wcw JULY 2024

JULY 2024 

Joyce Norris 

Executive Director, 

Community Harvest SRQ 

Also in this issue: 

■ Travel: Mary Cassatt 

in Philly 

■ FST’s Improv Festival 

■ The Women 

of Wimbledon 

■ Arts: New Exhibits 

at SAM

Factor in your 

Brain Health 

as a key to 

overall health 

and wellness. 

Reasons people participate in our program include improving… 

Memory, Sleep, Alertness, Concentration, Mood, 

Emotional Stability, Relationships, and More. 

Correcting imbalances has been shown to provide a range of benefits in emotional, physical, and 

intellectual health. We use testing (blood, urine, and/or saliva), patient self-report, and optimal 

wellness markers/ranges to determine the individualized plan of care. 

credit: jacob wackerhausen 

At The Renewal Point, we look beyond symptom relief ~ 

we work to treat the problems at their source. 

Call today 941.926.4905 

Age Management | Men's Health | Gynecology | Bio-identical Hormone Balancing | Strength and Conditioning 

Weight Loss | IV Therapy | Brain Health | Toxin Elimination | Digestive Health | Heart Health 

Dan Watts, MD, ND, MSMN 

Board Certification: 

American Board of Integrative Medicine 

American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology 

Post-doctoral Certification in Metabolic Endocrinology 

Post-doctoral Master's in Nutritional and 

Metabolic Medicine 

Fellowship: American Academy of Anti-Aging 

Medicine: Anti-Aging, Regenerative, and 

Functional Medicine 

Fellowship: American College of Surgeons 

4905 Clark Road, Sarasota, FL 34233 941.926.4905 www.TheRenewalPoint.com 

Deb Spinner, APRN, MS, NP-C 

Board Certified Advanced 

Registered Nurse Practitioner 

Specialties Include: 

Gynecology 

Bio-identical Hormone Balancing 

Metabolic Weight Loss 

IV Therapy 

Family Medicine 

2 WEST COAST WOMAN JULY 2024

JULY 2024 

contents 

Editor and Publisher 

Louise M. Bruderle 

Email: westcoastwoman@comcast.net 

Contributing Writer 

Carol Darling 

Contributing Photographer 

Evelyn England 

Art Director/Graphic Designer 

Kimberly Carmell 

Assistant to the Publisher 

Mimi Gato 

West Coast Woman is published 

monthly (12 times annually) by 

LMB Media, Inc., Louise Bruderle, 

President. All contents of this 

publication are copyrighted and 

may not be reproduced. No part 

may be reproduced without the 

written permission of the publisher. 

Unsolicited manuscripts, photographs 

and artwork are welcome, but return 

cannot be guaranteed. 

HOW TO REACH US: 

Email: westcoastwoman@comcast.net 

Here are our columns: 

n Out & About: includes 

fundraisers, concerts, art exhibits, 

lectures, dance, poetry, shows 

& performances, theatre, film, 

seasonal events and more. 

n You’re News: job announcements, 

appointments and promotions, 

board news, business news and 

real estate news. 

FOLLOW US AT: 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ 

WCWmedia 

travel feature: 

Mary Cassatt at 

Work at Philadelphia 

Museum of Art 

Heading to the Philadelphia 

area? Check out the 

Philadelphia Museum of Art 

and its exhibit “Mary Cassatt 

at Work,” the first large-scale 

exhibition of the artist’s work in 

the U.S. in a quarter century. 

p18 

focus on 

the arts: 

Need some laughs? 

Check out the14th 

Annual Sarasota 

Improv Festival 

running July 12-13 at 

Florida Studio Theatre. 

p9 

WCW 

36 

YEARS 

WCW Mailing Address: 

P.O. Box 819 

Sarasota, FL 34230 

email: 

westcoastwoman@comcast.net 

website: 

www.westcoastwoman.com 

west coast 

WOMAN 

departments 

dining in 

National Avocado Day 

is July 31.The average 

American eats more 

than 7 pounds of the 

fruit formerly known as 

aguacate every year. 

Avocado Mac ’n cheese, 

anyone? 

p20 

4 editor’s letter 

7 Out & About: listings for things to do 

9 focus on the arts: 

FST’s Improv Festival 


Sarasota Art Museum 


Two Exhibits at Art Ovation 

15 health: all about Craniosacral Therapy 

16 west coast woman: 

Joyce Norris, Executive Director, 


18 travel feature: Mary Cassatt 

at Phila. Museum of Art 

20 dining in: All Hail the Avocado. 

National Avocado Day is July 31 

22 feature: Become a Master Gardener 

23 save the date: Atomic Hold Bazaar 

25 happening this month: Wimbledon 

26 travel: Glenlo Abbey in Ireland 

28 healthier you: The Renewal Point 

29 summer fun: Summer Circus 

Spectacular 

■ on the cover: Joyce Norris, Executive Director, Community Harvest SRQ. 

■ Image: Louise Bruderle 

JULY 2024 WEST COAST WOMAN 3

just some 

thoughts 

Louise Bruderle 

Editor and Publisher 

West Coast Woman 

Joyce Norris 



Doesn’t it bother you to see produce spoil in a field 

because there’s nothing that can be done with it? 

I know it bothers me especially when I know that 

someone, somewhere, could use some healthy 

produce. But there are people working to fix this 

problem led by dynamo Joyce Norris, the Executive 

Director of Community Harvest SRQ. 

Joyce organizes a large cadre of volunteers who, 

under her direction, go to area participating farms 

and glean the produce that’s left behind. That food then goes to many nonprofits 

including area churches to distribute, but also to All Faiths Food Bank, The 

Food Bank of Manatee or Feeding Tampa Bay, to name just a few. 

She stays in touch with a list of generous farmers like Blumenberry Farms 

who open their fields to her volunteers to allow them to harvest produce at 

various times during the year. Joyce’s people skills are matched by her organizational 

skills in that she moves her teams in place with short notice and then 

organizes prompt delivery via volunteers’ cars. 

It’s an amazingly simple concept, but one with many benefits namely feeding 

the hungry, but also saving farmers from having to collect and deal with unwanted 

produce that would have to go to the landfill. The bonus benefit is how 

good volunteers feel knowing they’re digging in and helping their neighbors. 

With summer upon us, many farm vendors at the farmers markets are taking 

a much needed break, fields are resting and even if there were crops, the heat 

makes the work too tough for even the hardiest of gleaners. But when the 

weather changes consider joining as a volunteer. Joyce can accommodate most 

requests and shift are usually two hours. Sign up to volunteer at www.communityharvestsrq.org/volunteer 

Don’t believe What They say: There’s 

lots to do this month 

As in Florida Studio Theatre’s Improv Festival and Circus Sarasota’s Summer 

Circus Spectacular which takes place at the Historic Asolo Theater at The Ringling 

through August 17. Then there are art exhibits and opening receptions at 

Art Ovation Hotel in Sarasota and new exhibits at SAM - Sarasota Art Museum. 

This issue outlines some of these many events. Our calendars list three pages of 

events, too. 

Roxie’s Moving On 

Roxie Jerde, The Community Foundation of Sarasota County’s president and 

chief executive officer, will retire next year in June 2025 at the conclusion of the 

organization’s fiscal year, announced its board of directors. 

Roxie has led the Community Foundation since March 2011, which has almost 

tripled in asset growth under her leadership 

and now oversees more than half a billion dollars 

in charitable assets. The Community Foundation 

is recognized across Florida and throughout the 

country for its philanthropic stewardship and 

innovation. 

“The future is bright for our community foundation 

thanks to its donors whose trust in the 

foundation has created opportunities for thousands 

of people. That reputation along with a 

strong financial position and a high performing, 

committed, and tenured leadership team in place 

are keys to supporting our next president and 

CEO,” Jerde said. “It is time for new leadership to 

build upon successes and lead the next stage of 

growth and impact to strategically strengthen our community.” 

The board will form a search committee this summer with an aim of identifying 

a new leader – the foundation’s third CEO in its history – later in the 

spring of 2025. 

Significant milestones for the Community Foundation accomplished under 

Roxie’s leadership include: 

Growing assets under management from $190 million in charitable dollars to 

over $520 million, with a projection to exceed $1 billion in the next decade. 

Nearly doubling the number of funds under management from 811 to more 

than 1,580 funds. 

Roxie Jerde 

Joyce Norris 

Image: Louise Bruderle 

Totaling more than $436 million in grants and scholarships throughout the 

Foundation’s history. 

Launching “The Giving Partner” – an online nonprofit database – in 2012 to 

provide greater transparency around nonprofit operations, management, and 

impact; more than 700 local nonprofits have extensive profiles on the platform 

www.TheGivingPartner.com. 

Creating the successful “Giving Challenge” online fundraising campaign, 

which has raised more than $92 million in unrestricted funds through nine 

challenges since 2012; the 2024 Giving Challenge raised $17.2 million for 724 

nonprofits. 

Growing the “Season of Sharing” community support campaign to more 

than $4 million a year in annual contributions that aid with those in crisis by 

providing immediate assistance with rent/mortgage, utilities, childcare, and 

transportation expenses so families can remain in their homes. 

Initiating successful disaster recovery funds during the COVID-19 Pandemic 

and Fall 2022’s Hurricane Ian. 

Happening this month: Wimbledon 

Wimbledon return and runs July 1-14 and it has been150 years since the game 

of lawn tennis was first invented. I tried, but again no tickets, no press credentials, 

either. We have a feature this month highlighting, naturally, the women 

who have played and won over the years. 

The Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest 

tennis tournament in the world and is regarded by many as the most prestigious. 

It has been held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, 

London, since 1877 and is played on outdoor grass courts, with retractable 

roofs over the two main courts since 2019. Who’s your favorite this year? 

We say good-bye to 

I had the pleasure of interviewing Deborah Vinton 

quite a few years ago when she was the education 

director at the Sarasota Ballet. I found her gracious 

and so modest. She didn’t want to talk a lot about 

herself, but she was so talented as a dancer and 

later as a a teacher. 

Her students are many and have reached great 

success in their careers due to her careful tutelage. 

One of those students would later become one of 

her husband, Cliff Hoberman. They were briefly 

my neighbors when we both lived in the Indian 

Beach Sapphire Shores neighborhood. 

Quoting Cliff’s Facebook page: “Deborah Oakley 

Vinton, of Sarasota, passed away on Sunday, May 

19th, 2024 at the age of 71. Survivors include her 

father, Richard Allen Vinton, MD; husband Cliff 

Deborah 

Vinton 

Hoberman; children Jinty, John, Jennifer and James; grandchildren Christian, 

Isabella, Madeline, Brody, Jude and Ari; siblings Susan, Richard, Rebecca, 

Thomas and John; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.” 

“….In Sarasota , she opened The Dance Center on Osprey Avenue and then 

became the Principal of the Sarasota Ballet School. In 2003, she founded the 

West Coast Civic Ballet, serving as Executive and Artistic Director with the 

mission to provide dance education and free performance opportunities for all 

ages in the Sarasota-Manatee community.” 

“For 25 years, Deborah was a core faculty member of the dance program at 

Booker High School Visual & Performing Arts. Deborah was a life-long practitioner 

of meditation, Hatha & Siddha Yoga. She loved to sing, play piano, and 

connect with her former students all over the world. Deborah believed in the 

power of the arts to shape community and foster inclusive spaces of care and 

self-expression.” 

Our condolences to her husband, Cliff, and her family and friends 

Louise Bruderle | Editor and Publisher | 


We welcome your thoughts and comments on this column and on other columns and features in this issue. 

You can reach us at westcoastwoman@comcast.net. We’re on the web at www.WestCoastWoman.com. 


Is independence in your own home your goal? 

Choose a trusted, professional nursing team to ensure the years ahead and your health 

care path align with your wishes. 

Take Care provides all levels of care—from 

skilled nursing to helping with groceries 

and companionship—for clients in any 

home setting. We remain dedicated to 

helping you and your loved ones. 

Erika Wise Borland, MA, Vice President 

Celebrating 

(941) 927-2292 

www.TakeCareHomeHealth.com 

info@takecarehomehealth.com 

Lic. # HHA 21657096 | 299991405 

Take Care is locally nurse and familyowned 

with 28 years of experience meeting 

your health care needs, from a quick home 

visit once a week to around-the-clock 

support, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

Susanne S. Wise, RN, MBA, CEO & Owner 

28 

Personalized care in your own home has 

never been more important. 

Our Registered Nurse New Services team 

is ready for your call. 

Courtney Wise Snyder, MSG, CMC, President 

Years of Caring 

2022 

Community Voted Best Home Health since 2012 


your healthier health you 

Craniosacral Therapy Can Be Life Changing 

CST treats the whole body physically, physiologically, mentally, emotionally and energetically 

Clients come to me because they are in physical 

pain such as neck, back, pain and TMJ as well as 

for chronic headaches and migraines. 

Pain and stress caused by 

shortened Fascia 

Fascia (strong connective tissue) encases all 

our muscles, organs, brain and spinal cord. 

Whenever fascia shortens any place in the 

body, the entire network of fascia creates an 

increased tension affecting the functioning 

of our physical body as well as our organs, 

our brain and spinal cord. 

Our body is the history of every major 

trauma we have experienced physically and 

emotionally beginning with birth issues, falls, 

head trauma, car accidents, childhood abuse 

issues, death, divorce and other emotional 

issues. Our body tries to minimize each trauma 

by shortening fascia to isolate the energy 

coming into the body from that trauma. 

Shortened fascia results in pain, loss of mobility 

and range of motion, organs becoming 

less efficient and with parts of the brain and 

spinal cord becoming stressed. 

To keep the brain functioning, the body 

transfers some of your functional work play 

energy (7:00 AM-10:00 PM) to the brain resulting 

in less energy to make it through each 

day. As we age, the accumulation of all the 

tightened fascia, from every major trauma 

in life, begins to restrict every aspect of our 

body’s functions resulting in pain, loss of mobility, 

mis-functioning organs, loss of energy, 

as well as our brain losing some its sharpness. 

How Craniosacral 

Therapy Works 

The Craniosacral Therapist creates a safe 

place, with gentle holding techniques, that 

engages your body’s ability to self correct, 

reorganize and heal itself with the release 

of some of that tightened fascia during 

each session. As the Craniosacral Therapist 

engages your body, you will feel fascia releasing. 

As the fascia releases, pain begins to 

decrease, range of motion and mobility improve, 

organs begin functioning better and 

with less stress on the brain feels, it returns 

the energy it borrowed at the time of each 

trauma resulting in an immediate increase in 

your energy levels. Rarely does anyone leave 

from my first session not feeling better. 

Short Leg Syndrome 

Eighty-five percent of my clients have one 

of their legs pulled up 1/2 to 1 by shortened 

fascia. The tension from short leg syndrome 

on the sacrum (5 fused vertebrae at bottom 

of the spine) is transferred up the dural tube 

that encases the spinal cord into the lower 

and upper back, the neck, the cranium and 

The physical stress in bodies caused by shortened 

fascia (connective tissue) shuts down 

energy flows to certain organs. Short leg syndrome 

by ½ to 1 in (where one leg is pulled up 

by shortened fascia) shuts down energy flow to 

the spleen (an important part of your immune 

system) and the small and large intestine. With 

the release of that shortened fascia, energy returns 

to these organs. 

the brain. Headaches, migraines, TMJ and 

neck problems can originate from the fascial 

stress in the sacrum. 

Releasing this sacral stress increases energy 

in the bladder, sex organs, kidneys and 

the chakras as well as releasing major stress 

in the upper part of the body. 

Cause of Shallow Breathing 

A great majority of the clients who come to 

me for various problems are also shallow 

breathers. Fascial stress in the diaphragm 

restricts the depth of breathing by restricting 

energy flow to the lungs, the pericardium 

and the heart. With the release of fascial diaphragm 

restriction, the client immediately 

starts breathing deeply and energy is restored 

to the pericardium and the heart. 

Shoulder blades that are cemented to the 

body also restricts how much the rib cage can 

open and thereby also restricting depth of 

breath. Without proper breathing, your cells 

do not get enough oxygen. Everyone, especially 

people suffering from bronchitis, asthma 

and COPD as well as shallow breathing can 

benefit when the fascial stress is released. 

Specialized Training 

to work with Brain 

Dysfunctions 

Just as the body physically gets stressed from 

physical and emotional trauma, the functioning 

of the brain is also affected by fascial stress. For 

our brains to remain healthy, we need dynamic 

production of craniosacral fluid which performs 

the important function of bringing nourishment 

to all the cells in the brain and spinal 

cord as well as cleansing all the metabolic 

wastes given off by those same cells. 

Once the craniosacral fluid cleanses these 

metabolic wastes, efficient drainage of these 

metabolic wastes into the lymph system is 

absolutely necessary. Research has shown, 

that at night, craniosacral fluid cleanses amyloid 

plaques from the brain. If the drainage 

is inefficient, then the brain is being bathed 

in a toxic slurry. How does 15 or 20 years of 

your brain being bathed in a toxic slurry 

affect you: senile dementia, Parkinson’s, 

Alzheimer’s and other brain dysfunctions? 

A Craniosacral Therapist, who has received 

training in working with the brain, can reverse 

that stress on the brain that eventually can 

result in those brain dysfunctions. As we all 

know, the proper functioning of the body is 

dependent on a healthy functioning brain. 

Babies and Children can benefit 

■ Our little boy Leo, four years of age, had a 

difficult birth and at 7 months was put on antibiotics 

for an ear infection and as a result developed 

c-diff. His development came to a stop. 

At 3 years, with the help of an OT, he started 

to walk and talk. In spite of the improvements, 

he was unable to answer questions and his 

communication skills were very poor. Leo 

had very poor muscle tone, a lot of stress in 

his body and physical activities such walking, 

jumping and climbing were difficult for him. 

Beginning with the first session with Terry, 

he began showing improvement and with each 

following session. Everyone from his teachers 

to his grandparents noticed an increase in his 

■ “I was in awful pain and the 

MRI showed 2 pinched nerves 

and stenosis. I scheduled surgery. 

My daughter suggested Craniosacral therapy. 

After only 2 visits the pain was reduced to 

advanced craniosacral about 80% and therapy I canceled the surgery. I went 

for a 3rd visit and I am about 90% better.” 

■ “Simply Amazing! One visit was all it took for 

Terry to relieve 85% of my year long, nagging 

(sometimes severe) neck/shoulder tightness/ 

pain!! My breathing improved tremendously.” 

physical strength, as well as improvements in 

comprehension, speech and communication 

skills. For the first time, he started participating 

in class lessons and interacting with his 

classmates. Terry has made a huge impact on 

getting Leo to a place a little boy should be at 

age four. We cannot thank Terry enough. 

■ Terry’s treatment helped our 6 week old 

baby boy from recent hospitalization into 

the first series of healthy bowel movements 

when seemingly nothing could help. Our son 

was able to latch onto the breast and for the 

first time completed his feeding. He was much 

calmer after working with Terry. 

■ “He was able to relieve tension that I have 

been carrying around for 15 years or more. 

I left his office table with more energy than I 

have had in years.” 

■ “I began working with him because I was 

dealing with anxieties, depression and lots of 

emotional pain inside and out. You don’t realized 

how much stress can cause damage to 

your body, mind and soul. I can say Terry was 

a big help.” 

Terrence Grywinski 

of Advanced 

Craniosacral Therapy, 

B.A., B.ED., LMT #MA 6049 

Testimonials from Clients 

SOURCE: 

■ Terrence Grywinski of Advanced Craniosacral Therapy, 

B.A., B.ED., LMT #MA 6049. Terry has specialized in Craniosacral 

Therapy since 1994 when he began his training at the Upledger 

Institute. Described by his teachers, clients and colleagues 

as a “gifted healer”, Terry’s intuitive sense and healing energy 

provides immediate and lasting relief from injury, pain, mobility 

issues as well as dysfunctions of the body and the brain. Part 

of Terry’s ongoing education, he has completed 4 craniosacral 

brain and peripheral nervous system classes which enables him 

to work at a cellular 

level and with brain 

dysfunctions. 

Call 941-321-8757 

for more information, 

Google Advanced 

Craniosacral 

Therapy. 

■ “On a recent vacation to Siesta Key, I re-injured 

my back. I found Terry online. I can say 

with complete joy that was the best decision 

I made in the history of my back pain. I have 

sought many modalities and visit a CST regularly 

and never have I had such a healing in 

my entire body. 

After 3 sessions, I made a 16-hour drive 

home with no pain or discomfort in my entire 

body. Unbelievable. My body has a sense of 

moving freely and that is completely new. I’m 

advanced craniosacral therapy 

so grateful to Terry for his knowledge, for his 

sensitivity to my needs and his kind generosity 

in healing my body. I will see him when I return 

next year.” 

■ “I am a snowbird who spends 7 months 

in Sarasota. I have had back problems for 25 

years. Terry’s techniques have led to a great 

deal of release and relief in areas that have 

been problematic. I have been seeing him over 

the years when my body says ”it’s time”. Usually 

after a few sessions, I can tell a huge difference.” 

6 WEST COAST WOMAN JULY 2024 

PAID ADVERTORIAL

out &about 

Special Events 

CoolToday Park, the Spring Training 

Home of the Atlanta Braves, has 

its Movie Nights again. The lineup 

offers something for everyone. Summer 

Movie Nights are on most Sundays 

during July inside the stadium at 

CoolToday Park. 

Movies and Dates: 

• July 14th- Arthur the King 

• July 21st- Ghostbusters: Frozen 

Empire 

• July 28th- The Shallows 

The movies will be shown on the 

scoreboard and will begin at 5 p.m. 

Children ages 3 and under will receive 

free admission, while tickets for ages 

4-9 are only $3, and ages 10+ are $7. 

Tickets are available at the CoolToday 

Park box office, online at cooltodaypark.com/movies, 

or by calling 941- 

413-5004. 

Parking is free, seats will be available 

in the seating bowl. The Superior 

Pools Tomahawk Tiki Bar & Grill will 

be open for dinner. 

▼ 

Skyway 2024: A Contemporary 

Collaboration runs through January 

26, 2025. The exhibit is a partnership 

between five arts institutions in 

the Tampa Bay area celebrating the 

region’s artistic practices. Working 

together, curators from each institution 

(The Ringling, the Museum of 

Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Florida, the 

Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling College, 

the Tampa Museum of Art, Inc., 

and the USF Contemporary Art Museum) 

offer context for the diversity of 

art being made in Hillsborough, Manatee, 

Pasco, Pinellas, and Sarasota 

counties. Held at The Ringling. www. 

ringling.org 

▼ 

The Sarasota Chamber of Commerce 

has a collaborative effort with 

State College of Florida’s 26 West Center 

to offer a series of workshops aimed 

at empowering entrepreneurs and fostering 

business growth. 

The “Empowering Entrepreneurs: 

Unleashing Business Growth” workshop 

series is tailored to support businesses 

at all stages of development, 

whether they are established, newly 

launched, or in the planning phase. 

Led by industry experts from 26 West 

Center, participants will receive 

insights, best practices, and lessons to 

enhance growth potential. Each workshop 

can be attended individually 

for $45. All workshops will be held at 

the Sarasota Chamber of Commerce 

building. 

