasota Opera’s Fall Season on stage begins on Friday, October 29 with Gioachino Rossini’s The Silken Ladder (La scala di seta), a 90-minute romantic comedy, with six performances through November 13, 2021. For more information, visit SarasotaOpera.org, contact the Sarasota Opera Box Office at (941) 328-1300, or visit in person at 61 N. Pineapple Avenue, Sarasota. 

The Hermitage Artist Retreat announced today that Dorothy Lawson, a Hermitage Fellow, acclaimed cellist and artistic director of the genre-bending string quartet ETHEL, will headline the Hermitage Artist Retreat’s signature fall fundraising event, “The Artful Lobster: An Outdoor Celebration!” on November 13 from 11:30am - 2pm at the Hermitage campus on Manasota Key (Sarasota County). A Juilliard-trained cellist and composer, Lawson is a founding member and artistic director of ETHEL, one of America's most adventurous string quartets. She has performed with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the White Oak Dance Project, Philharmonia Virtuosi, the American Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and numerous new music ensembles.

Now in its 13th year, the Artful Lobster raises valuable funds for the Hermitage’s nationally renowned artist residency program, supporting the creative process of artists from around the world in the fields of music, theater, visual art, literature, and more. This popular event takes place outdoors beneath a large tent on the Hermitage’s beachfront campus. Though this year’s Artful Lobster is now sold out, waitlist inquiries can be made by contacting Amy Wallace at (941) 475-2098, Ext. 2. More information can be found at HermitageArtistRetreat.org/ArtfulLobster2021. 

Pictured: Dorothy Lawson performing as part of 'Hermitage Sunsets @ Selby Gardens' series.

Asolo Repertory Theatre has received a $70,000 Arts Appreciation Grant from Gulf Coast Community Foundation that will be used to support the 2021-2022 season. In addition to the season sponsorship, Gulf Coast’s contribution supports a Platinum-level Sponsorship for Asolo Rep’s 2022 Annual Gala, the Starry Night Dinner Series, and the IllumiNation digital program. “The Gulf Coast Community Foundation’s continued support for Asolo Rep empowers our return to excellence – not only on stage, but in our community engagement programs as well,” said Asolo Rep Managing Director Linda DiGabriele. In addition to the theatrical season sponsorship, Gulf Coast’s funds will support related community engagement programs.

The season kicks off in November with the tribal love-rock musical Hair. Next up will be Thornton Wilder’s classic Our Town, the new comedy Grand Horizons by Bess Wohl, and The Great Leap by Lauren Yee.  

Ringling College of Art and Design and Moffitt Cancer Center presented an update on new developments from their collaborative INDEX Virtual Reality project to enhance the cancer patient experience and improve the accuracy of MRI-guided Radiation Therapy (MRgRT). The Moffitt/Ringling College partnership began in 2019 to explore the creation of meaningful digital technologies to help decrease stress and enhance understanding for newly diagnosed patients during their journey, and discover new ways in which to train and coach patients through diagnosis and treatment. 

“Patient stress levels at the time of a cancer diagnosis are very high, and core to addressing some of that stress is reducing fear of the unknown. In my practice, we need to deliver highly precise treatment so patient cooperation is essential. To be able to deliver immersive content through VR headsets can serve to alleviate some of that stress by allowing a new patient to virtually walk-through the experience before beginning their treatment,” said program visionary Sarah Hoffe, M.D., Moffitt Cancer Center’s section head of Gastrointestinal Radiation Oncology. “This summer we explored using gamification and virtual reality to improve patient relaxation and stillness while undergoing tightly-focused and targeted MRgRT,” continued Dr. Hoffe. “We started exploring how to train patients to control their breathing with Ringling College VR Interim Department Head Morgan Woolverton, VR Faculty Marty Murphy, VR Program Advisor Jeff Hazelton, and the VR Program student chosen for this application development, senior Joseph Janssen. We collaborated on this project with many faculty and staff at Moffitt as well, including Ted Schilowitz who is a member of our national Board of Advisors and also a futurist at Paramount Pictures in Hollywood and our physicist Kujtim Latifi PhD.”

“Based on the success of our first project together, the future of our Moffitt/Ringling collaboration is bright,” said Dr. Hoffe. “Being able to collaborate with some of the most innovative VR faculty and students in the world opens up many exciting new possibilities for improving the patient experience. We look forward to continuing this exploration of the intersection of VR with the cancer patient journey and hope to expand this work further so that our patients can virtually receive care before they do so in real life. We believe by offering them a virtual journey first we can decrease their fear and anxiety and ensure they are optimally prepared for their treatment experience.” 

Video still courtesy of The Ringling College and Moffitt Cancer Center

Debbie Dannheisser Threads is gearing up for International Legging Day on October 18. Although it’s a year-round staple, on this special day everyone can enjoy a special discount of 20%. “Over time, breathable materials, textures, designs and prints ushered in the undeniable era of leggings. Now, modern-day leggings are feats of engineering designed to enhance your workout,” said Debbie Dannheisser, owner of Debbie Dannheisser Threads. “While they continue to be a gym essential, legging styles are now so versatile that they’re widely acceptable to wear as pants. In a wide range of looks, comfortable leggings offer something for everyone.”

As a well-known designer, artist and philanthropist, Debbie is passionate about her line of women's clothing and making a difference in the community. That's why one evening each month will be designated to provide sales proceeds in support of a designated local charity.  “Debbie Dannheisser Threads & Art on Main” is located in the offices of Dannheisser Law 1834 Main St, Sarasota and is open every Wednesday 10am- 3pm, by appointment only. 

For more information on Debbie Dannheisser Threads & Art on Main, please visit debbiedannheisserthreads.com or call 941-350-8839. 

Photo courtesy of the artist/designer