Judy Axe at the 1955 Beaux Arts Ball. Photo provided by Art Center Sarasota.

Come March 21, a piece of Sarasota’s history will come to life. The Beaux Arts Ball—which began in the 1930s—will make its return as a part of Art Center Sarasota’s 100th anniversary. The Ball, which is Art Center’s biggest fundraiser of the year, is designed to be a time portal into the jazz age of the 1920s. Guests are encouraged to wear 1920s-inspired attire and live entertainment will be provided by a jazz trio led by Los Angeles-based musician Ben Thomas.

We're hoping to make a big splash and have the community come together and really enjoy themselves at this event,” says Alecia Harper, donor relations coordinator at Art Center Sarasota. “It will be a multimedia event, with live music and skits, in an effort to revive some of the energy of the late 1940s after World War II when people were starting to enjoy themselves again and enjoy the arts.”

Although the Beaux Arts Ball technically began around 1936, when Guy “Pappy” Saunders, an instructor at Ringling College, would organize a group of art students to gather at the John Ringling Hotel, Art Center Sarasota took over the reins after the Second World War. That post-war period was a crucial part of developing Sarasota’s artistic heritage—an influx of art school students on the GI Bill built Sarasota’s reputation as an “Artist Colony,” where art schools lined the streets and artists came from all over the country to develop their craft.

“At the time when the Sarasota Art Association took over the Beaux Arts Ball, there were maybe 500 artist members from the Artist Colony. By 1951, there were more than 1,000 Art Association artist members and so the Ball was very closely entwined with the people that formed the Artist Colony,” says Harper. “It started as a costume ball created by Ringling College students, turned into an event focused on Artist Colony members and became a massive event by 1953.”

Beaux Arts Ball, March 21, 6:00pm, Sarasota Municipal Auditorium, 801 N Tamiami Trail, Sarasota.

Judy Axe at the 1955 Beaux Arts Ball. Photo provided by Art Center Sarasota.

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