The remaining workshops include: 

• Social Media Marketing for Small 

Business Workshop is on July 9, 6-8 p.m. 

• Boost Your Brand: AI Marketing 

for Small Business Workshop is on 

August 6, 6-8 p.m. 

Participants in these workshops will 

receive expert guidance but will also 

have access to workshop materials 

through the SCF online learning management 

system during and for two 

months following each session. 

To register, visit sarasotachamber. 

com or call (941) 955-8187. 

▼ 

The Great Outdoors 

Master Gardener Volunteer 

Mobile Plant Clinic is on July 7, 10-2. 

Visit their mobile plant clinic located 

at the Lakewood Ranch Farmers Market, 

1561 Lakefront Dr, Sarasota. Master 

Gardener Volunteers are available 

to share their horticulture knowledge 

and assist with plant questions. 

▼ 

Tour Rye 

Reserve on July 20, 

9-11 a.m. The Preserve 

is at 905 Rye 

Wilderness Trail, 

Parrish. Take a hike 

through upland habitats 

along the beautiful 

Rye Preserve 

and learn about Florida’s 

native plants, 

natural history, and 

early settlement of 

the area. Suitable 

for all ages. Repeats 

every month. Register: 

www.eventbrite. 

com. 

▼ 

DeSoto/Riverview 

Pointe Preserve 

Tour is on July 

13, 9-11. Casually 

stroll through the 

beautiful Riverview 

Pointe Preserve and 

learn about Florida’s 

native plants 

and inhabitants of 

a coastal environment. 

Suitable for 

all ages. Tour begins 

in the parking area 

of DeSoto National 

Memorial Park and 

enters into Riverview 

Pointe Preserve. 

Register: www. 

eventbrite.com. 

▼ 

Sustainable 

Food And You Lunch-And-Learn 

(Webinar) is on July 16, noon to 1 

p.m. Join UF/IFAS Extension Sarasota 

County as they examine how grocery 

shopping habits can impact food 

waste. This webinar will talk about 

how to make smarter decisions at the 

store, how to store food safely and 

ways to reduce your grocery bill. 

Instructors: Maria Portelos-Rometo, 

Family and Consumer Sciences, UF/ 

IFAS Sarasota Extension Agent Nelly 

Nelson, Family and Consumer Sciences, 

UF/IFAS Manatee Extension 

Agent. Register: www.eventbrite. 

com/e/sustainable-food- 

▼ 

Backyard Bugs: Identifying 

Insects In The Landscape is on July 

17, noon to 12:45. Learn how to identify 

some common species of insects 

and understand their place in the 

landscape. There are many interesting 

insects and arthropods crawling and 

flying around in Sarasota County. 

Instructor: Jackie Lebouitz, UF/ 

IFAS Extension Sarasota County, 

Chemicals in the Environment Agent. 

Register early through Eventbrite.com 

to reserve your spot and receive notice 

of any changes. For questions or information, 

call 941-861-5000. 

▼ 

Rain Barrel Workshop is on July 

20 10-11 a.m. Learn more about the 

benefits of rain barrels, and purchase 

a recycled, food grade-plastic rain 

barrel for your property. To purchase 

a rain barrel, use the “Get tickets” button 

and then the Eventbrite “Purchase 

rain barrel(s)” add-on to order and pay 

for barrels. Purchase orders must be 

completed prior to the workshop. 

During this class you will learn how 

the use of rain barrels can conserve 

water, save money by reducing the use 

of potable water in landscapes (lower 

utility bills), and reduce stormwater 

runoff by storing and diverting runoff 

▼ 

from impervious surfaces (like roofs). 

Practical tips on the construction 

and installation of rain barrels will 

be provided. After the workshop, they 

will have a Q/A session with their Florida-Friendly 

Landscaping community 

educator, and a Sarasota County Air 

& Water Quality representative. Bring 

your questions. Register at ufsarasotaext.eventbrite.com 

For questions, call 941-861-5000. 

Sea Turtle Nesting 

Season is Here 

Now through Oct. 31, Sarasota 

County beaches will host some of the 

largest numbers of nesting loggerhead 

and green turtles in the state. 

Here are tips to make this sea turtle 

season great: 

• Gather up any trash and/or belongings 

and fill any holes in the sand. 

Leave the beach better than you 

found it. 

• Refrain from using a flashlight on 

the beach at night. 

• Boaters, watch for swimming turtles 

and slow down if you see one to 

avoid propeller strikes. 

If you have any questions, reach out 

to seaturtle@scgov.net. 

▼ 

Mote Marine 

Learning Experience 

Florida Master Naturalist Program 

- Freshwater Systems starts on 

July 29, 9 am -4:30 pm. FMNP is an 

adult education UF/IFAS Extension 

program developed by the University 

of Florida and pro vided by participating 

organizations like Mote Marine 

Laboratory. 

Core courses consists of 40 hours. 

Students need only bring their enthusiasm, 

meet attendance requirements 

and complete assigned activities. 

These courses are a combination of 

▼ 

Island Gallery and Studios’ 

featured artist is photo/acrylic artist 

Jim Wheeler 

and his exhibit is entitled: 

“Color and Texture.” 

It runs July 1-31. 

classroom presentations, 

educational 

videos, supplemental 

assignments, 

field experiences 

and a final project. 

Through classroom, 

field trip, and 

practical experience, 

this Module provides 

instruction on 

the general ecology, 

habitats, vegetation 

types, wildlife, 

and conservation 

issues of Freshwater 

Systems in Florida - 

Marshes, Swamps, 

and Permanent 

Wetlands (Lakes, 

Rivers, Springs, and 

Streams). The program 

also addresses 

society’s role in 

wetlands, develops 

naturalist interpretation 

skills, and 

discusses environmental 

ethics. 

The course format 

is Hybrid. Odd days 

1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 will 

be held in-person 

at different locations. 

Even days 2, 

4, 6, and 8 will be 

online via Zoom. 

The Florida Master 

Naturalist Program 

prepares participants 

to share their 

knowledge with others in a positive 

way that helps others feel a greater 

connection to the land and sea and to 

help others develop their own personal 

environmental ethics. 

Information on the ecology of Florida’s 

systems is an integral part of the 

program, but the goal is not to create 

experts in botany, herpetology or any 

other discipline. Instead, the Florida 

Master Naturalist Program initiates a 

life-long process of learning, observation 

and of sharing with others. Students 

have the opportunity to increase 

their knowledge of Florida’s natural 

systems, of the plants and animals 

that depend upon these systems and 

of the role humans play in shaping our 

past, determining our future and as 

environmental stewards. 

Students must be 18 or older. Those 

who benefit include environmental 

educators, natural resource managers, 

volunteers, eco-tour guides, teachers 

and anyone wishing to expand their 

knowledge of Florida’s natural world. 

Runs July 29-August 26. Price: $350 

with electronic manual (PDF). Scholarships 

are available. Register: app. 

certain.com/profile/form/index. 

Questions, call 941-388-2904. 

At Selby Library 

▼ 

Sarasota County library card holders 

can participate in eco-friendly 

adventures with backpacks created by 

UF/IFAS Extension Sarasota County. 

The program aims to inspire healthy, 

green living in a fun and educational 

manner. Learn about sustainable 

practices and how to make a positive 

impact on our community. 

The following backpacks are available 

for free at all Sarasota County libraries: 

• Explore Your World Kit – This kit is a 

passport to the great outdoors, with a 

curated selection of books, essential 

gear and engaging activities. 

• Family Green Living Kit – This interactive 

kit fosters an understanding of 

conservation and sustainability concepts 

and encourages environmental 

stewardship. 

• Insect Investigator Kit – Investigate 

the world of insects using magnifying 

tools and other instruments with 

this kit. Learn about different kinds 

of insects and receive a free “Mosquito 

Detective” pin. 

All kits can be checked out for 

free with a Sarasota County library 

card. Learn more at tiny.cc/ufsaraext_ 

kits or call 311. 

At Bookstore1 

Sarasota 

On July 23 at 11 a.m. the Banned 

Book Club will discus “Are You There 

God, It’s Me Margaret” by Judy Blume. 

The Club is led by Bryn Durgin. In 

this iconic novel, Margaret shares her 

secrets and her spirituality. A Time 

Magazine Best YA Book of All Times, 

it has frequently been challenged for 

its portrayal of religion and its frank 

discussions of puberty and sexuality. 

Read more on why this book has been 

challenged at the Banned Books Project 

here: bannedbooks.library.cmu. 

edu/are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret-judy-blume/ 

Meet in person at the store at The 

Mark, 117 S. Pineapple Ave. The book 

club is $12, which includes a copy of 

Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret 

to be picked up at Bookstore1 any time 

before our meeting. 

• On July 10 at 2 p.m. the Poetry Book 

Club discusses “Citizen: An American 

Lyric” by Claudia Rankine. This 

monthly book is for those who like to 

read and discuss poetry. It celebrates 

the integral role of poets and poetry in 

life and literature. 

Meet in person at the store. The book 

club is $20, which includes a copy of 

Citizen to be picked up at Bookstore1 

any time before the meeting. 

Rankine’s bold new book recounts 

mounting racial aggressions in ongoing 

encounters in twenty-first-century 

daily life and in the media. She is the 

author of four previous books, including 

Don’t Let Me Be Lonely: An American 

Lyric. 

Bookstore1Sarasota, 117 S. Pineapple 

Ave. Sarasota. Registration: www. 

sarasotabooks.com. 

▼ 

The Circus Arts 

Conservatory 

Summer Circus Spectacular runs 

through August 17. The Ringling presents 

in collaboration with The Circus 

Arts Conservatory of Sarasota a funfilled 

show for the entire family. The 

Summer Circus Spectacular showcases 

some of the finest circus artists from 

around the world, performing acts to 

thrill audiences of all ages. 

Visit circusarts.org or call the Box 

Office at 941-355-9805 or visit www. 

ringling.org 

▼ 

At the Van Wezel 

Coming up: 

• September 20: Friday Fest. K-Luv 

and The United Funk Foundation. 

This is part of their Friday Fest, the 

free, outdoor summertime concert 

series. The events run from 5-9 p.m. 

and are located on the lawn of the 

Van Wezel. Bring blankets or lawn 

chairs, take in the music and the 

sunset, and enjoy food and beverage 

from local vendors. 

▼ 

continued on page 8 


out and about continued 

Coming up (partial list): 

• The Commodores - November 16. 

• Disney Jr. Live On Tour: Let’s Play - 

November 23 

• Black Violin Celebrates 20th Anniversary 

with BV20: Then & Now 

Tour - November 21 

Future updates on shows and productions 

can be found at www.Van- 

Wezel.org 

The Hermitage 

They have two exhibits: 

• Impact: Contemporary Artists at 

the Hermitage Artist Retreat will 

be on display through July 7, 2024. 

This exhibition features work from 

ten nationally and internationally 

celebrated Hermitage alumni artists, 

including two Hermitage Greenfield 

Prize winners, and the exhibit is curated 

by former Hermitage Curatorial 

Council Member Dan Cameron 

Over the past two decades, each artist 

has been a Fellow at the Hermitage 

Artist Retreat on Manasota Key — a 

unique experience that contributed 

to their creative processes. The exhibit 

will feature work across a range of 

media, including sculpture, painting, 

installation, video, photography, printmaking, 

ceramics, and textiles. Artists 

include: Diana Al-Hadid, Sanford 

Biggers, Chitra Ganesh, Todd Gray, 

Trenton Doyle Hancock, Michelle 

Lopez, Ted Riederer, John Sims, Kukuli 

Velarde and William Villalongo 

▼ 

• The Truth of the Night Sky: A Hermitage 

Collaboration featuring the 

work of Hermitage Fellows Anne Patterson 

and Patrick Harlin is on display 

through September 29. 

Multidisciplinary visual artist Anne 

Patterson and composer / soundscape 

artist Patrick Harlin have joined forces 

to develop this one-of-a-kind immersive 

experience. 

The exhibition will feature several 

works by Patterson, expanding upon 

Harlin’s original composition Earthrise, 

an orchestral piece inspired by 

the eponymous 1968 photograph 

taken by Apollo 8 astronaut William 

Anders on humanity’s first-trip 

around the moon. With each step, visitors 

will travel imaginatively through 

space and time. 

Free and open to the public with a 

$5 fee. Registration required: HermitageArtistRetreat.org. 

On July 25 at 6:30pm, Hermitage 

Fellows Jeffery Renard Allen and Yasi 

Alipour both work on paper to create 

narrative, but Allen uses letters while 

Alipour prefers lines and intricately 

folded patterns. In the original works 

created by these innovative Hermitage 

artists, time collapses and worlds 

expand; the future is present, and 

history is interrupted. Splitting time 

between New York and Johannesburg, 

Allen is an award-winning author 

of six books, including the critically 

acclaimed debut Song of the Shank. 

His latest work “Fat Time and Other 

Stories” is a collection of short works 

described by The New York Times as a 

“fierce itching dazzle.” Alipour, a celebrated 

visual artist interested in paper, 

politics, and performance, explores 

systems of math and history in her 

work. Informed by her time studying 

at the University of Tehran, intricately 

folded pages take on three-dimensional 

presence when imbued with 

her intuitive and highly technical 

art. Hear from both artists about why 

they make the work they make, and 

▼ 

what they hope an audience will see 

and hear when they encounter it with 

“Interrupted History” on the Hermitage 

Beach. 

• Hermitage programs continue into 

August with Hermitage Fellow Mónica 

Lavín and translator-collaborator D.P. 

Snyder for “Translation-Traducción” 

on the Hermitage Beach on August 9 

at 6:30pm presented in partnership 

with UnidosNow. When done right, 

two writers’ literary DNA recombine 

to create not mere reproductions but 

wholly new works. What is the alchemy 

by which this literary magic takes 

place? How does such an interchange 

enrich the work and its readers? In this 

age of A.I. and ever more present translation 

technology, these gifted writers 

offer audiences a chance to explore 

the Spanish-English literary and the 

human activity of understanding 

another person’s voice as they share 

insight into literary translation. 

Register at HermitageArtistRetreat.org. 

At The Ringling 

The John and Mable Ringling 

Museum of Art has this exhibit: 

• On the Road Photographs of the 

Traveling Circus and Carnival by Jill 

Freedman and Randal Levenson runs 

through August 25, 2024. This exhibition 

features the work of two photographers, 

Freedman and Levenson, 

who entered the world of traveling 

entertainers—circus (for Freedman) 

and carnival (for Levenson)—in the 

1970s. Their images reveal the distinct 

sensibilities each brought to their projects 

and offer a glimpse of what life 

was like on the road with the circus 

and carnival. 

For photographer Jill Freedman 

(American 1939-2019) the allure of 

the circus was one of wanderlust and 

the possibility of “packing up your 

tent and slipping into the night.” The 

plucky photographer traveled with 

the Beatty-Cole Circus, documenting 

the “backstage everyday life of this 

ancient, closed society and the people 

who live in it” at a time when the traveling 

circus as a way of life was dying 

out. Freedman’s black and white images 

are gritty and offer up the tattered 

and hardscrabble aspects of life on the 

road, but she also homes in on the personalities 

and sense of community at 

the heart of circus life. 

Randal Levenson (American, 1946- 

2022) also went on the road, but he 

documented the unique world of 

▼ 

traveling carnivals and sideshow performers 

beginning in 1971. Not merely 

a spectator, Levenson also immersed 

himself in the life and day-to-day 

work of the itinerant carnival, working 

alongside carnies to hammer in stakes 

and raise tents. In contrast to the 

grainier documentary approach that 

Freedman took, Levenson used a larger 

format camera on a tripod, posing 

his subjects and creating more formal 

compositions with vivid details of his 

experiences. 

Tickets: ringling.org. The John and 

Mable Ringling Museum of Art, 5401 

Bay Shore Rd., Sarasota. 

• The newest exhibition at The John 

and Mable Ringling Museum of Art’s 

Community Gallery, Shared Vision: 

Art and Empathy, is on view now 

through August 8, 2024. 

A project with Boys & Girls Clubs of 

Manatee County, Shared Vision: Art 

and Empathy is a reflection on the 

ways art can support empathic feeling 

and highlights the importance of 

empathy-building practices and emotional 

engagement. The exhibition also 

explores the idea that empathy can 

induce more socially conscious action 

in our communities. 

This collaborative project shares 

individual stories, encourages open 

dialogue, and embraces the diverse 

and rich experiences of the artists’ 

work on view. The exhibition features 

tapestry work including a large quilt 

with squares designed by club members 

that were sewn together with help 

from the Sarasota Gulf Coast Chapter 

of the American Sewing Guild. 

The Ringling Community Gallery is 

a free public exhibition space dedicated 

to displaying works of art produced 

by community-based, non-profit, or 

student groups in the local Sarasota/ 

Manatee area. 

The John and Mable Ringling 

Museum of Art, 5401 Bay Shore Rd., 

Sarasota. 

Theatre 

Florida Studio Theatre has these 

shows: 

• Ken Ludwig’s Dear Jack, Dear Louise 

begins on July 3 in FST’s Keating 

Theatre. When two strangers meet by 

letter during World War II, a love story 

begins. U.S. Army Captain Jack Ludwig, 

a military doctor stationed in Oregon, 

begins writing to Louise Rabiner, 

an aspiring actress and dancer in New 

York City, hoping to meet her someday 

▼ 

Mote Marine is offering a 

Florida Master Naturalist Program 

starting on July 29 

if the war will allow. Ken 

Ludwig tells the true story of 

his parents’ courtship, and 

the results are anything but 

expected. 

• The Outsider By Paul 

Slade Smith begins on July 

24 in FST’s Gompertz Theatre. 

Ned Newley doesn’t 

even want to be governor. 

He’s terrified of public 

speaking, and his poll numbers 

are impressively bad. 

To his ever-supportive Chief 

of Staff, Ned seems destined 

to fail. But his political 

consultant sees things differently: 

Ned might be the 

worst candidate ever to run 

for office. Unless the public 

is looking for... the worst 

candidate ever to run for 

office. A timely comedy that 

skewers politics and celebrates 

democracy. 

• Rhinestone Cowgirls 

runs to July 28 in FST’s Goldstein 

Cabaret. A journey through all things 

country music, celebrating its evolution 

from humble beginnings to the 

giants of the music industry today. 

Three powerhouse vocalists help you 

relive classics such as Patsy Cline’s 

“Crazy,” Tammy Wynette’s “Stand by 

Your Man,” and Loretta Lynn’s “Coal 

Miner’s Daughter,” as well as new 

favorites like Carrie Underwood’s 

“Last Name.” 

• The Four C Notes - Recreating the 

Music of Frankie Valli and the Four 

Seasons begins August 6 in FST’s 

Goldstein Cabaret. Four guys, vintage 

dance moves, and a trip down memory 

lane with the Frankie Valli and the 

Four Seasons catalog. Featuring all of 

your favorite hits, including: “Big Girls 

Don’t Cry,” “Walk Like A Man,” “Can’t 

Take My Eyes Off You,” and “Let’s 

Hang On.” 

Location: 1241 North Palm Ave., 

Sarasota. Tickets: www.floridastudiotheatre.org. 

Selby Gardens 

Selby Gardens has Clyde Butcher: 

Nature Through the Lens at the 

Historic Spanish Point campus on 

view to August 31, 2024. Featuring 

extraordinary, large-format wildlife 

prints by this well-known landscape 

photographer and conservationist, 

Clyde Butcher: Nature Through 

the Lens gives viewers the chance to 

engage with Clyde Butcher’s artwork 

against the backdrop of our Historic 

Spanish Point campus. selby.org 

▼ 

FST Summer Improv 

Florida Studio Theatre (FST) has 

its Summer Improv Season running 

through September 28. It has five 

shows, including their annual Fourth 

of July holiday musical. 

Next up is FST Improv Presents: 

Freedom!, a special, one-night-only 

holiday improv show celebrating Independence 

Day. Inspired by audience 

suggestions, improvisers will reveal 

an untold story of the American Revolution. 

This never-before-seen musical 

will take place on July 6 in FST’s 

Bowne’s Lab. 

“This show has become a 4th of 

July tradition for a lot of people in our 

community,” said Will Luera, FST’s 

Director of Improv. “Our cast will put a 

comedic spin on Independence Day by 

creating a completely original musical 

▼ 

on the spot.” 

Returning for the Summer Season 

is FST Improv Presents: The End of 

the World, which performs for one 

night only: Saturday, July 27. Disaster 

has struck the planet and the future 

of humanity is at stake. The world’s 

only hope is for FST Improv to record a 

movie telling the true story of the end 

of the world, leaving their film behind 

as a warning to any future civilization 

looking to make a go of it here on 

Earth. 

FST Improv’s salute to the high 

school classics of the ‘80s, FST Improv 

Presents: Fast Times at John Hughes 

High, returns for an exclusive performance 

on August 3. Inspired by such 

films as The Breakfast Club and Risky 

Business, select FST Improv cast members 

will shape an all-new story celebrating 

the abundant awkwardness, 

hormones, and dreams of American 

teenage life. 

Bringing the Summer Improv Season 

to a close is FST Improv Presents: 

Comedy Lottery, where twelve audience 

members select the night’s lineup 

of games. Once the games have 

been selected, FST Improv cast members 

spin scenes, sketches, and songs 

to win over the audience’s laughter. 

Comedy Lottery plays Saturdays in 

FST’s Bowne’s Lab from August 10 to 

September 28. 

At The Galleries 

Island Gallery and Studios’ featured 

artist for July is photo/acrylic 

artist Jim Wheeler and his exhibit is 

entitled: “Color and Texture.” It runs 

July 1-31. 

Wheeler has been involved in both 

painting and photography for most of 

his life. He calls his art Photo/Acrylic, 

meaning he uses photography for a 

base and acrylics for both texturing 

and occasionally for enhancement. 

Doing it this way means each piece 

is truly unique, creating a 3-D effect 

where viewers can actually feel the 

surface and see the layers. 

Meet the Artist — Jim will be in the 

Gallery on July 27 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 

All are invited to come and meet Jim 

and learn more about his painting and 

photography techniques. 

Saturday demos are back. They offer 

free Saturday demonstrations, held 

each week in the Gallery, from 10:30 

am to 12:30 pm. Coming downtown to 

visit the Bradenton City Market? Stop 

by the Gallery to enjoy one of various 

demonstrations by member artists. 

Full schedule of demos and classes at 

www.islandgalleryandstudios.org 

Island Gallery and Studios is located 

at 456 Old Main Street in downtown 

Bradenton. For information, visit 

www.islandgalleryandstudios.org. 

▼ 

Art Center Sarasota 

• Cycle 6: through July 27: Annual 

Juried Regional Show: “Beyond Comfort.” 

This is Art Center Sarasota’s largest 

juried show of the year and encompasses 

all four gallery spaces. The juror 

is Virginia Shearer, executive director, 

Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling College 

of Art and Design. This year’s show, 

“Beyond Comfort,” invites artists to 

express their perception of beauty and/ 

or the grotesque in contemporary art 

and society. 

