The Sarasota Ballet is back on stage with the women dancing on their toes, or on pointe and sometimes on their toes moving in very quick, small steps, or bourree, across the stage. While ballet originated in Italy in the 1500s, the art form migrated to France and over time French became codified as the vocabulary of ballet everywhere. The dancing m...
A college professor once told me that he visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to view only one painting, a particular favorite, and then he would leave. The Met is the largest museum in the United States with more than 1.5 million art works on display. How could he have resisted the impulse to wander through at least one or two other ...
A highlight of any trip to New York is a visit to the New-York Historical Society, the home of 132 Tiffany lamps. It is the largest such collection in the world. These intricately designed lamps created in the late 19th and early 20th centuries are identified with the Art Nouveau movement known for the use of modern materials, including iron, glass...
The Sarasota Orchestra recently launched its new season with a concert at the opera house. I personally can't wait to enjoy their concerts over the next few months. I'm happy when I listen to music, and you probably love it, too, whether you're a fan of the classics or the Top 40. Music is also good for our brains, scientists at the University of C...
That's the title of the collection of stunning artworks by Robert Colescott now on display at the Sarasota Art Museum. The African-American painter and sculptor gained fame with his pioneering paintings that transformed well-known masterpieces by changing the white faces into black characters. As the museum's introduction notes, "this provocative s...
I was lucky to meet Donna Maytham when she invited me to join a group she hosts for discussions about ballet, one of my passions. Through her I learned about Arts Advocates when she invited me to attend "Speaking of the Arts" presentations by Tony Award®-winning writer and lyricist Lynn Ahrens and Baltimore Symphony Music Director Marin Alsop. Donn...
That's a question that bedevils art experts and "civilians" alike. It's not set in stone but there seems to be a common understanding that art is an object that is created for others to experience. The key word is "experience." Does that necessarily mean you have to enjoy a work of art? Do you have to love it? Then… Every new artistic movement has ...
Is a home more than just a house? Does the size and design matter if you have a bed to sleep in and a roof over your head? The design of the houses we live in has evolved over the years. The famed Sarasota School of Architecture originated during the post-World War II housing boom and became famous for dwellings with clean lines, open-plan str...
By Stephenie Frasher, Docent Team Leader The word "docent" in Webster's dictionary means teacher or lecturer. Today, the word docent has taken on a different meaning. A docent today is a "guide" to learning not a lecturer. Why is that important? Over the last 10 years, museum educators have realized that having someone tell you a lot of facts about...