Before Harry Potter and The Hunger Games captured imaginations everywhere with magical worlds of wizards and child violence, The Baby-Sitters Club ruled the roost with its charming tales of school woe and coming-of-age drama. The series ran for 15 years, resulting in 131 novels and a whole host of spin-offs and special editions. And behind nearly every one of its iconic covers was one artist: Hodges Soileau. Tonight, Soileau comes to Palm Avenue Fine Art for a special two-day exhibition, featuring not only selections of the original oil paintings behind his Baby-Sitters Club covers but showcasing the artist’s wide-ranging exploration in the years following. “And that’s the whole idea of this show,” Soileau says. “Eclectic subjects.”

An opening reception with the artist begins tonight at 6pm.

“If I had to paint only one thing,” Soileau says, “I wouldn’t be happy.” And this could be considered strange coming from the man who spent more than a decade of his life painting Kristy and Claudia and the rest of their entrepreneurial friends for novel after novel. But a quick glimpse around the exhibition illustrates the truth of the matter in landscapes and seascapes, pastoral scenes and figure portraits, abstract work and even a surprise rendering of Indiana Jones (pre-Crystal Skull, no worries).

While there are a handful of the original oil paintings that became Baby-Sitters Club book covers, much of the walls are dominated by Soileau operating squarely in the fine art tradition, eschewing the illustrative tendencies that defined his earlier work to explore new marks and new subjects. Here a portrait of white horses grazing by a waterfall; there a sunset of rich gold and purple. To one side, a classic figure study; to the other, a dancer frozen mid-pose, isolated and still in a world seemingly reduced to blurs of color around her.

“Hopefully, you see growth,” Soileau says of his eclectic collection. “And hopefully, that growth never ends. I’m 80 years old. And if I live to be 90, I’ll be a better artist than I am now.” And it’s this desire to grow as an artist that keeps Soileau coming back to the canvas, exploring different subjects each time, challenging himself to create something he hasn’t created before, whether it’s the watery reflection of a figure in the tide or the perfect haze on a marshland portrait. “If it’s easy and you know how it’s going to turn out…” Soileau trails off, as though even the thought isn’t worth finishing. “It has to be a challenge,” he says. “The challenge of possibly failing is always exciting.”

“And unless you’re asleep at the wheel, you always learn something when you paint.”

Hodges Soileau opens tonight at Palm Avenue Fine Art with an artist reception from 6pm to 9pm. Another artist reception will be at the same time on Saturday. 

Pictured: Abstract Ballet by Hodges Soileau. Courtesy of the artist.

To learn more, visit.

Catch Asolo Repertory Theatre’s production of Twelve Angry Men: A New Musical this weekend before the hit show closes its curtains on the final performance of the season. The musical, which is directed by Asolo Rep’s Producing Artistic Director Peter Rothstein, originally made its world premiere in 2022 at Rothstein’s old haunt, Theater Latté Da in Minneapolis.

Asolo Repertory’s production of Twelve Angry Men brings the same intensity that is intrinsic to the classic courtroom drama–which centers around twelve jurors in 1954 deliberating the case of a teenage boy accused of murdering his father–but with a few contemporary twists. The first and most obvious deviation from the original story is that this production incorporates music as a device to drive the plot forward. “While the plot is entirely the same as the original teleplay, the conversations leading up to the characters’ decisions might be a little bit different. When developing this, we learned that musical movement needed to move towards someone changing their mind,” says Rothstein. “In a traditional musical, the song has to propel the story to a new arrival point–if the characters aren’t in love by the end of this song, then it’s not doing its job. With this story, each song really drives someone to change their mind about the case.”

Twelve Angry Men uses composer Michael Holland’s score, set to the style of 1950s American Jazz, to weave in and out of key story beats. Dialogue will seamlessly give way to song before snapping back to conversation throughout the story.

The other key alteration to the story is the inclusion of a multi-racial cast, particularly when casting Juror no. 8, the original dissenting opinion arguing for the defendant, a Latin-American teenager’s, innocence. By casting Juror no. 8 as a person of color–and including a more diverse cast of jurors as a whole–Rothstein could not only avoid the typical “white savior” trope that permeates throughout the original story, but also use the musical to open a larger dialogue about race, class and responsibility in the country today. “Part of what having a diverse cast does, is that it puts multi-culture at the table for really challenging conversations that most of us are not willing to have right now. You might be talking and have an opinion about BLM or about racial reckoning or land acknowledgments or retributions that we owe our Native American citizens, but we’re having those convos in silos because we feel safe there,” says Rothstein. “These men are not safe, so they’re actually having the conversations that I wish we all were having.”

May 8 to June 9, Box office: 941-351-8000 / 800-361-8388, 5555 N Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. 

Pictured: Twelve Angry Men at Asolo Repertory has been a crowd pleaser for Sarasota theater fans. Photo by Dan Norman

The Ringling and The Circus Arts Conservatory of Sarasota partner again to present a fantastic, jaw-dropping, fun-filled show for the entire family! The Summer Circus Spectacular showcases some of the most thrilling circus artists from around the world in performances that will entertain and delight audiences of all ages. Summer Circus Bonus! $5 Admission to the Circus Museum: Admission to the Historic Circus Galleries and the Tibbals Learning Center is only an additional $5 with your Summer Circus performance ticket!  Tickets may be purchased at Admissions on the day of your show. 

For ticket information click here.

Making An Impact, Inc. (MAI) is proud to announce the receipt of a generous donation totaling $28,250 from the Greater Sarasota chapter of 100 Women Who Care during their Spring 2024 meeting. The Greater Sarasota chapter of 100 Women Who Care is part of a global grassroots movement of compassionate women dedicated to supporting local nonprofit organizations. Members collectively choose one of three presenting charities at their biannual meetings and contribute $100 each, resulting in significant support for the selected cause. Since its inception in 2018, this chapter has donated an impressive $307,395 to 14 local organizations and causes. At the recent Spring 2024 meeting, in addition to the members’ donations of $23,250, Making An Impact was awarded a generous $5,000 matching donation grant by The Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation, bringing the total donation to $28,250. The contribution received by Making An Impact will ensure that over 300 local agencies, law enforcement, and first responders can access the organization’s comprehensive and user-friendly information. This vital resource helps residents find programs and services to meet their basic needs, thereby addressing critical challenges many individuals and families face in the community. A portion of the funds will also support research, translation services, web app technology updates, and community outreach and engagement programs designed to reach underserved and at-risk populations. Victoria Kasdan, Co-founder and Board Chair of Making An Impact, expressed heartfelt appreciation for the support received from 100 Women Who Care, stating, "We extend our deepest gratitude to 100 Women Who Care for their generous donation to Making An Impact. Despite low unemployment rates, thousands of individuals and families in our area struggle to make ends meet. Thanks to the financial support from 100 Women Who Care, we can ensure that those who need it most can find local resources to meet their basic needs." With over 6,000 printed copies in circulation and thousands of views online, Making An Impact's resource guides bridge information gaps and underscore the organization's steadfast commitment to addressing the community’s most pressing needs. For more information about Making An Impact or to experience use of their Basic Needs Community Connections Resource Guide, visitwww.Making-An-Impact.org.

Pictured: 100 Women Who Care, Spring 2024 Award. Photo courtesy of Making An Impact, Inc.