Art Center Sarasota, 707 N. Tamiami 

Trail, Sarasota. Info: www. 

artsarasota.org 

▼ 

Ringling College Galleries has 

Jack Dowd: Last Call. Immerse your- 

▼ 


continued on page 10

focus on the arts 

$3 OFF w/code WCW 

DAILY TROLLEY TOURS 

ENTERTAINING • INFORMATIVE 

14th Annual 

Sarasota Improv 

Festival July 12-13 

CITY SIGHTSEEING 

In Our Air Conditioned Trolley 

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 

This tour is fabulous and fun 

for visitors or residents alike! 

We learned so much & had a 

great time! Katie 

Tues-Sat 10 AM & 1 PM, Sundays 3 PM 

Thursdays-Sundays During Summertime 

Enjoy an entertaining & informative tour of Sarasota’s 

history, culture, neighborhoods & things to do. 

Florida Studio Theatre (FST) 

is again holding its annual 

Sarasota Improv Festival, 

the premier festival of its kind 

in the Southeastern United 

States. Founded by Rebecca Hopkins in 

2009, the Sarasota Improv Festival has 

become a destination event, drawing thousands 

of people from across the state of 

Florida and beyond. 

The festival is back for its 14th year 

and will feature over 16 of the top improv 

troupes from across the country and as far 

as Chile. The 14th Annual Sarasota Improv 

Festival will be held on FST’s downtown 

Sarasota campus Friday, July 12 and Saturday, 

July 13. 

“We are thrilled to be welcoming artists 

and audiences back to FST for this beloved 

festival,” said Will Luera, FST’s Director 

of Improvisation. “This event is so special 

and distinctive— not just to the Sarasota 

community, but within the larger improvisational 

world on a national scale. It’s truly 

become a destination event.” 

Headlining the 14th Annual Sarasota Improv 

Festival is Impro Theatre, a group that 

creates completely improvised, full-length 

plays in the styles of the world’s greatest 

playwrights, authors, and composers. This 

will be Impro Theatre’s second time at the 

Sarasota Improv Festival. Founded as Los 

Angeles Theatresports in 1988, Impro Theatre 

has evolved into a critically acclaimed 

theatre and school. 

This marks the seventh year that FST has 

welcomed artists from around the world 

to its Improv Festival. Introducing Festival 

audiences and performers to a wider array 

of improv styles and approaches has always 

been a priority to Festival Producer, Rebecca 

Hopkins, and Festival Organizer, Will Luera. 

Past Festivals have drawn international 

talent from Mexico, France, Spain, and 

the United Kingdom. Making their festival 

debut this year is Lospleimovil, an improv 

group from Chile. 

Lospleimovil was created in 2000 under 

the direction of actor and director Claudio 

Espinoza, along with actress and theater 

pedagogue Lissette Villegas, with the intention 

of promoting and researching stage 

improvisation, a genre that had not been 

showcased as a final artistic event by any 

professional theater company in the country 

until then. Thus, they became the pioneers 

of improv in Chile. 

Returning for the Festival are several 

fan favorite troupes, including Available 

Cupholders (Austin, TX, and Los Angeles, 

CA), Big Bang Improv (Boston, Sarasota, 

and New York City), Dad’s Garage (Atlanta, 

GA), Parallelogramophonograph (Austin, 

TX), North Coast (New York City, NY), and 

of course, Florida Studio Theatre’s own resident 

improv team, FST Improv. 

Closing the 14th Annual Sarasota Improv 

Festival is the famous finale event, All Play, 

where all 80+ Festival artists squeeze themselves 

onto FST’s Gompertz stage for a raucous, 

completely unscripted performance of 

collaborative fun. A beloved Festival tradition, 

this showdown of improvisational play 

turns strangers into teammates and spur-ofthe-moment 

ideas transform into art. 

In addition to 26 performances, workshops 

led by Festival artists from across the country 

will be held on Saturday, July 13, for those 

who want to learn from some of improv’s top 

artists. Workshops are also on sale now. 

Festival passes can be purchased at Florida 

StudioTheatre.org or at 941-366-9000. 

FESTIVAL PASS PRICING: 

Two Day Pass - $75; Saturday Pass - $59; 

Friday Pass - $49 

FULL FESTIVAL SCHEDULE 

Friday, JULY 12 

6PM – FST Improv starts 

7PM – Parallelogramophonograph (Austin, TX) 

7PM – Jet Eveleth (Los Angeles, CA) 

7PM – HERE: The (Improvised) Musical 

(Columbus, OH) 

8PM – Dad’s Garage (Atlanta, GA) 

8PM – Lospleimovil (Chile) 

8PM – Available Cupholders (Austin, TX) 

9PM – North Coast Improv (New York City, NY) 

9PM – Brotha, Sista (Minneapolis, MN) 

9PM – SAK Comedy Lab (Orlando, FL) 

10PM – Improv All Stars 

Saturday, July 13 

10AM – Family Show 

5PM – Improv I-4Ever: Featuring Swan City 

Improv (Lakeland, FL), and The 

Commodore (Ybor City, FL) 

5PM – Jet Eveleth (Los Angeles, CA) 

5PM – Lospleimovil (Chile) 

6PM – Big Bang Improv (Boston, MA) 

6PM – Brotha, Sista (Minneapolis, MN) 

6PM – Tropical Punchlines: Featuring Treble 

in Paradise (Sarasota, FL) and 

Just the Funny (Miami, FL) 

7PM – HERE: The (Improvised) Musical 

(Columbus, OH) 7PM – Available 

Cupholders (Austin, TX) 

7PM – North Coast Improv (New York City, NY) 

8PM – Parallelogramophonograph (Austin, TX) 

8PM – SAK Comedy Lab (Orlando, FL) 

8PM – Dad’s Garage (Atlanta, GA) 

9PM – Impro Theatre (Los Angeles, CA) 

10:30PM – All Play 

ARCHITECTURE TOUR 

Art Deco | Mid-Century Modern | Mediterranean Revival 

Wednesdays 10:30 AM 

On this mainland architecture tour led by Guide 

Ed Simays, see Art Deco, Mediterranean Revival, & 

Mid-Century Modern Structures with a focus on the 

Sarasota School of Architecture. 

WHO KILLED THE CIRCUS QUEEN? 

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 

“My Whole Family Loved It!” 

-Jane 

MOTIVE. MEANS. OPPORTUNITY. 

Thursdays & Saturdays 7:30PM 

Includes Complimentary Beer/Wine Before Boarding 

Step right up to solve the murder of Dahlia the Queen of the High Trapeze 

on this interactive Murder Mystery Musical Tour where 

YOU ARE A PART OF THE SHOW! 

DiscoverSarasotaTours.com 

941-260-9818 

1826 4th Street, Sarasota | FREE Parking! 


out and about continued 

self in an installation featuring a 

22-foot mahogany bar adorned with 

13 life-size characters. Delve into the 

evocative world of Dowd’s “27 Club” 

series through 13 large pastel drawings, 

alongside a collection of sculptures 

and paintings that illuminate 

Dowd’s career. 

The installation emerged over two 

years and was finalized in early 2001. 

The sculpture debuted at the John and 

Mable Ringling Museum of Art in a 

two-month exhibition later that year. 

The mahogany bar, meticulously 

designed and built by Jack Dowd and 

his assistant, his son Jon Dowd, comprises 

26 pieces and incorporates cutting-edge 

lighting and sound systems. 

The creation of 13 life-size characters 

and the construction of the 22x10x14- 

foot bar stand as a labor of love and a 

pinnacle achievement in Dowd’s illustrious 

fifty-plus-year career as an artist. 

On view from through August 16. 

In-person viewings are free and open 

to the public. For more information, 

941-359-7563. 

Define Art Gallery’s next exhibition, 

Chromatic Daydream, will run 

until July 27, with a closing reception 

on July 5. 

Chromatic Daydream features 15 

diverse artists who will lead visitors on 

a journey through their vivid imaginations, 

each presenting their unique 

interpretation of color across an array 

of mediums. 

For more information about Chromatic 

Daydream and upcoming 

exhibitions at Define Art Gallery, visit 

www.definegallery.com. Define Art 

Gallery and Studio, 68 S. Palm Ave., 

Sarasota. 

▼ 

Sarasota 

Art Museum 

The Truth of the Night Sky runs 

to September 29. Multimedia artist 

Anne Patterson and composer Patrick 

Harlin collaborated to create 

an immersive installation. Patterson, 

a synesthete who sees color 

and shape when hearing music, and 

Harlin expand on his composition, 

Earthrise. The orchestral piece was 

inspired by the eponymous photograph 

taken from Apollo 8 in 1968— 

an iconic image that sparked a movement 

to care for the environment. 

• Molly Hatch: Amalgam runs to 

April 26, 2026. Hatch’s newly commissioned 

“plate painting,” Amalgam 

(2023), was created specifically 

for Sarasota Art Museum. Consisting 

of more than 450 earthenware 

plates hand-painted in white, blue, 

and gold luster, the abstract lines 

and shapes in Amalgam are drawn 

from a variety of historical ceramics 

from around the globe. 

• Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling 

College of Art and Design is continuing 

its participation in Blue Star 

Museums, a program that provides 

free admission to U.S. military personnel 

and their families this summer. 

The Museum, which already 

provides free admission year-round 

to veterans and active-duty military 

members with ID, will also offer free 

admission to their families from 

Armed Forces Day, through Labor 

Day, September 2 through its participation 

in Blue Star Museums. 

Providing military families with 

engaging experiences in an intimate 

setting is Sarasota Art Museum’s way 

▼ 

of thanking 

military 

members for 

their past and 

ongoing contributions 

to 

our nation. 

Nationally, 

the Blue Star 

Museums 

program is 

available for 

those currently 

serving 

in the United 

States Military 

— Air 

Force, Army, 

Coast Guard, 

Marine Corps, 

Navy, and 

Space Force, 

members of 

the Reserves, 

National Guard, U.S. Public Health 

Commissioned Corps, NOAA Commissioned 

Corps, and up to five family 

members. Qualified members must 

show a Geneva Convention common 

access card (CAC), DD Form 1173 ID 

card (dependent ID), DD Form 1173-1 

ID card or the Next Generation Uniformed 

Services (Real) ID card for 

entrance into a participating Blue Star 

Museum. 

Info: sarasotaartmuseum.org/visit 

Dance 

Sarasota Contemporary Dance 

Studios has In The Round this summer 

on July 26 at 7 p.m. The performance 

will be located at their home 

studio with in-person and virtual 

streaming available. 

In the Round Performances will 

feature pieces from rising choreographers 

who have been chosen to set 

their work on their summer intensive 

participants. In The Round is an 

opportunity for rising choreographers 

from Sarasota Contemporary Dance as 

well as selected choreographers chosen 

from across the country by SCD’s 

Artistic Staff to set a work in progress 

during the Summer Intensive. 

The choreographers are given feedback 

during the performance from 

audience members using a modified 

version inspired by the Liz Lerman 

Critical Response Process (CRP), 

led by our Artistic Director, Leymis 

Bolaños Wilmott. 

Held at SCD’s Home Studio , 1400 

Blvd of the Arts, Ste 300, Sarasota. For 

more information, visit www.sarasotacontemporarydance.org. 

▼ 

The Bishop 

Museum of Science 

and Nature 

To the Moon: Snoopy Soars with 

NASA is on exhibit through August 

15. Just before the first man landed 

on the moon, Charlie Brown and 

Snoopy soared through space with 

NASA’s Apollo 10 mission in May 

1969. The exhibition To the Moon: 

Snoopy Soars with NASA examines 

the history of Apollo 10 and the Peanuts 

characters’ role in that flight and 

in the NASA Manned Flight Awareness 

safety program. 

As the decade of the 1960s was coming 

to a close, America and the rest of 

the world waited with great anticipation 

to see if NASA could achieve President 

John F. Kennedy’s challenge, put 

▼ 

forth in May 1961, of putting a man on 

the moon by the end of the decade. 

The crew of Apollo 10 chose to 

nickname their command and lunar 

modules Charlie Brown and Snoopy, 

respectively. The flight of Apollo 10 in 

May 1969 was the “dress rehearsal” 

for the lunar landing that was scheduled 

for July 1969. Astronauts Thomas 

Stafford and Eugene Cernan piloted 

Snoopy within 50,000 feet of the lunar 

surface as they scouted the landing 

area for Apollo 11 while John Young 

orbited the moon in the command 

module Charlie Brown. 

Charles Schulz’s involvement with 

NASA began a year earlier than the 

1969 flight of Apollo 10 when he was 

approached by NASA with a request 

to use Snoopy as their safety mascot. 

The Silver Snoopy Award program was 

instituted to improve the safety record 

of NASA employees and contractors. 

It proved to be a huge success with the 

astronauts and the employees. The 

Silver Snoopy pin is a much-coveted 

award. Snoopy has been on the job for 

50-plus years and continues to this day 

in his role as NASA’s safety mascot. 

Visitors will see Snoopy’s trip to the 

moon in the March 1969 Peanuts strip 

series and learn about NASA’s Silver 

Snoopy Award program. The exhibition 

also contains a children’s creative 

play space where children can 

dress up like an astronaut and have 

their photograph taken in an astronaut 

suit standee. 

The Bishop has complemented 

the exhibition with Peanuts-related 

objects like original comic strips, rare 

toys, and vintage merchandise, all 

loaned by local private collectors. Info: 

https://bishopscience.org. 

Art in the Area 

Reimagining Nature: Dalí’s 

Floral Fantasies presents Salvador 

Dalí’s best-loved botanical print 

suites sourced from The Dalí’s collection. 

This exhibition features three 

rarely displayed suites of botanical 

prints made by Dalí between 1968 

and 1972, highlighting some of the 

most treasured works on paper in the 

Museum’s permanent collection. On 

display together for the first time in 

two decades, these astonishing works 

transform renderings of fruits and 

flowers, reimagining them as surreal 

creations at the height of the Pop era. 

Crafted late in Dalí’s career, the 

three suites from the Museum’s 

vault, Flora Dalínae (FlorDalí), 1968, 

FlorDalí (Les Fruits), 1969 and Florals 

▼ 

Sarasota Contemporary 

Dance Studios 

has In The Round 

on July 26 

(Surrealist 

Flowers), 

1972, were 

created 

when Dalí’s 

printmaking 

practice was 

becoming 

increasingly 

prolific. In 

these prints, 

Dalí often 

painted over 

original 

botanical 

illustrations, 

such 

as those by 

the 18- and 

19th-century 

artists 

Pierre-Antoine 

Poiteau 

and 

Pierre-Joseph Redouté. The works in 

this exhibition transform these traditional 

depictions of fruits and flowers 

by juxtaposing incongruent elements, 

incorporating dream-like characters 

and iconic symbols often seen 

throughout Dalí’s career, such as flies, 

ants and melting clocks. 

In addition to the print suites, a 

selection of Dalí’s paintings incorporating 

botanical imagery along with 

archival material, including floral 

advertisements designed by the artist, 

will be on display in the exhibition. 

Included in the price of admission. 

Runs to October 20, 2024. Tickets: 

thedali.org/exhibit 

The 8th Annual Emerging Artist 

Exhibition at the Gallery at Creative 

Pinellas is an exhibition of work 

showcasing the creations of their 2024 

Emerging Artist grant recipients. This 

exhibition features original work by 

ten artists: Kaitlin Crockett, Vanessa 

Cunto, Thomas Sayers Ellis, Fran Failla, 

Tyler Gillespie, Antonia Lewandowski, 

David McCauley, Harriet 

Monzon-Aguirre, Gaby Rosa and Luci 

Westphal. This will be a chance for 

viewers to support and acquire pieces 

from these up-and-coming artists. The 

exhibition will run through July 21 at 

the Gallery at Creative Pinellas. 

The Emerging Artist Exhibition 

will be on display with artworks for 

sale through the closing at the Gallery 

at Creative Pinellas, 12211 Walsingham 

Road, Largo. The Gallery is 

open Wednesdays through Sundays 

from 10am-5pm. The reception, talks 

and exhibition are free and open to 

the public. 

For details, visit creativepinellas.org/ 

▼ 

Save the Date 

Atomic Holiday Bazaar returns to 

the Sarasota Municipal Auditorium on 

Saturday, December 14 and Sunday, 

December 15. Atomic closed for two 

seasons due to the Covid Pandemic, 

then reopened at Robarts Arena while 

downtown construction for The Bay 

Sarasota and city streets occurred; 

it was always the producer’s goal to 

return to its original event site, the 

iconic Municipal Auditorium. 

The street fair is located on Plaza 

De Santo Domingo which are two 

one way streets between the Municipal 

Auditorium and the Art Center. 

In the past Atomic was only on one 

side of the streets, however, this year, 

the street fair will be populated on 

both sides! The fair will showcase 

▼ 

more food trucks, rolling wheels retail 

experiences, think refurbished school 

bus or Canned Hams or vendors who 

prefer working outside under their 

10x10 tents! 

The main room for Atomic’s municipal 

auditorium is sold out already. 

However, the Bay Front room will 

be opened in order to accommodate 

more talented makers. Applications to 

apply for either the Street Fair or the 

Bay Front room are available at www. 

atomicholidaybazaar.com with spots 

selling out quickly, makers are encouraged 

to apply today. 

Atomic features a fresh range of 

handmade indie artsy-crafty items for 

all and is the place for shopping for last 

minute holiday gifts. For more information 

about Atomic Holiday Bazaar, 

the Bay Front room contact Adrien at 

941-539-9044 or atomicholidaybazaar@gmail.com 

For more information about the 

Atomic Holiday Bazaar Street Fair, 

contact Monica at 941-323-9109 monicaeshkoli@gmail.com. 

The time and date have been set 

for the 30th Brunch on the Bay, the 

fundraising event for the University 

of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee: 

11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, 

November 3, in the campus courtyard, 

8950 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. 

Since 1994, Brunch on the Bay has 

raised more than $6.5 million in scholarships 

for more than 2,000 students. 

Proceeds from this year’s Brunch on 

the Bay, which will feature food and 

drinks from area restaurants and 

caterers, will again support student 

scholarships and campus initiatives. 

Co-chairing the event are Scott 

Olthoff, president of CORE Construction 

Florida, the general contractor 

for the new USF Sarasota-Manatee 

Campus Student Center and Atala 

Residence Hall; and Bill Mariotti, a 

member of the USF Foundation Board 

of Directors and a member of the USF 

Sarasota-Manatee Campus Board. 

Attendees also will get to see the 

new Student Center and Atala Residence 

Hall, the first on-campus residence 

hall for students. The building 

will open to students in August for the 

start of the fall semester. 

Tickets for Brunch on the Bay will 

go on sale later this summer. Visit 

the Brunch on the Bay website, www. 

sarasotamanatee.usf.edu/brunchon-the-bay 

for the latest updates. 

▼ 

Attention Arts 

Organizations: 

Have you sent your season 

schedule yet? We’ve received 

lots of them so far, but do we have 

yours? If you want coverage in 

West Coast Woman this fall, make 

sure to send your schedule to: 

westcoastwoman@comcast.net. 

Each year WCW publishes a 

Season Preview in November 

and December where we highlight 

some of the many upcoming 

events. Every month our extensive 

calendar of event includes art 

exhibits, museums, theatre, choral 

music, orchestras, fundraisers, 

festivals, shows, ballet and 

so much more. Don’t miss your 

opportunity to be a part of it all! 




Commissions Amalgam, 

a New Site-Specific 

Installation 

It was created by Ceramic Artist 

and Designer Molly Hatch 

Amalgam can be viewed from the Museum’s 

Marcy & Michael Klein Plaza as well as the 

first floor Mark and Irene Kauffman Arcade 

and second floor Jan Schmidt Loggia. 

Photo by John Polak 

American ceramic 

artist and designer 

Molly Hatch’s latest 

work Amalgam is 

not just contemporary 

installation art, but also an 

invitation to explore the dialogue 

between the old and the new, the intimate 

and the monumental. 

Hatch is best known for her 

large-scale wall installations of her 

hand-painted ceramic plates—what 

she calls “plate paintings.” For nearly 

20 years she has worked to merge the 

distinctive look of painterly surfaces 

with the physicality of ceramic forms. 

Drawing on her engagement with 

the history of decorative arts and 

practice as a painter, she has interrogated 

the meaning of inherited objects 

in our lives. Her work prompts 

viewers to explore the subtle, yet 

unexpected threads that connect 

various cultures across the globe and 

historical epochs. 

Hatch’s latest “plate painting,” 

Amalgam (2023), commissioned by 

Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling 

College of Art and Design, runs until 

April 2026. It is created specifically for 

the Museum’s Jan Schmidt Loggia and 

Mark & Irene Kauffman Arcade. 

Spanning two floors and consisting 

of more than 480 earthenware plates 

hand-painted in white, blue, and gold luster, 

Amalgam is conceived as one ensemble 

framed by the four arched windows. Hatch 

also plays with the empty spaces, so that 

viewers perceive lines and patterns between 

plates adjacent to each other. The whole 

composition may also be experienced from 

multiple points of view, from near and far, 

inside and outside of the Museum. 

The patterns and motifs deployed in 

Hatch’s plates in Amalgam are drawn from 

historical ceramics, such as 15th-century 

Chinese Ming-dynasty Hanap drinking vessels, 

19th-century Moroccan Fassi (from 

Fez) ware, 17th- and 18th-century Dutch 

Delft vases, 18th-century Mexican Talavera 

tile panels, and 19th- and 20th-century Japanese-inspired 

English ceramics designed by 

Christopher Dresser. 

By creating a cross-cultural bricolage of 

blue-and-white motifs ubiquitous in these ceramic 

wares, Hatch brings to the fore material 

and visual evidence of centuries-old global 

trade networks and the resultant shared 

aesthetics that connect us. It showcases 

Hatch’s unique ability to blend, deconstruct, 

and recontextualize traditional decorative 

arts and painting into something entirely 

new and striking. 

Hatch is not only exploring history, but 

specifically Art History, which has historically 

been a male dominated field in many 

ways. By working with a craft material 

such as ceramics that has been devalued by 

the art world and categorized as “women’s 

work,” she seeks to reclaim a place for ceramics 

and for women in the art historical 

canon. Hatch asserts her place as a woman 

in history by reinterpreting and asking viewers 

to rethink their relationships with imagery 

and objects. 

“I think I have always sought to find a 

place for myself as a woman in the story of 

art, and my work has become a way of doing 

so,” said Hatch. 

Molly Hatch’s Amalgam was commissioned 

as part of Sarasota Art Museum’s Inside Out 

exhibition program. Inside Out was created 

to give contemporary artists from around the 

world a space to share thought-provoking 

work outside of the gallery setting, in order to 

spark new conversations about art and ideas 

with museum-goers of all ages. 

Amalgam builds on our tradition of inviting 

contemporary artists to make new work 

in dialogue with Sarasota Art Museum’s 

iconic architecture,” said Virginia Shearer, 

Director of Sarasota Art Museum. “We look 

forward to welcoming visitors of all ages to 

marvel at this unique outdoor installation. 

Hatch’s work has been exhibited internationally 

with permanent installations in 

many museums, including Psychic Garden 

(2014) at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, 

Georgia and Repertoire (2017) at the Newark 

Museum of Art in Newark, New Jersey. 

In 2023, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts 

in Canada commissioned and acquired her 

work, Ducere, and she received commissions 

for new installations for the Tiffany & 

Co. Manhattan flagship store, The Landmark, 

and Tiffany stores in Dubai and Taipei. Hatch 

lives and works in Florence, Massachusetts 

Sarasota Art Museum is located at 

1001 South Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Visit 

SarasotaArtMuseum.org 

How Can 

Acupuncture 

Benefit Me? 

Acupuncture balances the body and enhances 

the bodies genuine healing process. Which 

benefits everyone, from early signs of an illness 

to severe to chronic lingering symptoms. 

941.955.8882 

Located at 

Dr. Luo’s 

Oriental 

Medicine 

3293 Fruitville Road, 

Ste 104, 

Sarasota FL 34237 

Rodney D. Gerling, Esq. 

Dana Laganella Gerling, Esq. 

Marla Stewart Owczarek, Esq. 

Estate Planning, Probate, 

Trust Administration 

and Elder Law 

Dr. Deborah 

Scandin AP, RRT 

Acupuncture Physician 

Dr. Deb has over 25 years 

combined experiences in 

Acupuncture, Respiratory Therapy 

and Neuromuscular Massage. 

• COPD, Flu & Colds 

• Sports Injuries & Trauma 

• Total Wellness 

“It brings me true joy seeing my 

patients with more energy, mobility 

and wellbeing” 

Call today for your 

consultation appointment! 

FREE LIVING WILL WITH 

EVERY ESTATE PLAN 

Simple Will $ 195.00 

Revocable Living Trust: 

Single, Non Taxable $ 1,195.00 

Married, Non Taxable $ 1,795.00 

Power of Attorney $ 150.00 

Health Care Surrogate $ 130.00 

No additional costs required other than filing fees, if applicable 

Offices: East Bradenton 

(941) 756-6600 www.gerlinglawgroup.com 



Arts Ovation Hotel is 

Hosting Two Exhibits 

Emerging Artist Adrienne Watts Launches Solo Exhibition 

through October 27 

Artist Adrienne Watts has her first Sarasota solo exhibition 

at Art Ovation Hotel, showcasing her distinct talents 

as an abstractionist with her show “Weaving Dreams.” 

Woven canvases – tearing the 

canvas into strips and interweaving 

them into a single piece – is a dynamic 

form of expression for Watts. Each 

piece makes its own statement that 

cannot be replicated, using a strong 

visual identity of bright colors and 

color combinations. 

“’Weaving Dreams’ celebrates being 

present and allowing yourself to be 

guided by curiosity and imagination. 

It conveys a sense of gratitude for 

life’s fleeting moments, and a deep 

appreciation for the interconnectedness 

of all things,” she said. 

Prior to her artistic pursuits, Watts 

had a successful career in finance, Adrienne Watts 

earning a 

degree in accounting 

and 

an MBA. Over 

the span of 

30 years, she 

served as 

a CPA, corporate 

controller, 

and 

eventually 

became the 

co-owner of 

a real estate 

company. 

Throughout 

her professional 

endeavors, 

she 

maintained 

her dedication 

to art, 

composing 

pet portraits 

and still-life 

paintings in 

watercolor 

and watercolor 

pencil for friends and acquaintances. 

As her artistic journey continued, she was an active member 

of the Wilmington Art Association and Art League of Leland, 

and her work was shown at New Elements Gallery, Sunset River 

Marketplace, and Water+Color Gallery. In 2022, she relocated to 

Sarasota where she continues to pursue her passion. Her arrival 

only strengthened her resolve to further cultivate her talents. 

“We’re all connected by emotion and feeling. As an artist it’s 

my responsibility to create opportunities for that kind of personal 

engagement,” Watts said, adding, “It’s a privilege to be a part 

of that process. I hope my work inspires exploration, excitement, 

and emotional expansion.” 

Each piece is one of a kind and available for purchase. Watts’ 

exhibition at Art Ovation Hotel runs through October 27. 

For more information, adriennewattsart.com. 


“Empowered Awakening 

I” by Adrienne Watts 

(Acrylic Mixed Media on 

Canvas Woven) 

“Symphonic 

Sunrise” by 

Adrienne Watts 

(Acrylic Mixed 

Media on 

Canvas Woven) 

“Joy of Discovery” by Adrienne Watts 

(Acrylic Mixed Media on Canvas Woven) 

continued on page 14 >>

THE CIRCUS ARTS CONSERVATORY & THE RINGLING 

present 

TICKETS: 

ringling.org 

941.360 .7399 

The Ringling | 5401 Bay Shore Rd 

Incredible 

Family Entertainment 

AT THE RINGLING 

NOW – SAT AUG 17 

TUE – FRI 

SAT 

$ 

20 

11 AM & 2 PM 

2 PM & 5 PM 

ADULT 

$ 

15 

CHILD 

12 & UNDER 

Best. Labiaplasty. Ever. 

AWAKE & COMFORTABLE in our OFFICE 

(or Surgery Center if you prefer) 

by the area’s ONLY Cosmetic Gynecologist 

Your source for Vaginal Rejuvenation 

Call or Text our 

Private Line 

(727) 403-0573 

Natural Results. Affordable Pricing. 

“I feel confident & sexy” 

“I can wear anything now” 

“Well cared for” 

“Positive experience” 

“Warm & friendly staff ” 

“Exceeded expectations” 

“100% comfortable sex” 

“Wish I did it sooner” 

“Better than I ever imagined” 

“I’m ready to date again” 

“Wonderful experience” 

“I enjoy sex more” 

“No longer self-conscious” 

Dr. Jennifer S. Hayes 

Board Certified in Gynecology 

Fellowship trained in Cosmetic Gynecology 

25+ years vaginal surgery experience 

Beverly Hills trademarked techniques 

BEFORE & AFTER GALLERY AT WWW.VisionaryCentreForWomen.com 


Art Ovation continued 

“Global Rhythms” Recent Works by Michael R. Stevenson July 2-8 

Bradenton-based artist Michael R Stevenson 

will be the artist-in-residence in the Artist 

Studio also at Art Ovation Hotel, July 2-8. 

An opening reception for his exhibit, “Global 

Rhythms,” is Friday, July 5, 5-7 p.m. The gallery is 

open daily with the artist in residence, 4 to 8 p.m. 

each evening. 

The exhibit showcases 

Stevenson’s meticulously 

crafted art quilts, paying 

homage to the rich textile 

traditions of cultures 

around the world. Although 

Stevenson hails from four 

generations of quilters, his 

artistic journey began later 

in life, shortly before his 

retirement as a university 

professor. 

His fine art quilting 

allows him to share his 

lifelong passion for meticulously 

crafted textiles, 

Michael R 

Stevenson 

which he has collected from various places over the 

years. Stevenson favors improvisational piecing 

and has a penchant for blending bold patterns. As 

one viewer aptly remarked, “He isn’t afraid of color!”—a 

comment he considers high praise. 

Stevenson describes “Global Rhythms” as an 

“homage to world cultures with long textile traditions, 

including Indonesia, Africa, and Japan. 

It is also a celebration of color, complexity, and 

texture. I might begin with a sense of the layout of 

a new piece, but once started, these things often 

go in directions I hadn’t planned. In some cases, I 

find ways to add texture to the surface. When I’m 

not working with bits and pieces of cotton or silk 

that others have gifted me or that I’ve discovered 

in thrift shops, I particularly enjoy using batik and 

hand-dyed cottons. These materials often feature 

bolder, more saturated colors and patterns, which 

I find especially captivating.” 

Stevenson says that “quilting runs in my DNA. In fact, my modest collection 

of vintage quilts includes the work of my maternal great-grandmother, 

my paternal grandmother, my favorite great aunt, as well as my 

mother. Even so, I was reared in an environment where men didn’t sew, or 

make art, for that matter. They tended crops, raised livestock, fixed stuff, 

opened stubborn jar lids, and lifted heavy things. Nonetheless, I grew up 

experiencing the warmth and comfort a well-crafted quilt can provide and I 

developed a deep appreciation for the artistry and skill the art requires.” 

To learn more about the artist, follow him on Instagram at @ 

michaelrstevensonphd. 

“Emotions Passing By” 

by Michael R Stevenson. 

(Pieced, quilted, and appliquéd 

batik cotton, hand-spun 

art yarn, hand stitching.) 

“Seeing Red” by 

Michael R Stevenson. 

(Pieced and quilted 

reclaimed vintage 

Japanese cotton.) 

“Bumpy Ride” by Michael R Stevenson. (Pieced and quilted 

batik cotton, found object, roving, hand-spun art yarn, 

machine and hand stitching.) 

Art Ovation 

hotel’s 

restaurant, 

TZEVA. 

Art Ovation Hotel 

1255 N. Palm Avenue, Sarasota. 

www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/srqsa-art-ovation 

The hotel is in downtown Sarasota, 

near Florida Studio Theatre 

and, since its opening, has displayed 

works by local artists in its lobby 

and throughout the hotel on varying 

floors. Exhibits run through November 

2024. 

Walk the galleries, meet the t artists, 

mingle with the community at 6 

pm, tat their opening receptions in 

the lobby and Crescendo Galleries. 

They offer complimentary champagne, 

light bites and live entertainment 

followed by introductions 

of the featured artists and opening 

remarks. More details at www.artovationhotel.com/experience 

The hotel also offers Art & Wine 

Tours. Experience the Art Exhibitions 

featured throughout Art 

Ovation Hotel, including the Lobby 

gallery, Crescendo gallery, Artist 

Studio, and guest level Elevator lobby 

galleries while enjoying a glass of 

wine. 

Hear about the artists’ inspiration 

and the stories behind the artwork. 

Your tour guide will meet you at the 

gallery bar at 5pm. The length of 

the tour is approximately 30 minutes 

to an hour. Conversations and 

questions are encouraged. Reserve 

at www.artovationhotel.com/experience 

After either event, consider dinner 

at the hotel’s restaurant, TZEVA. 


Dermatology of Coastal Sarasota 

Call us today 

for your 

appointment 

or book online! 

introducing 

For Your Skin. 

For Your Well-Being. 

CELEBRATING 15 YEARS! 

what happens when you 

don’t advertise? 

...nothing! 

Invest in your business by advertising in an affordable, 

targeted publication with a long track record... 

(941) 928-2056 


Experience the unique welltolerated 

benefits of improved tone 

& texture while lightening pigment. 

Dermatology of Coastal Sarasota 

5310 Clark Rd., Suite 201, Sarasota • 941.900.3952 

DOCSofSarasota.com 

www.WestCoastWoman.com 

Ask 

about our 

Caregiver 

Support 

Groups 

Adult Day Services for your Loved One 

& Caregiver Resources for You 

The Caregiving Place of Sarasota 

Monday-Friday, 8:30am - 3:30pm 

1820 Brother Geenen Way, Sarasota 34236 

Call today for a tour! 941-556-3268 

See our website for details and virtual tour www.friendshipcenters.org 


Joyce Norris 



She’s the 

Executive 

Director of 

Community 

Harvest SRQ 

which “rescues” 

excess fresh 

food in fields 

and yards that 

would normally 

have gone to 

waste and delivers 

to those in need. 

“Local tables - not 

landfills” summarizes 

what they do. 


It’s the dead of summer and farming 

fields across Sarasota County are 

dormant due to the heat. But there’s 

nothing dormant about Community 

Harvest SRQ and its dynamic leader, 

Joyce Norris. 

The organization that Joyce runs, 

Community Harvest SRQ strives to accomplish 

several goals like reducing food waste. 

They do this by “rescuing” excess fresh food 

in fields and yards that would normally 

have gone to waste. Instead, she and her 

team of volunteers harvest or glean unwanted 

produce and deliver it to food banks, 

churches and community centers who in 

turn distribute the produce to those in need. 

Community Harvest SRQ was founded in 

2010 and is a part of the world-wide Transition 

movement, a network of grassroots 

groups working towards resilient and regenerative 

communities at the local level. They 

do this by local food recovery through three 

initiatives: The Suncoast Gleaning Project, 

Suncoast Fruit Rescue, and the new Farmers 

Market Produce Recovery program. 

Joyce started in 2020 and she is the nonprofit’s 

sole staff member. She does it all 

from working with local growers and food 

re-distributors to scheduling and recruiting 

volunteers. Then there’s managing 

Eat Local Week, producing the Eat Local 

Guide and keeping Community Harvest 

SRQ visible through managing its website, 

e-blast, and educational programs. It’s a 

lot to do and it helps that Joyce is meticulous, 

detail-oriented, works hard and gets 

along with people so well. As an added 

bonus—though not a job requirement—she 

believes in sustainably grown food and eats 

a healthy diet. 

Joyce relies on volunteers to get the job 

done. Volunteer opportunities to glean in 

the field are concentrated from May to June 

and November to December. Fruit Rescue 

(household fruit tree gleaning) typically 

occurs May to August. 

Looking at photos of past gleanings, volunteers 

come in all sizes, shapes and ages. 

And, for working in the warm weather and 

in the “dirt,” they are always smiling. 

“Produce harvested by our volunteers is 

donated to All Faiths Food Bank, The Food 

Bank of Manatee, or Feeding Tampa Bay, 

depending on the gleaning location,” she 

explains, and is done by volunteers who 

sign up for two-hour shifts. 

Things are quiet now as fields are dormant 

and farmers don’t grow crops in the 

summer heat. But Community Harvest 

still has its backyard fruit rescue program 

which is literally harvesting fruit like mangoes, 

starfruit and later, when in season, 

citrus. The program started in 2021 Joyce 

notes and “since then we’ve harvested 5,000 

pounds of produce. People register their 

trees. We reach out to them and when fruit 

is ready to be picked, volunteers go out. It 

sounds challenging, but tracking makes 

things easier.” 

Volunteers go out in the morning to more 

or less beat the heat. “There are fruit trees 

all over. Often older folks can’t harvest. We 

provide a service - they produce the ‘product.’ 

Excess produce goes to food pantries 

like Church of the Pams, The Haven and 

Second Chance.” 

It all sounds so…inspiring, so easy, so fulfilling, 

but if you’re thinking ugh, that heat 

and my back, you can join whatever team 

works best for you and even if you can give 

an hour it helps. “If two hours farm labor is 

too much, just do one hour,” she offers. 

Tomato gleaning does involve working 

in the fields. It involves harvesting then 

loading boxes before it goes out to food 

pantries as well. Food banks do the hard 

work of warehousing food like canned and 

boxed food items along with some chilled or 

frozen foods, but fresh produce can be challenging 

due to the fact it spoils quickly. 

However, fresh fruit and vegetables are 

much needed in our diets - so maybe that’s 

what motivates the volunteers. So why are 

crops left in the field? “Some fruits are not 

‘pretty enough’ or farmers have already 

picked and sorted and there they sit. We [the 

community] throw away 40% of our food,” 

Joyce notes. 

“This past May, Transition Sarasota and 

the Society of St. Andrew partnered to rescue 

1,800 pounds of tomatoes. Metropolitan 

Ministries also gleaned with us and took 

some tomatoes to distribute. This joint harvesting 

resulted in donations to five agencies 

in Sarasota and Hillsborough counties. 

Generous farm partners include Blumenberry 

Farms, Honeyside Farms, Mondragon 

Farm, Peach Pit Farm and SweetSong 

Groves to name a few of the local growers 

who participate by donating produce. 

And the benefits of all that harvesting? 

“I’ll go to a pantry and an elderly person is 

in tears and says, ‘Now I’m able to afford 

healthy foods.’” Produce is often organic as 

well while others who are not certified organic 

use organic practices, she explains. In 

a typical month Joyce may be doing produce 

recovery in Lakewood Ranch or Englewood. 

“I’m all over the place.” Safety is “always 

number one - volunteers are always supervised 

- it can get hot. No trucks, no refrigeration 

- just me. We have capacity issues at 

times, but we’re small and scrappy and can 

turn on a dime.” 

Joyce was raised in western Massachusetts. 

Her childhood sounds almost like it 

was designed to prepare her for this job. 

From the website, “Her [Joyce’s] passion for 

vegetables and healthy eating originates 

from growing up with a large family garden. 

Fertilizer came from the farm down the 

street and crops were shared with family 

and neighbors. Her parents composted, 

canned, and made their own applesauce 

and baked goods.” 

She came on Board with Community 

Harvest in the summer of 2010. At the time, 

she was looking for something “meaningful” 

when the job opening came up and she 

applied — this after having already served 

as a volunteer and board member. 

Joyce moved to Florida in 1971. Her business 

background in accounting and as a 

business manager has come to good use 

with Community Harvest SRQ. 

In addition to its food gleaning efforts, 

Community Harvest SRQ also has their 

annual Eat Local Week in October. Each 

year, partners come together to offer events, 

including farm and garden tours, farmto-fork 

dinners, workshops, educational 

programs, community discussions, and 

hands-on activities. 

The rebranding that came with the name 

change from Transition Sarasota along with 

the new farmer’s market program both were 

made possible in part through support from 

Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation. 

“Everyone should have the opportunity to 

eat healthy food,” said Omar Guevara-Soto, 

strategic initiatives officer at Barancik 

Foundation and an expert on local food 

systems. “We are proud to partner with 

Community Harvest SRQ in its innovative, 

volunteer-powered work to create a more 

equitable and resilient food system for all.” 

Everyone should have access to healthy 

food,” Joyce believes. “It’s great getting up 

in the morning knowing you’re helping 

someone.” 

http://www.transitionsrq.org 

To volunteer, be sure to sign up for their 

email list and you must RSVP for gleaning. 

STORY and IMAGES: Louise Bruderle 

Passing wealth onto the next generation. 

What is the best way for your family? 

Start with a trusted advisor to guide you through questions and formulate your plan. 

For more information call 941.914.1560 

Amanda E. Stiff, MBA, Financial Advisor 

AccessAdvisorsLLC.com 941 914-1560 | Astiff@AccessAdvisorsLLC.com 

1800 Second St. Suite 895 Sarasota, FL 34236 | 1305 Langhorne Rd. Lynchburg, VA 24503 

Securities are offered through Level Four Financial, LLC a registered broker dealer and member of FINRA/SIPC. Advisory Services are offered through Level 

Four Advisory Services, LLC, an SEC-registered investment advisor. Level Four Financial, LLC, Level Four Advisory Services, LLC and Access Advisors, LLC 

are independent entities. Neither Level Four Financial, LLC, Level Four Advisory Services, LLC nor Access Advisors, LLC offer tax or legal advice. 

BEST MEDICINE, Inc. 

Longevity Medicine 

Hormone Therapy 

Second Opinions 

CAROL L. ROBERTS, M.D. 

2106 Bispham Road • Sarasota, FL 34231 

Phone: 941.404.8030 • www.bestmedicine.us 


travel feature 

Mary Cassatt at Work 

at Philadelphia Museum of Art 

The First Large-Scale Exhibition of the Artist’s Work in the U.S. in 25 years 

If you’re heading to the Philadelphia 

area, check out the Philadelphia 

Museum of Art and its exhibit 

“Mary Cassatt at Work,” the first 

large-scale exhibition of the artist’s 

work in the U.S. in a quarter century. 

The exhibition run through September 

8, 2024. 

Pennsylvania-born and a member 

of the French Impressionists, Cassatt 

built a career through hard work and 

artistic vision. For six decades, Cassatt 

was a professional artist, making the 

social, intellectual, and working lives 

of modern women a core subject 

of her prints, paintings, and pastels. 

She once wrote: “Oh the dignity of 

work, give me the chance of earning 

my own living, five francs a day and 

self-respect.” 

Mary Cassatt at Work will present 

over 130 of her works in various media 

to show her evolving practice as an 

artist and demonstrate her commitment 

to the “serious work” of artmaking. 

It will present new findings 

about her materials and working 

methods—which were advanced and 

Lydia Seated in the Garden 

with a Dog on Her Lap, 

1878–79 

Mary Cassatt 


radical for her era—based on detailed 

technical studies of the Philadelphia 

Museum of Art’s significant Cassatt 

holdings. 

“Art was Mary Cassatt’s life’s purpose 

and living,” said Sasha Suda, the 

George D. Widener Director and CEO 

of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. 

“This exhibition will focus on Cassatt’s 

professionalism, her biography, and 

the wider Parisian world she inhabited. 

It’s my hope that this exhibition 

will reshape contemporary conversations 

about gender, work, and artistic 

agency.” 

Mary Cassatt 

at Work will 

feature works 

from the PMA’s 

collection, including 

some of 

Cassatt’s most 

celebrated 

paintings and 

prints, as well as 

loans from the 

Metropolitan 

Museum of Art, 

the Art Institute 

of Chicago, the 

Cleveland Museum 

of Art, the 

Virginia Museum 

of Fine Arts, 

and private 

collections. 

“We hope visitors 

come away 

Little Girl in a Blue Armchair, 

1877–78 

with a sense of who Cassatt was and 

how carefully she constructed her 

identity as a working artist,” said curators 

Jennifer A. Thompson, The Gloria 

and Jack Drosdick Curator of European 

Painting and Sculpture and 

Curator of the John G. Johnson Collection, 

and Laurel Garber, The Park 

Family Assistant Curator of Prints and 

Drawings. “With this exhibition, we’ve 

sought to reexamine the full breadth 

of Cassatt’s art through the lens of 

her creative enterprise and draw 

attention to her commitment to 

ceaseless 

experimentation 

and bold 

techniques.” 

A multimedia 

tour is 

available, 

featuring 

audio, 

images, 

and videos. 

Following 

its run 

at the 

PMA, this exhibition will travel to the 

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 

Legion of Honor. 

Tickets: 

Mary Cassatt at Work is a separately 

ticketed exhibition. Standard tickets 

are $35 and include general admission 

to the museum. Also includes 

access to the Rodin Museum and 

Garden —Friday-Monday—which are 

just a short walk down the Benjamin 

Franklin Parkway. 

Getting there: 

2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, 

Philadelphia, PA 

https://www.philamuseum.org/ 

The museum is home to 200 galleries 

of world-class art. The American Art 

collection includes over 12,000 paintings, 

sculpture, furniture, ceramics, 

glass, and metalwork, highlighting 

work made in Philadelphia. Learn 

about our nation’s history through 

decorative arts, the works of Thomas 

Eakins, the Peale family, and the 

Pennsylvania Germans. 

The European Painting and Sculpture 

department manages a collection 

of approximately 4,000 works 

dating from 1300 to 1950, including 

significant holdings of work by Mary 

Cassatt, Paul Cézanne, Marcel Duchamp, 

and Auguste Rodin. 

Who is Mary Cassatt 

Mary Stevenson Cassatt (May 22, 

1844 – June 14, 1926) was an American 

painter and printmaker. She was 

born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania (now 

part of Pittsburgh’s North Side), and 

lived much of her adult life in France, 

where she befriended Edgar Degas 

and exhibited with the Impressionists. 

Cassatt often created images of 

the social and private lives of women, 

with particular emphasis on the 

intimate bonds between mothers 

and children. She was described by 

Gustave Geffroy as one of “les trois 

grandes dames” (the three great ladies) 

of Impressionism alongside Marie 

Bracquemond and Berthe Morisot. 

In 1879, Diego Martelli compared 

her to Degas, as they both sought to 

depict movement, light, and design 

in the most modern sense. 

She was born into an upper-middle-class 

family: Her father, Robert 

Simpson Cassatt, 

was a successful 

stockbroker and 

land speculator. Her 

mother, Katherine 

Kelso Johnston, 

came from a banking 

family. Katherine 

Cassatt, educated 

and well-read, had a 

profound influence 

on her daughter. To 

that effect, Cassatt’s 

lifelong friend 

Louisine Havemeyer 

wrote in her memoirs: 

“Anyone who 

had the privilege of 

knowing Mary Cassatt’s 

mother would 

know at once that 

it was from her and 

her alone that [Mary] 

inherited her ability.” 

A distant cousin of artist Robert 

Henri, Cassatt was one of seven 

children. One brother, Alexander 

Johnston Cassatt, later became president 

of the Pennsylvania Railroad. 

The family moved eastward, first to 

Lancaster, Pennsylvania, then to the 

Philadelphia area, where she started 

her schooling at the age of six. 

Cassatt grew up in an environment 

that viewed travel as integral to education; 

she spent five years in Europe 

and visited many of the capitals, 

including London, Paris, and Berlin. 

While abroad she learned German 

and French and had her first lessons 

in drawing and music. It is likely that 

her first exposure to French artists 

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, 

Eugène Delacroix, Camille Corot, and 

Gustave Courbet was at the Paris 

World’s Fair of 1855. Also in the exhibition 

were Edgar Degas and Camille 

Pissarro, both of whom were later her 

colleagues and mentors. 

Though her family objected to her 

becoming a professional artist, Cassatt 

began studying painting at the 

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts 

in Philadelphia at age 15. Part of her 

parents’ concern may have been Cassatt’s 

exposure to feminist ideas and 

the bohemian behavior of some of the 

continued on next page >>

A PROGRESSIVE CULINARY EXCURSION 

travel feature continued 

male students. As such, Cassatt and 

her network of friends were lifelong 

advocates of equal rights for the sexes. 

She continued her studies from 

1861 through 1865, the duration of the 

American Civil War. Thomas Eakins 

was among her fellow students. Impatient 

with the slow pace of instruction 

and the patronizing attitude of 

the male students and teachers, she 

decided to study the old masters on 

her own. She later said: “There was 

no teaching” at the academy. Female 

students could not use live models, 

until somewhat later, and the principal 

training was primarily drawing 

from casts. 

After overcoming her father’s objections, 

she moved to Paris in 1866, 

with her mother and family friends 

acting as chaperones. Since women 

could not yet attend the École des 

Beaux-Arts, Cassatt applied to study 

privately with masters from the 

school 

and was 

accepted 

to study 

with 

Jean-Léon 

Gérôme, 

a highly 

regarded 

teacher 

known 

for his 

hyper-realistic 

technique 

and his 

depiction 

In the Loge, 

1879 

of exotic 

subjects. 

Cassatt 

augmented her artistic training 

with daily copying in the Louvre. The 

museum also served as a social place 

for Frenchmen and American female 

students, who, like Cassatt, were not 

allowed to attend cafes where the 

avant-garde socialized. 

In 1868, Cassatt also studied with 

artist Thomas Couture, whose subjects 

were mostly romantic and urban. 

On trips to the countryside, the 

students drew from life, particularly 

the peasants going about their daily 

activities. In 1868, one of her paintings, 

A Mandoline Player, was accepted 

for the first time by the selection 

jury for the Paris Salon. 

The French art scene was in a 

process of change and the Impressionists 

were in their formative years. 

Cassatt, on the other hand, continued 

to work in the traditional manner, 

submitting works to the Salon 

for over ten years, with increasing 

frustration. 

Returning to the United States in 

1870—as the Franco-Prussian War 

was starting—Cassatt lived with her 

family in Altoona. Her father continued 

to resist her chosen vocation, 

and paid for her basic needs, but not 

her art supplies. 

Within months of her return to Europe 

in the autumn of 1871, Cassatt’s 

prospects had brightened. Her painting 

Two Women Throwing Flowers 

During Carnival was well received in 

the Salon of 1872, and was purchased. 

In 1874, she made the decision to 

take up residence in France and 

opened a studio in Paris. 

Cassatt saw that works by female 

artists were often dismissed with 

contempt unless the artist had a 

friend or protector on the jury, and 

she would not flirt with jurors to curry 

favor. Her cynicism grew when one 

of the two pictures she submitted in 

1875 was refused by the jury, only to 

be accepted the following year after 

she darkened the background. 

In 1877, both her entries were rejected, 

and for the first time in seven 

years she had no works in the Salon. 

At this low point in her career she 

was invited by Edgar Degas to show 

her works with the Impressionists. 

The Impressionists had no formal 

manifesto and varied considerably in 

subject matter and technique. They 

tended to prefer plein air painting 

and the application of vibrant color in 

separate strokes with little pre-mixing, 

which allows the eye to merge 

the results in an “impressionistic” 

manner. 

The Impressionists 

had 

already 

had one 

female 

member, 

artist 

Berthe 

Morisot, 

who 

became 

Cassatt’s 

friend 

and colleague. 

The only 

American 

officially 

associated with the Impressionists, 

Cassatt would go on to exhibit in half 

of the group’s later exhibitions. 

Cassatt admired Degas, whose pastels 

had made a powerful impression 

on her. She felt comfortable with the 

Impressionists and joined their cause 

enthusiastically, declaring: “we are 

carrying on a despairing fight & need 

all our forces.” 

Degas had considerable influence 

on Cassatt. She became proficient in 

the use of pastels, eventually creating 

many of her most important works in 

this medium. 

The Impressionist exhibit of 1879 

was the most successful to date. 

Cassatt displayed eleven works, 

including Lydia in a Loge, Wearing a 

Pearl Necklace, (Woman in a Loge). 

Although critics claimed that Cassatt’s 

colors were too bright and that 

her portraits were too accurate to be 

flattering to the subjects, her work 

was not savaged as was Monet’s, 

whose circumstances were the most 

desperate of all the Impressionists at 

that time. She used her share of the 

profits to purchase a work by Degas 

and one by Monet. 

She remained an active member 

of the Impressionist circle until 1886. 

Cassatt’s style then evolved, and she 

moved away from Impressionism 

to a simpler, more straightforward 

approach. She began to exhibit her 

works in New York galleries as well. 

After 1886, Cassatt no longer identified 

herself with any art movement 

and experimented with a variety of 

techniques. 

The Blend is breaking 

the mold of the 

traditional wine dinner. 

Learn more at eatlikealocal.com 

During these exclusive, limited attendance events, 

guests will embark together via trolley on a guided 

dining experience to locally-owned eateries that 

are Members of the Sarasota-Manatee Originals. 

Each stop features a specially curated dish paired 

with a wine. The journey begins on July 23rd with 

a delicious adventure on and around Siesta Key. 

Tuesday 

JULY 23, 5 TO 8:30PM 

ON AND AROUND SIESTA KEY 

Tuesday 

AUG 20, 5 TO 8:30PM 

VENICE / NOKOMIS 

Tuesday 

SEPT 24, 5 TO 8:30PM 

BRADENTON / PALMETTO 

Reserve Your 

Seat Now 

$135 includes all food, wine, gratuities 

and transportation. 


dining in 

All Hail the Avocado 

The average American eats more than 7 pounds of the fruit 

formerly known as aguacate every year. However, a century 

ago, avocados were considered a luxury item until one man 

developed a new variety that would help spread the buttery 

joys of avocados across the country. 

Los Angeleno Rudolph Hass decided to plant an avocado seed. 

After failing to graft the tree onto other avocado varieties as he had 

planned, Hass went to cut down the tree. His children stopped him under 

the belief that his tree produced avocados that were far more flavorful than the 

Avocado Macaroni and Cheese 

Rich and creamy, this take on 

classic macaroni and cheese is 

rich in heart healthy fat from 

the avocado. It also contains 

protein and fiber making it 

indulgent, yet nutritious. 

A lightened version can 

be prepared using skim or 

almond milk in place of the 

whole milk and reduced 

amounts of butter and cheese. 

Ingredients: 

16 oz. pasta 

2 avocados, pitted and mashed 

1 Tbsp. lime juice 

1/2 tsp. salt 

1 clove garlic, minced 

Instructions: 

Cook macaroni per package directions. 

Combine avocado, lime juice, salt and garlic in food processor. Process until smooth. 

Set aside. 

In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. 

Whisk in flour and cook for 1-2 minutes to make a roux. 

Gradually add milk to roux, whisking as you add. Cook on stovetop for 5-7 minutes, 

whisking regularly until roux thickens. 

Add avocado mixture to milk mixture while on stovetop and continue to cook for additional 

5 minutes. 

Remove from heat; stir in shredded cheese. 

Once pasta is cooked, drain and add to cheese sauce. 

Makes 8 servings. Per serving: 529 calories, 30 g total fat (15 g saturated fat), 71 

mg cholesterol 

Smashed Chickpea & Avocado Lettuce Wraps 

Ready in just 10 minutes, these 

vegetarian wraps are packed with 

fiber-rich chickpeas, fresh Boston 

lettuce and creamy avocado. These 

wraps are versatile; you can try 

them with chopped peppers, jalapeños 

or any fresh ingredients. 

Ingredients: 

1 can (15.5 oz.) garbanzo 

beans, drained and rinsed 

1 ripe medium avocado 

1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice 

2 Tbsp. fresh cilantro, finely 

chopped 

2 Tbsp. red onion, finely chopped 

1 celery stalk, finely chopped 

1 tsp. cumin 

3 Tbsp. butter 

3 Tbsp. flour 

2 cups whole milk 

1 1/2 cups white cheddar, shredded 

1/2 cup Gruyère cheese, shredded 

Salt and pepper, to taste 

4 Boston lettuce leaves 

1 medium tomato, sliced 

2 Tbsp. feta cheese 

Instructions: 

Add garbanzo beans to a medium-sized mixing bowl. 

Mash to a smoother consistency (more or less depending on preference). 

Add avocado and lemon juice and continue mashing until well mixed. 

Stir in cilantro, red onion, celery, cumin, salt and pepper. 

Top lettuce cups with sliced tomatoes (and any other toppings, e.g. cucumbers, bell 

pepper, jalapeños or sprouts). 

Divide chickpea mixture into 4-5 portions and spoon onto lettuce cup. Top with a 

sprinkle of feta cheese. 

Makes 4 servings. Per serving: 220 calories, 9 g total fat (2 g saturated fat, 0 g trans 

fat), 5 mg cholesterol 

Pistachio Crumble Tacos w/ Avocado Lime Crema 

Shelled pistachios are the 

nutritional superstar in the 

filling and they’re part of 

the avocado lime crema too. 

One serving of pistachios 

has 6 grams of complete 

plant protein and 3 grams 

of fiber, and most of the fat 

is the better-for-you monounsaturated 

kind. You can 

serve these meatless-tacos 

with toppings including 

diced avocado, chopped 

cabbage, diced bell pepper, 

cilantro and mint leaves, 

salsa and shredded cheese. 

Ingredients: 

ones available at the store. Years later, he would take a patent out on the 

Hass Avocado variety which he would come to find was a prolific producer. 

Today, the Hass Avocado makes up 95% of the 4 billion avocados 

eaten by Americans each year. 

Avocados are packed with heart-friendly monounsaturated fats, 

and they are an excellent source of vitamins and minerals, including 

potassium, vitamin K, vitamin E, and vitamin C. So, by celebrating National Avocado 

Day, you’re not only treating yourself to a tasty snack, but you’re also doing 

something great for your health. 

Pistachio Crumble Filling 

3/4 cup shelled unsalted pistachios, 

divided 

1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil 

1 small red bell pepper, cut into 

½-inch dice (about 1 cup; reserve a 

few tablespoons for the topping) 

4 ounces button mushrooms, roughly 

chopped (1¼ cups) 

1/2 cup onion, finely diced 

1 garlic clove, minced 

1 tsp. ground cumin 

1/2 tsp. dried oregano 

1/2 tsp. chili powder 

1/4 tsp. chipotle powder 

kosher salt, to taste 

8 corn tortillas, warmed 

Avocado Lime Crema 

1/2 ripe avocado, peeled and pitted 

2 Tbsp. plain reduced-fat Greek 

yogurt 

Juice of half a lime, about 2 Tbsp. 

2 Tbsp. chopped pistachio 

2 Tbsp. fresh cilantro leaves, roughly 

chopped 

2 Tbsp. fresh mint leaves, roughly 

chopped 

1/8 tsp. kosher salt 

A few pinches chipotle powder 

Instructions: 

Place all pistachios in food processor and pulse several times until roughly chopped. Set 

nuts aside and wipe bowl of food processor clean. 

Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add bell pepper, mushrooms, 

onion, garlic, cumin, oregano, chili powder and chipotle powder and cook, stirring 

frequently, until vegetables are tender, 7 to 8 minutes. (Adjust heat if it’s too high.) Stir 

in ½ cup of chopped pistachios, and season with salt, to taste. 

For crema, place avocado, yogurt, lime juice, 2 Tbsp. chopped pistachios, cilantro, 

mint, salt and chipotle powder in bowl of food processor. Pulse until all ingredients are 

well combined. Season to taste with additional salt and chipotle powder, if desired. 

Top corn tortillas evenly with pistachio filling; top with avocado crema and remaining 

chopped pistachios. Add optional toppings as desired such as avocado slices, chopped 

cabbage, diced bell pepper, cilantro and mint leaves, salsa or shredded reduced-fat 

cheese. 

Makes 4 servings (2 tortillas and crema). Per serving: 338 calories, 19 g total fat (3 

g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat), 1 mg cholesterol 

Buying Tips 

A ripe avocado yields to gentle 

pressure when held in the palm of 

the hand and squeezed. The flesh 

is prone to enzymatic browning, 

quickly turning brown after 

exposure to air. To prevent this, 

lime or lemon juice can be added to 

avocados after peeling. 


Five Star Service with Sparkling Results 

Cosmetic • Regenerative 

& Restorative Gynecology 

Personalized Gyn Care 

Perimenopause 

Vulvar Skin Care 

Menopause 

Libido & Sensation[al] Help 

BioTe® Pellet Therapy 

Lichen Sclerosus Relief 

Stress & Urge Incontinence 

Expert Labiaplasty 

Surgical Vaginal Rejuvenation 

ThermiVa® (non-surgical rejuvenation) 

Excess Skin Reduction 

O-Shot® & PRP 

Repairs after Childbirth 

Majora Lifts | Mons Lipo 

& Much More 

Before & After Gallery at VisionaryCentreForWomen.com 

info@drjenniferhayes.com 727.540.0414 

as seen on 

Dr. Jennifer S. Hayes, DO, FACOOG 

Board Certified / Fellowship Trained 

25+ years vaginal surgery experience 

Beverly Hills trademarked techniques 

Senior Friendship Centers monthly LGBTQ+ social 

2nd Thursdays, 4:30-6pm 

July 11th | 4:30-6pm 

Catered appetizers sponsored by 

Chef Christopher Covelli (Sage Restaurant). 

Join us for conversations, connections and 

collaborations with seasoned adults, age 50+ 

Please register via this 

Eventbrite code or the SFC 

website events page link. 

Our arts and culture presentation is by Actor/Director Blake Walton 

an award-winning actor, playwright, director. He is a proud member 

of Actors’ Equity Association, United Solo Academy and is 

Co-Founder and Managing Director of SaraSolo Productions. 

Senior Friendship Centers | 1888 Brother Geenen Way, Sarasota 34236| 941-556-3216 


THESE DOCTORS ARE AMONG 

THE BEST 

ONE OF THE BEST 

SPINAL DECOMPRESSION 

PHYSICIANS 

PHYSICIANS 

IN IN AMERICA 

2023 

(Sarasota, Florida) Dr. David Cifra, DC who is 

board certified in the specialty of Non-Surgical 

Spinal Decompression has been peer-nominated 

and recognized again in 2023 by the International 

Medical Advisory Board on Spinal Decompression. 

This advanced certification is provided 

in conjunction with Disc Centers of 

America, which sets the gold standard 

in training and research, on the 

latest, most effective options for the 

alleviation & treatment of 

spinal disc disorders, which 

often cause low back 

pain, neck pain, sciatica, 

numbness, tingling, pins 

and needle sensations 

and more. 

Dr. Cifra is committed to helping 

his patients AVOID narcotics, epidural 

injections, and unnecessary surgeries. 

Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression 

provides safe, gentle, and effective 

relief for upwards of 90% of patients that 

qualify for care. 

Neck or 

low back pain? 

Avoid surgery and 

get your life back! 

DR. CIFRA IS LOCATED AT: MIDTOWN MEDICAL PARK 

1215 S. EAST AVE. SUITE 210, SARASOTA FL 34239 

SarasotaDiscCenter.com 

CALL (941) 358-2224 OR (315) 345-7390 TODAY 

TO SCHEDULE A FREE CONSULTATION 

what happens when you 

don’t advertise? 

...nothing! 

Invest in your business by advertising in an affordable, 

targeted publication with a long track record... 

(941) 928-2056 


www.WestCoastWoman.com 

feature 

FLORIDA 

Dr. David Cifra, D.C. 

2415 University Parkway 

Sarasota, Fl 34243 

315-345-7390 

WASHINGTON 

Dr. Steven Thain, D.C. 

14700 NE 8th St. # 115 

Bellevue, WA 98007 

425-644-8386 

Want to Become 

a Florida Master 

Gardener Volunteer? 

NEW MEXICO 

Dr. Brian Hesser, D.C. 

3850 E. Lohman Ave. 

Las Cruces, NM 88001 

575-521-0793 

Don’t delay - 

recruiting begins in September VIRGINIA 

The Florida Master Gardener 

Volunteer Program is a 

volunteer-driven program 

that benefits UF/IFAS 

Extension Offices and the 

citizens of Florida. The program relies 

on dedicated volunteers who have an interest 

in gardening and in giving back to 

their communities. 

Volunteers will assist Extension Agents 

in providing research-based horticultural 

education to Florida residents with the 

goal of being the most trusted resource for 

horticultural education in Florida. 

What Do UF/IFAS 

Extension Florida 

Master Gardeners 

Volunteers Do? 

Master Gardener Volunteers work through 

their UF/IFAS Extension county office 

to educate Floridians and provide research-based 

information about gardening—America’s 

most popular pastime. 

Volunteers can fulfill their volunteer hours 

in a variety of ways, including: 

• answering horticultural questions over 

the phone, in person or at local events 

• participating in community and school 

garden projects 

• giving educational programs to the 

public and perform soil evaluations 

• help propagate plants for the annual 

Florida-Friendly plant sale 

• certifying Florida-Friendly yards 

through the Florida Yards & Neighborhoods 

Program 

A Master Gardener Volunteer (MGV) is 

an individual who has received University 

of Florida-designed training to become a 

volunteer educator in the Horticulture program. 

A Master Gardener Volunteer educates 

and provides research-based information 

to Floridians about gardening, environmental 

horticulture, and pest management, 

as well as planning and maintaining urban, 

suburban and rural landscapes with an emphasis 

on environmental stewardship. 

In addition, these volunteers assist 

homeowners with their landscape and 

garden concerns, staff information booths 

at special events, give presentations to 

garden clubs, work with youth groups (4-H, 

scouts, public and private school students, 

etc.), assist with community gardens, and 

help train and facilitate horticultural activities 

for the developmentally and physically 

challenged, as well as senior populations. 

What is Required 

of a UF/IFAS 

Extension Florida 

Master Gardener 

Volunteer? 

To become a Master Gardener Volunteer 

you need an interest in gardening, a willingness 

to learn, and a desire to help others 

learn. New volunteers serve 75 hours within 

the first year of their certification. 

Dr. Chris Lauria, D.C. 

4915 Brambleton Ave. 

Roanoke, VA 24018 

540-725-9501 

OHIO 

Dr. Carey Girgis, D.C. 

383 West Main Street 

Westerville, OH 43081 

614-890-3500 

ILLINOIS 

Volunteers can renew Dr. their Richard certification Lohr, D.C. 

by participating in 15 learning 3090 N. hours Main and Street 

completing 50 volunteer hours Decatur, each IL additional 

year. The recruiting process begins 

62526 

217-706-5551 

in September with interviews held in October. 

Communication on acceptance status 

typically occurs in October of each year. 

The Sarasota training program is offered 

once each year from mid- January through 

mid-April. 

What are 

the Benefits? 

• Grow leadership skills 

• Make new friends 

• Weed out poor gardening habits 

• Conserve knowledge and water 

• Plant new passion in your community 

• Sow seeds for eating well with a new 

generation in school gardens 

• Learn about new gardening topics and 

techniques 

Training and 

Training Schedule 

Within a year of their initial training, MGV 

trainees must provide 75 hours of volunteer 

service: 25 hours at the main Plant Clinic 

at the UF/IFAS Extension Sarasota County 

office; 25 hours in plant propagation efforts 

at Twin Lakes Park; and 25 hours maintaining 

demonstration gardens and providing 

public education and outreach. 

After completing the 75 hours of service, 

trainees receive the “Master Gardener 

Volunteer” title. To remain active in the program 

thereafter, MGVs each year must provide 

50 hours of volunteer service and obtain 

15 continuing education units (CEUs). 

MGV training generally lasts approximately 

14 weeks, meeting once per week 

at the UF/IFAS Extension Sarasota County 

office, Twin Lakes Park, 6700 Clark Road, 

Sarasota. 

The 2024 training is full and applications 

are no longer being accepted. Sarasota 

County residents interested in a spot on 

the waitlist for 2025 training can call 941- 

861-9900 or email sarasota@ifas.ufl.edu. 

More on UF/IFAS Extension Sarasota 

County can be found at www.gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/mastergardener/ 


save the date 

TRY A THERAPY 

THAT WORKS! 

Atomic Holiday Bazaar 

Season 17 is Back 

Dec. 14-15 

And returns to Sarasota 

Municipal Auditorium, Bay Front 

Room and Street Fair 

Atomic Holiday Bazaar 

returns to the Sarasota 

Municipal Auditorium 

on Saturday, December 

14 and Sunday, December 

15. Atomic closed for two 

seasons due to the Covid Pandemic, 

then reopened at Robarts Arena 

while downtown construction for 

The Bay Sarasota and city streets 

occurred; it was always the producer’s 

goal to return to its original 

event site, the iconic Municipal Auditorium. 

With the return to Atomic’s “home 

base” Adrien Lucas is excited to introduce 

her new 

business partner, 

Monica Eshkoli, 

who will be 

responsible for 

producing the 

Atomic street 

fair. Monica 

has a retail and 

event production 

background and 

is the perfect fit 

for running 

the street fair 

having produced 

events 

such as: 

downtown 

SRQ’s annual 

White on 

State, eFests, 

running retail 

boutique 

Freaky Tiki 

Surf Shack 

on Main 

Street and 

over a decade as manager of The Giving 

Tree in St. Armand’s Circle. 

Monica and her husband, Nir also have 

an extensive history with Atomic either 

working as vendors or helping Adrien with 

most Atomic shows at various capacities. 

Adrien is happy knowing that Monica “has 

the chops, Atomic style and work ethic” to 

successfully take over ownership and management 

of the Atomic street fair. 

The street fair is located on Plaza De 

Santo Domingo which are two one way 

streets between the Municipal Auditorium 

and the Art Center. In the past Atomic was 

only on one side of the streets, however, 

this year, the street fair will be populated 

on both sides. The fair will showcase more 

food trucks, rolling wheels retail experiences, 

think refurbished school bus or 

Canned Hams or vendors who prefer working 

outside under their 10x10 tents. 

The main room for Atomic’s municipal 

auditorium is sold out already. However, 

the Bay Front room will be opened in order 

to accommodate more 

talented makers. Applications 

to apply for either 

the Street Fair or the 

Bay Front room are 

available at www.atomicholidaybazaar. 

com with spots 

selling out quickly, 

makers are encouraged 

to apply today. 

Atomic features 

a fresh range of 

handmade indie artsy-crafty 

items for all 

and is the place for 

shopping for last 

minute holiday 

gifts. Tote bags are 

passed out by local 

roller derby league, 

the Bradentucky 

Bombers, to the 

first 100 adult’ish 

humans who enter 

the main auditorium 

at the stroke 

of Noon at the beginning 

each 

show. Totes 

feature artwork 

created 

specifically for 

the show and 

are filled with 

vendor swag 

and coupons 

that may be 

used during 

Atomic. 

Admission 

to the Main 

Auditorium 

is $6 for adults, kids 12 and under get in 

free. On a budget? The Bay Front room 

and Street Fair are free to enter. Food 

trucks and the auditorium cantina will be 

open for hungry shoppers. Atomic is family 

friendly to PG-Rated adult content. 

For more information about Atomic Holiday 

Bazaar, the Bay Front room contact 

Adrien Lucas at 941-539-9044 or email 

atomicholidaybazaar@gmail.com 

For more information about the Atomic 

Holiday Bazaar Street Fair, contact Monica 

Eshkoli at 941-323-9109 or monicaeshkoli@gmail.com 

Just the Atomic Facts 

Atomic Holiday Bazaar Season 17 runs 

December 14 and 15, 12 - 5 p.m. 

801 N. Tamiami Trail + Plaza De Santo 

Domingo Street, Sarasota 

SRQ Municipal Auditorium, Bay Front 

Room & Street Fair 

Main Room: $6 Adults, 12 and Under Free 

Bay Front Room free to enter 

Immediate Relief Beginning 

with the First Session: 

Chronic Pain: Sciatic, Back, Neck and TMJ 

Migraines, Foggy Brain and 

Lack of Concentration 

Sight and Eye Problems 

Asthma, Bronchitis, COPD, Shallow Breathing 

Digestive and Constipation Issues 

Leaky gut and Autoimmune problems 

Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia and Depression 

Concussions, Brain and Spinal Cord Health 

Mobility and Energy Issues for Seniors 

T. Grywinski specializes in difficult issues with great success 

How Craniosacral Therapy Can Be Life Changing 

“Doctors, physical therapists, massage therapists and chiros 

gave me little relief. Terry relieved my pain, after all these years! 

He has also helped four of my other friends. The man is an angel, 

with a gift from God....thank you Terry!!” 

“After 3 sessions, I had more range of motion and mobility in my 

neck, shoulders and hips. I was getting to the point where walking 

and moving was difficult. It feels like a weight has been lifted off my 

shoulders, my voice is stronger and my energy is greatly increased. 

I feel much calmer and more grounded!!” 

“I no longer feel physically sick each morning. No gastroenterologist 

or physician has ever properly diagnosed my mucus build up until 

now. As well as bringing about healing in my gut, he released an 

incredible amount of tension in my upper body.” 

“The question is where has he been all my life? Terry is a true healer 

and if you are serious about being well, you are in luck. 

He is effective and lovely.” 

advanced craniosacral therapy 

Terrence B. Grywinski 

B.A., B.Ed., LMT MA6049 

25 Years of Experience 

advcst.com 

See full page explanation of Craniosacral Therapy and 

how it can help you in another section of this issue 

Downtown Sarasota • 941-321-8757 

Google “Advanced Craniosacral Therapy Sarasota” for more info 


happening this month 

Wimbledon 

return and runs July 1-14 

150 years since the game of lawn tennis was first invented 

The Championships, 

commonly known 

simply as Wimbledon, 

is the oldest tennis 

tournament in the world and is 

regarded by many as the most prestigious. 

It has been held at the All 

England Lawn Tennis and Croquet 

Club in Wimbledon, London, since 

1877 and is still played on outdoor 

grass courts, but with the advantage 

of retractable roofs. 

Wimbledon is one of the four 

Grand Slam tournaments, the others 

being the Australian Open, the 

French Open, and the US Open. 

Wimbledon is the only major still 

played on grass, the traditional 

tennis playing surface. Also, it is 

the only Grand Slam that retains a 

night-time curfew, though matches 

can now continue until 11 pm 

under the lights - are you listening 

French Open officials? 

People love Wimbledon not just 

for the quality of play, but also for 

its traditions. That includes a strict 

all-white dress code for competitors. 

And if you’re attending in 

person, strawberries and cream are 

a delicious tradition. 

The 2024 Wimbledon Championships 

will be the 137th staging and 

will run from July 1-14. Athletes 

will compete for a total of about 

$34.8 million in prize money, with 

the winners of the men’s and women’s 

singles competitions taking 

$2.4 million each. 

One tradition that fortunately 

didn’t last goes back to1920 which 

was the first year in which a woman 

could play without wearing a corset, 

and it took until the 1930s until 

shorts were acceptable on either 

men (in ‘33) or women (in ’39). 

Women of 

Wimbledon 

The first Ladies Championship was 

played in 1884. First prize, awarded 

to Maud Watson, was a silver flower-basket 

worth 20 guineas. Watson 

beats her sister Lilian to become 

the first female champion. May 

Sutton becomes the first overseas 

champion with the American winning 

the ladies’ singles in 1905. 

In 1913 Championship status is 

accorded to the ladies’ doubles and 

mixed doubles, but the outbreak of 

war forced the loss of four years’ 

Championships. 

On court Frenchwoman Suzanne 

Lenglen won six Wimbledon singles 

titles, including five in a row 

from 1919 to 1923, and was the 

champion in singles, doubles, and 

mixed doubles at the first two open 

French Championships in 1925 and 

1926. In doubles, she was undefeated 

with her usual partner Elizabeth 

Ryan, highlighted by another six 

titles at Wimbledon. Lenglen was 

the first leading amateur to turn 

professional. 

Suzanne 

Lenglen 

May 

Sutton 

In the 1930s BBC television 

began their broadcasts from the 

courts in 1937 and captured Dorothy 

Round’s third title. She, though, 

was eclipsed by the leading female 

player of the decade, Helen Wills 

Moody, who won eight 

titles from 1927-38. 

In the 1950s Maureen 

‘little Mo’ Connolly won 

a treble of successive 

championships, the 

first as a teenager, and 

looked like dominating 

the decade only for a 

broken leg suffered in a 

riding accident to bring 

a premature end to her 

meteoric career. 

In her absence 

Althea Gibson became, 

in 1957, the 

first black player to 

win a singles title 

at Wimbledon. 

In 1961, 

in the first 

all-British singles 

final since 

1914, Angela 

Mortimer defeated 

Christine 

Truman. In 1969 Ann Jones 

provided another home winner. 

In between three giants of the 

ladies’ game, Margaret 

Smith (later 

Court), Maria Bueno 

and Billie-Jean 

King, all won 

championships. 

While Arthur 

Ashe became the 

first black male 

winner, Evonne 

Goolagong the first 

Australian Aboriginal 

champion. 

Chris Evert and 

Martina Navratilova 

emerged in 

the female game 

but champion 

Billie-Jean King 

ended the decade 

partnering Navratilova 

to ladies’ 

doubles success 

to claim a record 

20th title. 

Home audiences were delighted 

by Virginia Wade’s 1977 triumph 

in front of Queen Elizabeth II in 

the latter’s silver jubilee year. This 

was also Wimbledon’s Centenary, 

a landmark celebrated by opening 

the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis 

Museum. 

1980s German, Steffi Graf, 

challenged the established 

order in 

the ladies’ singles 

ending the six-year 

reign of Martina 

Navratilova. In the 

1990s Steffi Graf 

won seven Wimbledon 

singles titles. 

in the 2000s, two 

sisters from the 

improbable tennis 

Maureen Connolly 

Althea 

Gibson 

Chris 

Evert 

background of the public courts of 

south-central Los Angeles, Serena 

and Venus Williams, became the 

queens of Centre Court. They won 

eight of the ten finals, on four occasions 

beating each other, and benefited 

from 2007 from the decision 

to pay equal prize money to 

men and women. 

In 2010 the Queen finally 

returned to the All England 

Lawn Tennis Club during 

the 2010 Championships. It 

had been 33 years since Her 

Majesty had spent a day at 

Wimbledon, back during her 

silver jubilee celebrations of 

1977 – a year marked by the 

victory of Virginia Wade. 

In 2011 in the women’s 

draw, a new champion was 

crowned when 21-year-old Petra 

Kvitova zoomed past all-comers 

to become the first left-handed 

female singles winner 

at The Championships 

since Martina Navratilova 

in 1990 and the first 

Czech champion since 

Jana Novotna in 1998. 

Russian Maria Sharapova 

won five major titles — 

two at the French Open 

and one each at the Australian 

Open, Wimbledon 

(2014), and the US Open. 

In 2012 Serena Williams, 

approaching 

31, having survived a 

career-threatening foot 

injury, a pulmonary embolism, 

achieved her 14th 

Wimbledon title. She won 

her fifth Wimbledon singles 

title on Centre Court, 

defeating Agnieszka Radwanska 

in a topsy-turvy 

three-setter, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2, 

2013’s Marion Bartoli’s maiden 

Billie- 

Jean 

King 

Wimbledon triumph was one for 

the record books. At 28, the Frenchwoman, 

who had fallen to Venus 

Williams in the final six years previously, 

set a new record by winning 

her first Grand Slam title at the 

47th attempt, two more than Jana 

Novotna had played when she won 

at Wimbledon in 1998. Bartoli took 

her place on Wimbledon’s roll of 

honor alongside fellow French winners 

Suzanne Lenglen and Amelie 

Mauresmo. 

In 2014, Czech Petra Kvitova reclaimed 

the title she captured back 

in 2011 with a victory over Eugenie 

Bouchard. The 24-year-old needed 

just 55 minutes to dispatch the Canadian 

to lift the Venus Rosewater 

Dish for a second time. 

In 2015 and 12 years since 

achieving an astonishing first ‘Serena 

Slam’, Serena Williams held 

all four Grand Slams once again. 

A 21st singles Grand Slam arrived 

courtesy of a 6-4, 6-4 scoreline 

against first-time finalist Garbine 

Muguruza – joining the American’s 

2014 US Open, 2015 Australian 

Open and 2015 Roland-Garros titles 

in the trophy cabinet. 

In 2016, Serena Williams flicked 

her fingers into the air to signal 

‘22’ moments after equalling Steffi 

Graf’s Open era record of Grand 

Slams.The American had retained 

her Wimbledon title with a 7-5, 

6-3 victory over Australian Open 

champion Angelique Kerber on the 

way to a seventh Wimbledon title. 

Serena joined Venus as the Williams 

sisters once again ruled at the All 

England Club, lifting a sixth women’s 

doubles trophy. 

In 2017, Garbiñe Muguruza became 

the first player to prevail past 

both Serena and Venus in major 

singles finals.The 23-year-old staved 

off two set points in the opener, 

which then ignited a run of the last 

nine games to deny Williams a first 

major title since 2008. 

In 2018 Angelique Kerber defeats 

‘Supermom ‘The story of the ladies’ 

singles was Serena Williams’ extraordinary 

achievement in reaching 

the final just ten months after 

the life-threatening delivery of baby 

Alexis Olympia. Ranked No.181 in 

the world the seven-time champion 

was seeded No.25 and looking like 

adding an eighth title. However, the 

No.11 seed, Angelique Kerber defeated 

Williams 6-3, 6-3. 

The 2019 Ladies’ singles champion 

was Simona Halep, her second 

major title after the French Open 

in 2018. This was the last edition 

of the Wimbledon Championships 

until 2021 after the event would 

be cancelled in 2020 due to the 

COVID-19 pandemic, the first such 

cancellation since World War II. 

In 2021, the Ladies’ Singles title 

was won by Australian Ashleigh 

Barty, who defeated Karolína 

Plíšková in the final. In 2022, Barty 

was the reigning ladies’ champion, 

but did not defend her title after 

retiring from professional tennis in 

March 2022. The ladies’ singles title 

was won by Elena Rybakina, who 

defeated Ons Jabeur in the final. 

In 2023 The tournament saw the 

return of Russian and Belarusian 

tennis players, after they were 

banned from the previous edition 

due to the Russian invasion of 

Ukraine. Markéta Vondroušová 

defeated Ons Jabeur in the final to 

win the ladies’ singles tennis title. 


JULY 2024 WEST COAST WOMAN 25 

APRIL 2024 WEST COAST WOMAN 25 


‘Portrait Ukraine: 

Capturing Faces of Resistance 

Amid The Chaos of War’ 

Photography Exhibition set to run 

to April 19 at the Lexow Gallery in Sarasota 

The Lexow 

Gallery is 

set to host 

the Portrait 

U k r a i n e 

Photography Exhibition 

from March 15 to April 

19, 2024. This profound 

exhibition presents a compelling 

collection of photographs 

meticulously curated 

from three journeys to 

Ukraine undertaken by distinguished 

photojournalist 

Allan Mestel. The Portrait 

Ukraine Exhibition captures 

the faces of resistance 

amid the chaos of war. 

Within weeks of Russia’s full-scale 

invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, 

Allan Mestel embarked on a mission 

to document the harrowing realities 

faced by Ukrainians. Witnessing the 

devastation firsthand, Mestel’s photographic 

journey spans three visits 

to the war-torn region, first focusing 

on the Ukraine/Poland border, documenting 

the massive refugee crisis. 

A subsequent trip details the devastating 

aftermath of Russia’s military 

attacks and missile strikes, revealing 

the profound human toll on the people 

of Ukraine. His most recent journey 

in September 2023 covered cities 

and small towns throughout Ukraine, 

immersing himself in the environments 

of those significantly impacted 

by the war and taking intimate portraits 

reflecting the authentic human 

experience amid war. 

The Portrait Ukraine Exhibireminder 

of the dire conditions and 

ongoing challenges the Ukrainian 

people face, serving as a call to the 

world for more support. 

As viewers of the exhibition embark 

on their visual journey, they 

should understand that Mestel’s work 

is ongoing. He is not merely presenting 

a snapshot in time but an evolving 

chronicle. Mestel is planning a 

fourth journey to Ukraine in the first 

half of 2024, ensuring that the world 

remains informed and connected to 

the ongoing struggles and triumphs 

of the Ukrainian people. 

Spotlight Ukraine, a volunteer 

initiative dedicated to supporting 

Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, 

stands alongside Mestel in his commitment 

to documenting the truth 

and sharing the personal stories 

of those impacted by the war. As 

a part of this ongoing effort, Spotlight 

Ukraine supports the ‘Portrait 

tion will showcase over thirty photographs 

from all three journeys, 

offering viewers a visual narrative 

that reveals the anguish, courage, 

and resilience of individuals facing 

heart-wrenching losses endured by 

countless Ukrainians. The exhibition 

serves as a visual testament to the 

enduring spirit and courage of the 

Ukrainian people. 

The essence of the Portrait 

Ukraine Exhibition lies in distilling 

the complexities of war into individual 

visual stories. Through these evocative 

portraits, Mestel aims to forge 

a profound connection between the 

viewer and the brutal reality of the 

war, inviting reflection on the shared 

humanity that transcends borders. 

Despite global support for Ukraine 

in the first year of the war, aid and 

public support have declined during 

this second year. The Portrait 

Ukraine Exhibition serves as a stark 

EXHIBITION INFORMATION: 

through April 19, 2024 • Lexow Gallery 

3975 Fruitville Rd Sarasota, FL 

CALENDAR OF EVENTS: 

Gallery Hours: 

Tuesday - Friday, 10 AM to 2 PM • Sunday 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM 

Or by appointment, call 941-371-4974 

LIMITED-EDITION PRINTS 

Limited-edition prints of select images from the Portrait 

Ukraine collection will be available for purchase from Allan 

Mestel. Profits will be used to fund his next journey to Ukraine 

to continue the Portrait Ukraine project. Information will be 

provided at the event. 

Ukraine’ project by actively sharing 

stories and photographs from Allan 

Mestel’s journeys, aiming to generate 

awareness with a broader audience. 

Those unable to attend the exhibition 

and attendees interested in reading 

about the backstory of the ‘Portrait 

Ukraine’ project, Mestel’s journeys, 

and personal stories about the portraits 

are encouraged to visit www. 

spotlightukraine.com. 

More information on the upcoming 

exhibition is available online 

at: www.portraitukraine.info. 

West Coast WOMAN 

LOVES THE ARTS! 

12 WEST COAST WOMAN APRIL 2024 



Engages the Senses with Celestial 

Spring Exhibition 

‘The Truth of the Night Sky’ is a collaboration between 

multimedia artist Anne Patterson and composer Patrick Harlin 

Imagine an intergalactic 

voyage. Waves 

of vibrant color and obscure 

darkness surround 

you. Music and ambient 

sound envelop you. Sarasota 

Art Museum of Ringling 

College of Art and Design 

will take visitors on a journey 

through space and time with 

The Truth of the Night Sky: 

Anne Patterson and Patrick 

Harlin, on view April 21- 

Sept. 29. 

Organized in collaboration 

with the Hermitage Artist 

Retreat, the immersive installation 

conveys possibility, 

wonderment and unity with 

Harlin’s orchestral composition 

and Patterson’s paintings, 

sculpture, and signature 

ribbon installations. 

Patterson, a multimedia artist, 

is a synesthete who visualizes 

color and shape when she 

hears music, especially classical 

music. Harlin, a composer, 

combines classical, jazz, and 

electronic traditions to produce 

music that displays his 

respect for the great outdoors. 

When the two met and began 

collaborating in 2014 while in 

residence at the Hermitage 

Artist Retreat on Manasota 

Key, Florida, they discovered 

their shared affinity for drawing inspiration 

from nature. Their collaboration in The 

Truth of the Night Sky at Sarasota Art Museum 

expands upon the iconic photograph 

of Earth taken from Apollo 8 in 1968. 

Harlin’s Earthrise serves as the processional, 

the sound that sets the mood and 

guides visitors through the exhibition. 

In 2021, Harlin applied to be among eight 

artists who would join SpaceX’s inaugural 

tourist flight around the moon. He imagined 

the trip would prompt him to compose a 

new soundtrack for space travel. When he 

wasn’t chosen, he turned his attention instead 

to the Apollo 8 photograph. With the 

revered image from space in mind, he composed 

Earthrise, which he coincidentally 

completed on Earth Day in 2022. 

“There is a sense of awe in looking at the 

night sky, the vastness of the universe, and 

the improbability of reaching the moon, let 

alone our closest stars,” said Harlin. “To 

date, 24 humans have taken the 240,000- 

mile trip and experienced the excitement 

of skyward travel accompanied by the violence 

of exiting Earth’s atmosphere and 

gravitational pull. I hope visitors to Sara- 

Anne Patterson. Celestial Orbs, 2024. Steel piano 

wire, resin and gold leaf, dimensions variable. 

Composer Patrick Harlin recording in the Amazon Rainforest. 

Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Audrey Kelley 

Artist Anne Patterson in her studio. Courtesy of the artist. 

Photo: Kat Choe 

to the floor. Projected onto the ribbons 

will be abstract black-and-white video images 

moving in sync with the cadence and 

rhythm of Harlin’s music. 

“Patrick Harlin and I will challenge perceptions 

and transform the space with celestial 

sculptural forms, vivid hues, dazzling 

light, and a mesmerizing, inviting musical 

score to create an air of transcendence and 

uplift,” said Patterson. “The viewer will witness 

the wonderment of the universe and nature 

that surrounds us and be reminded that 

only when it is dark can we see the stars.” 

The exhibition will offer a tactile sensory 

experience with a galactic space that instills 

a sense of hope and resilience—qualities 

from nature that both Patterson and Harlin 

find as sources of their creative inspiration. 

Patterson, a New York-based artist, holds 

a graduate degree in theater design from the 

Slade School of Art in London and a bachelor’s 

degree in architecture from Yale University. 

Her work has been widely exhibited 

and collected in museums and cultural 

institutions including exhibitions at The 

Ringling Museum in Sarasota and Trapholt 

Museum in Denmark. Patterson’s theatrical 

and symphonic partnerships have included 

Lincoln Center and The Kennedy Center. 

Harlin holds a doctorate in music composition 

from the University of Michigan and 

currently resides in Ann Arbor, Michigan. 

His works have been performed by the St. 

Louis Symphony and the Rochester and 

Calgary Philharmonic Orchestras, among 

others. He was the inaugural recipient of 

the Hermitage Prize in Composition at the 

Aspen Music Festival. 

sota Art Museum might vicariously experience 

the feeling that astronauts who have 

taken the trip beyond the moon have.” 

The Truth of the Night Sky will offer 

immersive encounters with both artists’ 

works. The exhibition will open with ambient 

sounds, such as those of a trumpet 

or string instrument. These excerpts from 

Harlin’s 20-minute orchestral composition 

will be paired with Patterson’s drawings 

and sculptural pieces that conjure celestial 

bodies, stars, and birds in flight. 

Featured are several series by Patterson, 

including Stars Spinning Through Spring 

(2018-19), The Truth of the Night Sky (2018- 

19), and We Are All Stardust (2019-23). A 

majestic tree assembled from driftwood 

will be suspended from the ceiling, anchoring 

the dimly lit gallery and providing 

a grounding image of nature in contrast to 

the world of outer space. 

Harlin’s full composition will then play 

as visitors enter the adjacent gallery and 

walk through a kaleidoscope of colorful 

satin ribbons cascading from the ceiling 

Exhibit Details: 

SARASOTA ART MUSEUM 

is located at 

1001 South Tamiami Trail, Sarasota 

On view April 21-September 29. 

14 WEST COAST WOMAN MARCH 2024 


Choral Artists of Sarasota Presents 

“Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight” 

and Joseph Haydn’s “Lord Nelson Mass” on March 10 

Choral Artists of Sarasota’s 

45th season continues with 

“Abraham Lincoln Walks at 

Midnight,” based on a poem 

by Vachel Lindsay and composed 

by Florence Price, the first African 

American woman to have her music performed 

by a major symphony orchestra. 

The program also features Joseph Haydn’s 

“Lord Nelson Mass” (also known as “Mass 

in a Time of Anxiety”), which is recognized 

as one of his greatest compositions. 

Featured soloists for both works are singers 

in Choral Artists: Lily Wohl, soprano; 

Krista Laskowski, mezzo-soprano; Stephanie 

Jabre, alto; Zachery Stockman, tenor; 

and Jesse Martin, bass. 

“We paired these two works as a reflection 

of our own time,” says Joseph Holt, artistic 

director and conductor. “Both were composed 

during times of anxiety and unease. 

Haydn’s ‘Mass’ was composed towards the 

end of the 18th century when Napoleon 

was ransacking the continent. The work is 

composed in the turbulent key of d minor 

and it is arguably Haydn’s greatest composition. 

The Florence Price work is the 

musical setting of a poem written at the 

outset of World War I by Vachel Lindsay. 

Abraham Lincoln emerges from his grave 

and wanders the streets of Springfield, Illinois 

– very concerned about the state of 

affairs in the world of 1914.” 

Holt further explains that “both works offer 

dramatic passages of anxiety and upheaval 

yet contain moments of consolation 

and ultimate peace. We live in a time 

of anxiousness and concern about the 

future and yet yearn for a sense of peace 

and calm – very much the tenor of these 

compositions from a different era.” 

Composer Florence Price, the first African 

American female composer to gain national 

status in the 20th century, was also 

the first Black woman to have her work 

premiered by a U.S. orchestra—the Chicago 

Symphony Orchestra. When Price 

died in 1953, the bulk of her music was excluded 

from study and performance due 

to a lack of widespread publication, and a 

bias towards white, European traditionalism. 

In 2009, a substantial amount of her 

compositions was discovered in a trunk at 

Price’s abandoned composing retreat in 

St. Anne, Illinois, which has given rise to 

a renewed interest in and appreciation of 

her work. Her legacy continues to unfold. 

More Information: 

The concert is Sunday, March 10, at 7 

p.m., at Church of the Palms, 3224 Bee 

Ridge Road, Sarasota. For more information 

and to purchase tickets, visit www. 

ChoralArtistsSarasota.org or call 941- 

387-4900. 

Coming up at 

Choral Artists of Sarasota: 

• Considering Matthew Shepard: Featuring 

Craig Hella Johnson’s “Considering 

Matthew Shepard,” a modern-day “Passion” 

(modeled after the great “Passions” 

of J.S. Bach) that tells the story of Matthew 

Shepard, a gay American student at 

the University of Wyoming who was beaten, 

tortured, and left to die near Laramie 

on the night of October 6, 1998. In partnership 

with Embracing Our Differences, 

Project Pride, ALSO Youth, and the First 

Congregational Church UCC, this beautiful 

musical story transcends tragedy. 

Sunday, April 14, 7 p.m., at Church of the 

Palms, 3224 Bee Ridge Road, Sarasota. 

• Memorial Day Concert: United We 

Stand: The Choral Artists teams with 

the Lakewood Ranch Wind Ensemble to 

perform a moving tribute to those in the 

armed forces who have made the ultimate 

sacrifice. This concert is also the kick-off 

for the group’s tour to France to participate 

in the 80th anniversary of D-Day in 

Normandy. Sunday, May 26, 4 p.m., at 

Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple 

Avenue, Sarasota. 

• D-Day Commemoration Journey: 

June 3-11. Choral Artists of Sarasota has 

been invited by Historic Programs, which 

partners with the Department of Defense, 

Office of Commemorations, to be the principal 

choral ensemble for the 80th D-Day 

anniversary commemorations in France in 

June. In addition to participating in commemoration 

ceremonies at the cemeteries 

in Normandy and Brittany, the group will 

perform a concert in the town square at 

Sainte-Mère-Église in Normandy and also 

at L’église de la Madeleine in Paris. Choral 

Artists is inviting the public to join them on 

this journey. For more information, contact 

info@ChoralArtististsSarasota.org. 

Florence Price 

Choral Artists of Sarasota 

Joseph Holt 

PAID ADVERTORIAL 

About the Choral Artists of Sarasota 

The Choral Artists of Sarasota, entering 

its 45th season, features 32 professional 

singers and eight apprentice singers. 

The group celebrates the rich, artistic expressiveness 

of choral music through innovative 

repertoire, inspired performances 

and stimulating educational outreach. 

Under the artistic direction of Dr. Joseph 

Holt, Choral Artists of Sarasota performs 

a repertoire spanning four centuries, and 

includes symphonic choral works, intimate 

madrigals, folk songs, close-harmony 

jazz, and Broadway show music. 

The ensemble also specializes in premiere 

performances of lesser-known choral 

works—particularly music by living American 

composers. Choral Artists of Sarasota 

has performed premieres by René Clausen, 

Dick Hyman, Robert Levin, Gwyneth 

Walker and James Grant. As part of the 

organization’s educational outreach, eight 

young singers from area schools, colleges 

and universities, ages 16 to 22, are invited 

to join the group each year. 

18 WEST COAST WOMAN MARCH 2024 

Cartwright, who also oversees 

the museum’s European collection, 

adds, “Shinique chose the 

works on view in response to 

The Ringling’s magnificent gallery 

spaces. The synergy between her 

work and our collections is palpable, 

and the museum is full of unexpected 

moments of beauty and 

emotion.” 

Well known for her monumental 

sculptures created from an 

array of materials, including luxurious 

textiles, personal clothing, 

dyed fabrics, ribbon, and wood, 

and for her abstract paintings of 

calligraphy and collage, Smith’s 

work in this exhibition speaks to 

various facets of the European 

artistic tradition, such as classical 

drapery and religious iconography, 

while foregrounding notions of 

Black femininity and the history of 

the circus. 

“My hope for this show is to 

create a bridge between differing 

depictions of people and the art 

histories that inform my hand while 

celebrating the beauty 

found in our belongings 

and honoring the 

resilience and magnanimity 

of Black women,” 

says Smith. 

Moving through the 

Museum of Art galleries, 

which display 

European art from 

the fifteenth century 

through the late nineteenth, 

visitors will 

find several examples 

of Smith’s large-scale 

fabric sculptures in 

conversation with European art, for 

example with Italian Baroque paintings 

in Gallery 8 and with Gilded 

Age interiors from the Astor Mansion 

in New York City in Galleries 19 

and 20. 

Smith’s works in the exhibition 

emphasize femininity, as seen 

through the eyes of a woman artist. 

In works such as Inflamed by 

Golden Hues of Love and Mitumba 

Deity II, Smith explores her 

reverence for the curves and resilience 

of Black women, conveyed 

through shapely forms bejeweled 

and draped in gold. Notions of divinity, 

light, death, renewal, and 

rebirth pervade sculptural works 

like Grace Stands Beside and Stargazer, 

the latter inspired by the 

imagined path of an enslaved woman 

following the stars and counting 

the days to her freedom. 

The exhibition moves from the 

mythic and monumental to the 

personal and familial with ease. 

Inspired by her admiration for the 

beauty that her grandmother and 

mother created in times of “making 

do” and building magic from 

everything they had on hand, the 

installation in Gallery 6 will display 

a collection of photographs 

of the women in Smith’s family 

dressed to the nines, along with 

some of her own personal treasures, 

to form a venerated visual 

poem. On view through January 5, 

2025. More info at ringling.org 

About the Artist 

Born in Baltimore, MD, and currently 

residing in Los Angeles, 

Smith holds BFA and MFA degrees 

from the Maryland Institute College 

of Art and an MA in Education from 

Tufts University. She has received 

awards and prizes from Joan Mitchell, 

the Tiffany Foundation, Anonymous 

Was a Woman, and the American 

Academy of Arts and Letters 

among others. 

Her work has gained attention 

through her participation in biennials 

and group exhibitions and has 

been exhibited and collected by 

institutions such as the Baltimore 

Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum 

of Art, California African American 

Museum, Denver Art Museum, 

Deutsche Guggenheim, Los Angeles 

County Museum of Art; Minneapolis 

Institute of Art, MOMA 

PS1, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, 

Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, 

National Museum of Women 

in the Arts, and the Whitney Museum 

of American Art. 


Shinique Smith: 

Parade Exhibit at the Ringling 

Features Contemporary Sculpture in Conversation with the European Art Collection 

V 

isitors to The John and Mable Ringling Museum 

of Art have the opportunity to experience 

the work of contemporary artist Shinique 

Smith (b. 1971) in conversation with the 

museum’s collection of European art. 

Shinique Smith: Parade is on view in the Museum 

of Art through January 5, 2025. Unfolding across six galleries, 

the exhibition creates a series of unique stories 

that together form an abstract narrative of the “parade” 

as a metaphor for life. 

“We are so thrilled that Shinique Smith has chosen 

to present her work to Sarasota audiences within our 

European galleries, where it will provoke conversation 

and inspire new ways of seeing and understanding both 

historic and contemporary art,” says the exhibition’s curator, 

Sarah Cartwright, Chief Curator and Ulla R. Searing 

Curator of Collections at The Ringling. 

This is the first exhibition of 

Shinique Smith’s work at The 

Ringling Museum and the first time 

she has presented her work in direct 

dialogue with a museum collection 

of historic European art. The 

placement of the work reveals the 

universality of human experience 

explored by artists throughout time. 

On View through Jan. 5, 2025 

Another scene from the European galleries 

Visitors will find several examples of Smith’s 

large-scale fabric sculptures 

in conversation with European art 

Shinique Smith 

standing in front of her sculpture 

Mitumba Deity II (2018-2023) 

on display in the Astor Salon (Gallery 19) 

A sculpture called “Stargazer” 

12 WEST COAST WOMAN FEBRUARY 2024 


Each year, the Circus Arts 

Conservatory’s professional 

arm, Circus Sarasota, offers 

a showcase of top global circus 

artists performing in a one-ring 

traditional circus 

circus setting. Featuring new 

and innovative acts, Circus Sarasota’s 2024 

production will offer high-flying action, 

heart-stopping thrills, laugh-out-loud comedic 

antics, and acts that defy both expectations 

and the boundaries of physical 

limitations. 

“While this may be Circus Sarasota’s 26th 

year, we work very hard to make sure that 

no two productions are ever alike,” said CAC 

Founder/President & CEO Pedro Reis. “Our 

goal is to recruit the perfect balance of talent 

and variety to ensure patrons of all ages will 

be thrilled, inspired and entertained each 

and every year. We are confident this year’s 

show will take things to an entirely new level 

for our guests, whether they are a circus regular 

or brand new to the circus arts!” 

THE LINEUP FOR 

Circus Sarasota 2024 INCLUDES: 

? Joseph Bauer Jr. (Ringmaster): The 

multi-talented Bauer – a Sarasota native – 

returns to Circus Sarasota to provide his elegance 

and prodigious skills as Ringmaster. 

Bauer, a star of Bauer’s Circus Maximus and 

a 15th generation member of one of Switzerland’s 

oldest circus families, has performed 

from a very young age, thrilling audiences 

with acts such as the motorcycle on the incline 

wire, skywalks on the highwire, the 

death-defying 90-foot swaypole, and the 50- 

foot whirling Wheel of Destiny. His circus 

career has taken him all around the world 

as well as to numerous illustrious circus 

venues, TV appearances, and competitions. 

? The Bello Sisters (Acrobatic Hand 

Balancing): Loren, Celine and Joline Bello 

are an Italian-German acrobatic trio of sisters 

who come from a circus family. Their father 

performed with Cirque du Soleil for 12 

years and their mother was the first woman 

to walk on a highwire on stilts. Since developing 

their act, the sisters have become one 

the most-requested halftime show performers 

within sports leagues like the NBA and 

NCAA Basketball. In 2020, the Bello Sisters 

competed on both “America’s Got Talent” 

- where they made it into the Top 10 - and 

“Italy’s Got Talent” and then, in 2023, they returned 

for another shot at the championship 

on “America’s Got Talent: All-Stars.” 

? Caleb Carinci (Horseback Riding): 

Caleb made his performance debut at the age 

of 6 as an acrobat for the Pennsylvania Renaissance 

Festival. Hailing from performing parents, 

his enthusiasm for the performing arts 

is only rivaled by his love for horses. Caleb 

and his horses have toured through Europe, 

Canada and Peru. He was featured in The Big 

Apple Circus and had a role in the filming of 

“The Greatest Showman.” He’ll make his official 

Circus Sarasota debut this year. 

? Duo Minasov (Quick Change Artistry): 

Married couple Elena and Victor Minasov 

are the fastest in their profession, which 

combines stunning costume changes with 

dance and illusion. Victor is a sixth-generation 

performer from a Russian circus family, 

starting out as a clown with his brothers 

and then presenting an animal/illusion act 

with his father. Elena was a champion acrobatic 

gymnast in Russia. Together, the two 

have presented a bear and wolf training act, 

then transitioned to a quick change/magical 

transformation act, through which they’ve 

wowed audiences worldwide. 

? Elan España (Diabolo Juggling): 

Elan is the youngest of the eighth generation 

of the performing España family. Elan 

began juggling the diabolo (a two-headed 

top caught with a string stretched between 

two sticks or batons) at the age of 6 and, 

since then, has traveled around the world 

presenting his fun, energetic and skillful 

routine, juggling up to four diabolos at one 

time. He has performed in Australia, Italy, 

toured the U.S. – including a performance 

at the Hollywood Bowl – and more. Now 

19, he has also mastered the Cyr Wheel. In 

2022, during the Ring of Fame Induction in 

Sarasota, Elan was awarded the “Generation 

Next Award,” honoring young artists 

on the stairway to stardom. 

? Noe España & Marcos Ponce Lopez 

(Double Wheel of Destiny): Noe España 

is a fifth-generation circus artist with worldwide 

circus experience. He is always pushing 

the envelope with creative interpretations of 

the Flying Trapeze, Wheel of Destiny, Globe 

of Death, and Motorcycle High Wire, among 

others. He has performed with Ringling 

Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s U.S. and Japan 

tours; at The Sydney Opera House; in Madison 

Square Garden; with Le Grand Cirque 

in Myrtle Beach, S.C.; and on numerous TV 

shows. Marcos Ponce Lopez took an interest 

in break dancing at the age of 10 and began 

competing at the age of 13, winning titles including 

“Champions of Spain.” He traveled in 

“Cirque Musica” to the U.S. and Canada. He 

has now mastered the Wheel of Destiny and 

also performs on the Chinese Pole. 

? Noemi España (Contortion & Hand 

Balancing): Noemi, an eighth-generation 

circus performer, debuted her hula hoop 

act in Spain at the age of 14, later performing 

in Circo Price in Madrid, Spain. She has 

since performed in Australia, Italy, Panama, 

and other locations. She landed a symphony 

theatre tour with Cirque Musica across 

the U.S. and Canada, including a monumental 

performance at the famous Hollywood 

Bowl. Her unique ability to shoot a bow 

and arrow with her feet keeps audiences 

amazed and in suspense. 

? Flying Tabares (Flying Trapeze): 

For nearly three decades, The Flying Tabares 

have reigned supreme among trapeze 

royalty. Renowned for their unparalleled elegance 

and artistry, this new generation of 

precision flyers includes: eighth-generation 

circus performer, Mariella Arata Quiroga, 

who is following in the footsteps of her famous 

parents, Katya Arata-Quiroga and Nelson 

Quiroga; Isabel Patrowicz, one of the 

few women in the world to consistently execute 

the legendary triple somersault; and 

experienced catcher Thomas Payne-Tobin. 

Direct from their Silver Medal win at the 

prestigious International Circus Festival of 

Italy, this elite group of aerialists is excited 

to make their Circus Sarasota debut. 

? Jimmy Folco (Clown): Luigi Rodolfo 

Folco comes from one of the largest dynasties 

in the circus, with seven and 11 generations 

of a family dedicated to the circus business 

for over 300 years. He has more than 

30 years of experience in the world of entertainment, 

finding his passion at the tender 

age of 6. Jimmy has toured with all the major 

circuses around the globe, receiving a variety 

of special recognitions and numerous 

awards. His work has been influenced by his 

great admiration for the artistry of Buster 

Keaton and his trademark physical comedy. 

He performed previously with Circus Sarasota 

in 2008 and returned to perform in Circus 

Sarasota’s “Ovation” in 2018. 

? Anton Monastyrsky (Hula Hoop 

Artistry): Moscow-born Monastyrsky is a 

fourth-generation circus artist who began 

perfecting his craft at the age of 10. His first 

professional performance was in Germany 

at the age of 15 and, over the years, he has 

earned the nickname “Lord of the Ring.” His 

unique discipline – featuring difficult tricks 

and stylish choreography – has enabled him 

to perform in many of the top circuses in 

the world, from Cirque du Soleil to Circus 

Krone, as well as television shows, variety 

and theater shows, and festivals. He has 

won awards at festivals including the Circus 

Festival of Monte Carlo and European 

Youth Circus Wiesbaden. 

“At the Circus Arts Conservatory, we are 

proud to honor the legacy of the circus arts 

365 days a year,” said Circus Arts Conservatory 

executive vice president/COO Jennifer 

Mitchell. “We have seen the demand 

for world-class circus performances in our 

community grow and look forward to welcoming 

residents and visitors alike for our 

2024 Circus Sarasota show!” 

Circus Sarasota runs Friday, February 

16 - Sunday, March 10; showtimes are 

Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 2 

and 7 p.m.; Fridays at 7 p.m.; and Sundays 

at 1 and 5 p.m. Performances take place at 

the Ulla Searing Big Top at Nathan Benderson 

Park (5851 Nathan Benderson Circle, 

Sarasota. Tickets are $30-$80; there 

is a 20% discount on the opening week’s 

shows, thanks to support from WWSB ABC 

7. Parking can be secured on-site for $10. 

Visit circusarts.org or call the Box Office 

at 941-355-9805. 


presents 

star-spangled lineup for 2024 show 

Circus Arts Conservatory gathers an international cast of world-class circus artists 

for 26th year of professional, one-ring circus extravaganza 

Noemi Espana’s contortion/hand 

balancing act features a special trick 

with the bow and arrow 

Young artist Elan Espana is a 

skilled diabolo juggler 

The Bello Sisters will showcase 

exceptional strength and balance 

during their act 

Marcos Ponce Lopez will perform 

on the Chinese Pole and Double 

Wheel of Destiny 

Equestrian artist Caleb Carinci 

will be making his Circus Sarasota debut 

20 WEST COAST WOMAN DECEMBER 2023 

The Perlman Music Program Suncoast’s 

2023-2024 Season 

Celebrating 20 Years of the PMP Winter Residency 

This year marks a milestone for 

The Perlman Music Program 

Suncoast (Perlman Suncoast). 

It’s the 20th anniversary of one of 

its largest events: The Perlman 

Music Program (PMP) Winter Residency. 

Led by acclaimed violinist and conductor 

Itzhak Perlman and his wife, Toby Perlman, 

this two-week event energizes local audiences 

while providing unparalleled musical 

training for gifted students ages 12-20+ from 

all over the world, who play the violin, viola, 

cello and bass. 

Lisa Berger, executive director of Perlman 

Suncoast says that they are “honored 

to support the PMP Winter Residency for 

the past two decades. Last year, after a 

two-year hiatus, audiences were thrilled to 

watch the transformative interplay once 

again between young, gifted musicians and 

world-renowned faculty, including Itzhak 

Perlman.” 

Berger explains that, in addition to the 

PMP Winter Residency, Perlman Suncoast 

also presents PMP alumni concerts and recitals 

throughout the year—and this year 

is no exception. “Some of the outstanding 

events we’ve planned include a concert celebrating 

the legacy of Juilliard Quartet violist, 

Roger Tapping; the Carr-Petrova duo’s 

“HERS” celebration of women composers 

throughout history; and the return of the beloved 

Ariel Quartet.” 

As PMP participants complete their graduate 

studies and become professional musicians, 

Perlman Suncoast supports their 

future endeavors by inviting them back for 

concerts and recitals, as well as school and 

community outreach programs. “With this 

opportunity, they gain performance experience 

and delight new audiences as their 

careers advance,” says Berger. She adds 

that PMP alumni are “trained in community 

outreach, providing educational information 

and insights into classical string music. 

In addition, Q&A sessions at each performance 

allow audiences to ask questions 

of the musicians, broadening their engagement 

and enjoyment.” 

PMP Winter Residency 

Each December, musically gifted students 

from the Perlman Music Program (PMP) 

Summer Music School, Israel Residency and 

Chamber Music Workshop reunite on the 

USF Sarasota-Manatee campus for lessons, 

studio classes, works-in-progress (WIP) recitals, 

chorus and orchestra rehearsals. Participants 

come from all over the world and 

include 28 gifted students, ages 12 to 20+, 

alumni fellows who mentor the students, 

and an exceptional faculty led by acclaimed 

violinist and conductor Itzhak Perlman. 

Starting on December 29, the public can 

attend free master classes and works-inprogress 

(WIP) recitals. Special evenings are 

scheduled for guests to watch PMP orchestra 

rehearsals under the baton of Itzhak Perlman. 

Audiences will also be able to watch 

Patrick Romano, choirmaster, rehearse with 

the PMP choir. This season’s Winter Residency 

runs December 29-January 5 in a heated 

tent on the campus of USF Sarasota-Manatee. 

On January 6, PMP Winter Residency 

students and faculty present the “Celebration 

Concert,” featuring the PMP String Orchestra 

under the baton of Itzhak Perlman, 

and the PMP Chorus, led by Patrick Romano, 

at the Sarasota Opera House. The “20th 

Anniversary Celebration Gala” follows the 

concert at Michael’s on East. 

PMP Alumni Concerts 

Perlman Suncoast’s season includes special 

performances and recitals by PMP alumni 

including the Punchline Quartet on February 

12. Berger says she is especially honored to 

present “Remembering Roger: Celebrating 

the Legacy of Roger Tapping,” on January 20. 

A beloved member of the Juilliard quartet and 

faculty member of The Perlman Music Program 

for many years, Tapping inspired generations 

of musicians for his wit and charm, 

biting humor, and consummate artistry. 

Violist Molly Carr and pianist Anna Petrova 

will present “HERS” on March 3. As the 

Carr-Petrova Duo, they will perform pieces 

from their new album, which celebrates 

female composers from the 1100’s to the 

present day. “HERS vibrantly celebrates the 

vision, strength, resilience, and incredible 

accomplishments of eight fearless women – 

from the 12th-century’s Hildegard Von Bingen 

to today’s Beyoncé,” says Berger. 

The Ariel Quartet returns to Sarasota on 

April 4 in partnership with The Jewish Federation 

of Sarasota-Manatee. This exhilarating 

quartet has garnered critical praise worldwide 

for more than 20 years—and is a favorite 

among regional audiences. The concert will 

be at the Ora on the Federation’s new campus. 

2023-2024 Season at a Glance 

g 20th Annual PMP Winter Residency - 

December 29-January 8 

PMP Suncoast hosts the PMP Winter Residency 

for young musical prodigies ages 

12-20+ who play the violin, viola, cello and 

bass. The program provides valuable mentoring 

and performance opportunities for 

young, promising musicians from all over 

the world. This is a life-changing experience 

that shapes the lives of these young musicians. 

PMP’s world-class faculty, led by acclaimed 

violinist and conductor Itzhak Perlman, 

oversee a curriculum of solo, chamber 

music, and orchestral repertoire at the 

highest level. Events include orchestra and 

chorus rehearsals, works-in-progress (WIP) 

recitals, and master classes. 

g Tent Rehearsals, Master Classes 

and Recitals: December 29-January 5 on 

the USF Sarasota-Manatee campus. Non-reserved 

seats are free to the public for master 

classes and WIPs. Reserved seats for all 

tent events are free to supporters. The Winter 

Residency’s daily schedule is available at 

www.PMPSuncoast.org. 

g Celebration Concert: January 6, 5 

p.m., at the Sarasota Opera House. Get tickets 

by calling Sarasota Opera House’s box 

office at 941-328-1300 or at www.sarasotaopera.org. 

g 20th Anniversary Celebration Dinner: 

January 6, following the Celebration 

Concert at Michael’s on East, 1212 S East 

Ave., Sarasota. The evening includes dinner 

and entertainment with PMP students, faculty 

and the Perlmans. 

g NEW! PMP Student Chamber Quartet 

Recitals: January 8, 5 p.m., at First 

Presbyterian Church of Sarasota, 2050 Oak 

St, Sarasota. The PMP students, under the 

direction of violist Caitlin Lynch, are paired 

together in quartets that blend their individual 

styles. Seven quartets that were formed 

during the residencies will perform at this 

event, showcasing the students’ talents. 

PMP Alumni Recital 

g Punchline Quartet on February 12, 7 p.m. 

Sarasota Art Museum, Thomas McGuire 

Hall, Sarasota. 

Combining musical mastery with a touch of 

wit, the Punchline Quartet delivers engaging 

performances that crescendo to a captivating 

musical punchline. 

Formed in 2022 by violinists Kate Arndt, 

Ria Honda, violist Sarah Sung, and cellist 

Elena Ariza, the quartet members have individually 

been a part of the PMP community 

as far back as 2010 and have found their way 

together in the fall of 2022 with the shared 

passion for chamber music and community 

engagement. Comprising four women, they 

felt it most suitable to champion Caroline 

Shaw’s music, alongside the classic Beethoven 

and Dvorak. 

PMP Alumni 

Special Performances 

g Remembering Roger: Celebrating the 

Legacy of Roger Tapping is on January 20 

Pre-performance salon talk at 6 p.m., with 

concert to follow. 

Unitarian Universalist Church, Sarasota. 

Roger Tapping, former violist of the Juilliard 

Quartet, passed away in January 2022. 

This concert was conceived by Michelle 

Ross and Max Tan 

as an opportunity 

for PMP alumni 

from different 

generations to pay 

tribute to a mentor 

whose legacy lives 

through them. A beloved 

faculty member 

of The Perlman 

Music Program for 

many years, Tapping 

inspired generations of musicians for 

his wit and charm, biting humor, and consummate 

artistry. 

Michelle Ross’ String Quartet, titled “For 

Roger,” will receive its Sarasota premiere at 

this concert. Her work is built on themes of 

a Haydn string quartet, a favorite of Roger’s 

and incidentally, the last quartet that Michelle 

played with him. With David Kaplan, piano; 

Michelle Ross, violin; Max Tan, violin; William 

Frampton, viola; and Lev Mamuya, cello. 

g “HERS” 

The Carr-Petrova Duo: Molly Carr, viola; 

Anna Petrova, piano on March 3 

Artist talk at 6 p.m.; followed by a concert 

at 7:15 p.m. 

The Harvest, 3650 17th Street, Sarasota. 


will present a concert performing pieces 

from their album that celebrates female 

composers from the 1100’s to the present 

day. In a pre-performance talk, they will 

speak about the composers and their importance 

in music history. “HERS” celebrates 

the vision, strength, resilience, and incredible 

accomplishments of eight fearless women 

– from the 12th-century’s Hildegard Von 

Bingen to today’s Beyoncé. 

g The Ariel Quartet 

In partnership with The Jewish Federation of 

Sarasota-Manatee on April 4, 7 p.m. concert 

The Ora, 578 McIntosh Road, Sarasota 

This quartet has garnered critical praise 

worldwide for more than 20 years. They 

formed when they were just teenagers 

studying at the Jerusalem Academy Middle 

School of Music and Dance in Israel. Celebrating 

their 25th anniversary in 2023, the 

quartet serves as the Faculty Quartet-in-Residence 

at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory 

of Music (CCM), where 

they direct the chamber music program 

and present a concert series in addition to 

touring in the United States and abroad. 

With Gershon Gerchikov, violin; Alexandra 

(Sasha) Kazovsky, violin; Jan Grüning, viola; 

Amit Even–Tov, cello. 

For tickets, visit www.PMPSuncoast.org. 

For more information, 

visit PerlmanSuncoast.org. 

Led by acclaimed violinist and conductor 

Itzhak Perlman and his wife, Toby Perlman, 

The Perlman Music Program Winter Residency 

providing musical training for gifted students 

from all over the world. 

Remembering Roger: 

Celebrating the Legacy 

of Roger Tapping is on 

January 20 

Carr Petrova Duo: 


The Ariel Quartet 

24 WEST COAST WOMAN DECEMBER 2023 

Art Center Sarasota’s 

2023-2024 Exhibition Season 

Diverse offerings include both solo exhibits and group shows 

Art Center Sarasota’s 

2023-2024 exhibition 

season is underway and 

features an array of “captivating 

solo artists and 

thought-provoking juried shows that shed 

light on our unique cultural climate,” says 

Christina Baril, ACS’s exhibition director. 

“At the heart of this season is a celebration 

of diversity, not only in the personal histories 

of our artists, but also in their materials, 

techniques, and concepts.” 

According to Baril, the season explores a 

spectrum of artistic prowess by solo artists 

whose distinct voices capture an array of 

visual expressions. “Inspired by topics from 

Brutalism to feminism, these solo artists are 

sure to inspire creativity and lively debate.” 

She adds that, in addition, to the solo 

shows, the unique open call shows, juried 

by professionals in the arts community, “are 

carefully curated to spark intrigue and contemplation. 

We invite artists from all walks 

of life to submit their artwork, resulting in 

an eclectic fusion of styles, concepts, and 

cultures.” Art Center Sarasota will also offer 

Artist Talks, lectures, and special events. 

“The opening of a new season is a highlight 

for our artistic community as well as the 

many visitors who travel to Sarasota to enjoy 

and engage with the multitude of arts and cultural 

programs offered,” says Kinsey Robb, 

ACS’s executive director. “We live in a world 

where we see, read, and hear about events 

that impact us all the time—these are things 

that cannot be captured by words alone.” 

Art Center Sarasota’s 2023-2024 

Season at a Glance 

Cycle 2: through January 13, 2024 

Opening Reception: Thursday, 

December 7, 6-8 p.m. 

• Aimee Jones: Aimee Jones’ paintings use 

Florida’s landscape of desire and lust to portray 

the body, interwoven with the American 

idea of paradise. She 

plays with the dichotomy 

of the female form as a 

political landscape and 

the power of a woman’s 

bodily agency. 

• Ethan Fielder: Ethan 

Fielder will exhibit a body 

of sculptural ceramics, 

which examines personal 

and collective 

growth inspired by formative moments of 

transformation that he experienced through 

his turbulent countrywide travels in 2020. 

• Tom Casmer: In his 

upcoming exhibition, 

“ges•talt,” Tom Casmer 

brings to life the 

infrastructure that lies 

beneath the skin, the fabric of the world 

around him. Drawing inspiration from the 

organic and inorganic alike, Casmer’s sources 

include the human figure, nature, and machine-made 

elements. His work recognizes 

the mechanism of organic and addresses the 

connection between the mechanical form 

and the human system. 

• Juried Show: “Still Life.” Artists are invited 

to present their formal and conceptual 

notions of modern day stil life. Stil life work 

often holds suggestive and symbolic imagery 

that informs the viewer on the artist’s 

message, biography, or cultural climate. The 

juror is Mara Torres, owner and curator of 

MARA Art Studio + Gallery in Sarasota. 

Cycle 3: January 25 - March 2, 2024 


January 25, 6-8 p.m. 

• Brian V. Jones: Brian Jones’ upcoming 

exhibition is a visual conversation with light 

and color, traditions and growth, fear and 

joy, technology, and romance. An ongoing 

project of over three years, these photographs 

serve as a visual narrative representing 

the artist’s relationship with the complexities 

of the city of Sarasota. 

• Carole Lyles Shaw: Carole Lyles Shaw 

exhibits a series of textile collages, or art 

quilts, that represent the essence of an individual 

and their personal and historical 

context. These “Spirit Portraits” celebrate 

Black women musicians who played significant 

roles in the history of music, from 

opera to country to rock and roll. 

• Christopher Skura: Emphasizing improvisation 

and freehand drawing for phenomenological 

effect, Christopher Skura captures 

the speed of living in Lower Manhattan. 

His new body of work took root during 

the 2020 pandemic. 

• Juried Show: “Annual Members Juried 

Show.” Juror: Paul Toliver is a passionate 

advocate in promoting all forms of 

art and is particularly motivated to uplift 

artists of the African Diaspora. 

Cycle 4: March 14 - April 20, 2024 


March 14, 6-8 p.m. 

• Natasha Dikareva: Natasha Dikareva reflects 

on the current state of her homeland, 

Ukraine in her upcoming exhibition featuring 

a variety of narrative, figurative ceramic 

sculptures. 

• Angela Pilgrim: Drawing on a skillful 

fusion of printmaking, painting, and mixed 

media, Angela Pilgrim imbues each work 

with a sense of depth and dimensionality, 

presenting each subject as an essential living, 

breathing entity. Her upcoming exhibition 

celebrates the complex inner worlds 

of Black women and invites viewers to contemplate 

the spiritual dimensions of our existence, 

exploring themes of identity, faith, 

and resilience. 

• Michael Kinsey: Michael Kinsey’s exhibition, 

“Listening to Black Voices,” showcases 

stunning black and white portraits, highlighting 

the richness and diversity of Sarasota’s 

Black community. 

• Juried Show: “Great Artists Steal.” 

“Great Artists Steal” encourages artists to 

create works inspired by their favorite artists 

and artworks from contemporary art 

and art history. This inspiration may come 

from the technique, content, or style of the 

artist(s) or artwork(s) in reference, and 

uniquely recontextualizing these elements. 

Juror is Alecia Harper, professor, State 

College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota. 

Cycle 5: April 30 - May 11, 2024 

• North County Sarasota Public 

Schools, Spring Art Show: Organized by 

school coordinators Angela Hartvigsen and 

Debra Markley, the Spring Art Show is one 

of the art center’s most cherished exhibition 

traditions. The North County Sarasota 

Schools Spring Art Show highlights over 

1500 pieces of artwork from the county’s 

youngest artists in grades K-12, representing 

the best of their creations from the past 

school year. 

Cycle 6: May 23 - July 27, 2024 

Opening Reception: Thursday, July 27, 

6-8 p.m. 

• Annual Juried Regional Show: “Beyond 

Comfort.” The Annual Juried Regional 

Show is Art Center Sarasota’s largest 

juried show of the year and encompasses 

all four gallery spaces. The show is open 

to all artists in the southeast region of the 

United States. The juror for this season’s 

show is Virginia Shearer, executive director, 

Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling College of 

Art and Design. This year’s show, “Beyond 

Comfort,” invites artists to express their 

perception of beauty and/or the grotesque 

in contemporary art and society. This show 

allows artists to define and explore aesthetics 

while joining the long debated concept 

of beauty and its function in art. 

Cycle 7: August 15 - September 28, 2024 

Opening Reception: Thursday, September 

28, 6-8 p.m. 

• Precious Darling will present an exhibition 

that explores the complexity of femininities 

and its relation to objectification 

through photography and sculpture. 

• Boys & Girls Club: Art Center Sarasota 

and Boys & Girls Clubs of Manatee County 

(BGCMC) have teamed up to present a special 

exhibition of artwork created by BGC- 

MC members. ACS youth instructors will 

guide these young artists in the creation 

of works inspired by the Annual Juried Regional 

Show on view during the summer of 

2024. Showcasing a variety of styles, media, 

and expression, these unique pieces will 

reflect the artistic voices of our youngest 

generation. 

• Tanner Simon will present an installation 

of his large-scale paintings that explore the 

intersection of humor, seriousness, and the 

absurd. This installation invites viewers to 

engage with the dynamic relationships and 

visual conversations that emerge between 

imagery and paintings in space. 

• Juried Show: “Flora & Fauna” invites 

artists to celebrate characters of the natural 

world, real and imagined, living and 

extinct, peaceful and poisonous. The juror 

is David Berry, vice president for visitor 

engagement and chief museum curator at 

Selby Gardens. 

Art Center Sarasota, 

707 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. 

Visit www.artsarasota.org. 

Aimee Jones, Situationship 

Ethan Fielder, In Bloom 

Tom Casmer, Solstice 

DECEMBER 2023 WEST COAST WOMAN 23 

Westcoast Black Theatre 

Troupe is gearing 

up for the holidays, 

ready to celebrate the 

season with its holiday 

production and Christmas card to the 

community, “Joyful! Joyful!” Theater 

fans of all ages and religious backgrounds 

are invited to celebrate the season with 

high-spirited, uplifting songs as only 

WBTT’s singers, dancers and musicians 

can perform them. The show runs from 

November 29-December 30, 2023. 

The original musical revue – created, 

adapted and directed by WBTT Founder/ 

Artistic Director Nate Jacobs and performed 

for the first time in 2021 – features 

a blend of new takes on traditional holiday 

tunes, gospel-infused classics and pop 

songs. The show will include “Joy to the 

World,” an O’Jays-inspired take on “Carol 

of the Bells,” a gospel-infused rendition 

of Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus,” “African 

Drummer Boy” and many more. 

Performing in “Joyful! Joyful!” are a number 

of WBTT regulars, including Ariel Blue, 

Michael Mendez, Delores McKenzie, Nate 

Summers, Raleigh Mosely II, Jazzmin Carson, 

Stephanie Zandra, Maicy Powell and 

Samuel “Sammy” Waite as well as artists 

new to WBTT’s stage. Students from the 

Stage of Discovery summer musical theatre 

intensive program will also be featured. 

“As the holidays approach, there is so 

much for our organization to be thankful 

for, and we’re honored to share our joy 

with families and the wider community,” 

said WBTT Founder and Artistic Director 

Nate Jacobs. “We’ve made some changes 

in the show since its premiere in 2021 and 

welcome previous and new patrons to join 

us for this year’s production. In fact, we 

invite everyone to attend and help us unwrap 

the present of joyful, seasonal music 

with WBTT!” 

Choreographer is Donald Frison. Music 

director is Matthew McKinnon, who also 

plays main keys. The rest of the band is 

Charlotte Corporan, auxiliary keys; Marvin 

Hendon, bass; Brad Foutch, guitar; and 

Caleb Miller, drums. 

Kevin White is production manager, 

Jennifer Woodford is stage manager, Ka- 

Cie Ley is assistant stage manager, Patrick 

Russini is sound designer, Michael Pasquini 

is lighting designer, Austin Jacobs is projection 

designer, Darci Collins is costume 

designer, Donna and Mark Buckalter are 

scenic designers, and Annette Breazeale is 

properties designer. 

Tickets are $50/adults, $20/students and 

active military (prices include all applicable 

ticket fees). Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. 

Tuesdays through Saturdays, and 2 p.m. on 

Saturdays and Sundays; there will be no 

performances on December 24, 26 or 27. 

For more information or to purchase tickets, 

visit westcoastblacktheatre.org or call 

the Box Office at 941-366-1505. 

ABOUT Westcoast Black 

Theatre Troupe 

The mission of Westcoast Black Theatre 

Troupe (WBTT) is to produce professional 

theatre that promotes and celebrates 

African American history and experience, 

engages a broad base of patrons and audiences, 

supports the development of a dynamic 

group of aspiring artists, and builds 

self-esteem in youth of color. 

Visit westcoastblacktheatre.org 

for more information. 

Artists featured in 

‘Joyful! Joyful!’ 

include (clockwise 

from left) Ariel Blue, 

Nate Summers, 

Michael Mendez, 

Raleigh Mosely II, 

Amber Myers and 

Stephanie Zandra. 

Photo by Sorcha Augustine 

WBTT presents this 

season’s holiday show, 

‘Joyful! Joyful!’ 

Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe’s 

‘Christmas card to the community’ 

features traditional holiday tunes, gospelinfused 

classics and pop songs 

14 WEST COAST WOMAN APRIL 2024 

Hina Khuong-Huu, Violin Channel 

“Rising Star” and first prize winner of 

the 2023 Elmar Oliveira International 

Violin Competition, performs around 

the globe. She has collaborated with 

artists such as Grammy Award-winner 

Jennifer Koh and shared a stage with 

Maxim Vengerov at Carnegie Hall and 

Buckingham Palace. 

Khuong-Huu and Steinway Artist Rohan 

De Silva, whose collaborations with 

Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, 

Midori, Joshua Bell and others have 

been acclaimed worldwide, will present 

a soirée concert at 4:00 pm on April 

1 in the music room of the Fischer/ 

Weisenborne residence in Sarasota. 

The duo will perform compositions by 

Saint-Saëns, Frank, Wagner, and Ravel. 

Single ticket: $60. 

Australian classical guitarist Rupert 

Boyd and his wife, American cellist 

Laura Metcalf have toured the world 

as Boyd Meets Girl, sharing their eclectic 

mix of music from Schubert to Radiohead 

and Beyoncé. The duo arranges 

much of their repertoire themselves, 

drawing inspiration from artists across 

all genres, and they speak from the stage 

to create an engaging, conversational 

concert experience. This luncheon concert 

on April 4 at Sarasota Yacht Club 

features, in part, their own arrangements 

of works by Lennon/McCartney, 

Debussy, Bach, Shaw, and Price. Single 

ticket: $68 (includes lunch). 

Founded in 2008 by the husband-andwife 

team of internationally renowned 

pianists Catherine Lan and Tao Lin, 

Duo Beaux Arts takes the power of the 

piano and doubles it. Known for their 

adrenalized performances, this dynamic 

duo has performed to critical acclaim 

across the U.S., Europe, and China. 

This recital features works for piano 

“four hands” and two pianos, including 

Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos in 

D major, K448; Schubert’s Fantasie in f 

minor for piano four hands, Op 940; and 

pieces by Vivaldi, Debussy, and Strauss. 

The pair perform at the Studio for Performing 

Arts Recital Hall at State College 

of Florida on April 16 at 7:30 pm. 

Single ticket: $40. 

The April concerts conclude at the 

Fischer/Weisenborne residence with 

Shannon Lee, violin and Ying Li, piano 

on April 28 and April 29 at 4:00 p.m. The 

first place winners of Artist Series Concerts’ 

2017 and 2018 international violin 

and piano competitions join forces for 

this spectacular soirée program. 

Lee made her solo debut with the Dallas 

Symphony at age 12. Since then, she has 

been a prize winner in the Sendai Competition 

in Japan, the Queen Elisabeth 

Competition in Belgium, and the Shanghai 

Isaac Stern Competition. 

Li won first place of Young Concert 

Artists 2021 Susan Wadsworth International 

Auditions, and recently made 

her Carnegie Hall and Kennedy Center 

recital debuts. Single ticket: $60. 

For tickets and more information, visit 

ArtistSeriesConcerts.org or call 

(941) 306-1202. 


Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota’s 

April Lineup 

All concerts this month will feature duos 

▲ Violin 

Channel 

“Rising 

Star” Hina 

Khuong-Huu 

and Steinway 

Artist Rohan 

De Silva ▶ 

Artist Series 

Concerts’ 

international 

competition 

winners 

▲ Shannon Lee, 

violin, and 

Ying Li, piano ▶ 

Married pianists Catherine Lan 

and Tan Lin of Duo Beaux Arts ▶ 

▼ Australian 

classical guitarist 

Rupert Boyd and 

his wife, American 

cellist Laura 

Metcalf ▶ 

photo credit: Todd Rosenberg 

photo credit: Shervin Lainez 

photo credit: John Beebe 

14 WEST COAST WOMAN JANUARY 2024 


Sarasota Concert Association 

Invites You To Hear 

What the World is Raving About 

Celebrating its 

79th Season with 

world-renowned orchestras, 

chamber 

ensembles and phenomenal 

soloists, the Sarasota 

Concert Association brings a 

stunning array of internationally-acclaimed 

artists to Sarasota this season, 

featuring three fabulous orchestras, 

three top pianists, one amazing 

cellist, and a Grammy Award-winning 

chamber ensemble. 

Praised as “Bulgaria’s most illustrious 

musical institution” by Gramophone 

Magazine, the acclaimed Sofia 

Philharmonic makes its Sarasota 

debut to open the Sarasota Concert 

Association’s 2024 Great 

Performers Series on January 

15 at the Van Wezel 

Performing Arts Hall. 

The Sofia Philharmonic 

is the national orchestra 

of Bulgaria and has long 

established itself as one 

of the leading cultural institutions, 

representative 

of the overall contemporary 

musical culture of 

the country. Since 2017, 

Nayden Todorov has 

been the general director 

of the Sofia Philharmonic 

and will lead the orchestra 

in an all-Beethoven 

program featuring the 

Egmont Overture, Symphony 

No. 7, and Piano 

Concerto No. 5, Emperor, 

featuring the extraordinary 

16-year-old Bulgarian 

pianist Ivaylo Vassilev. 

Celebrated for their “panache” 

by The New York 

Times and hailed in the 

Cincinnati Enquirer for 

“bringing a new attitude 

to classical music, one 

that is fresh, bracing and intelligent,” the 

Grammy Award-winning Harlem Quartet 

has dazzled audiences from Carnegie Hall 

to the White House, and is now coming to 

Sarasota at the Riverview Performing Arts 

Center on January 24. Join us for this onenight-only 

concert as the Harlem Quartet 

performs Beethoven’s String Quartet Opus 

18, No. 5, Fanny Mendelssohn’s String Quartet 

in E-flat Major, Guido López-Gavilán’s 

Cuarteto en Guaguanco, and Caroline 

Shaw’s Entr’acte. 

World-renowned cellist Alisa Weilerstein, 

described as “a new generation’s cello superstar,” 

joins the Detroit Symphony in 

Elgar’s Cello Concerto on February 19, at 

the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. The 

fourth-oldest orchestra in the country, the 

acclaimed Detroit Symphony Orchestra is 

known for trailblazing performances, collaborations 

with the world’s foremost musical 

artists, and a deep connection to its city. 

The Orchestra is led by Music Director Jader 

Bignamini, who conducts the orchestra 

in Pulitzer Prize-winning composer 

Michael Abels’ Emerge as well as 

Rimsky-Korsakov’s orchestral showpiece, 

Scheherazade. 

Celebrated as one of Europe’s finest 

orchestras, the Rotterdam Philharmonic 

comes to Sarasota on March 

3, at the Van Wezel Performing Arts 

Hall. The Orchestra is led by Lahav 

Shani, the youngest Chief Conductor 

in the orchestra’s 100-year history 

and an esteemed maestro with numerous 

accolades. Described by The 

Times of London as “the most astounding 

pianist of our age,” Daniil 

Trifonov, who has performed as a 

soloist with just about any world-renowned 

orchestra you can think of, 

joins the orchestra for 

Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto 

No. 2. The program 

also includes Arvo Pärt’s 

Swansong and excerpts 

from Prokofiev’s Romeo 

and Juliet. 

Concluding our season, 

and back in Sarasota by 

popular demand, pianist 

Bruce Liu performs a recital 

featuring works by 

Rameau, Ravel, Chopin 

and Liszt on March 29 at 

the Riverview Performing 

Arts Center. Bruce 

Liu was brought to the 

world’s attention in 2021, 

when he won the First 

Prize at the 18th Chopin 

International Piano Competition 

in Warsaw. Since 

then, he has been engaged to perform 

in concert halls from Milan to Seoul. 

He draws on various sources of inspiration 

for his art: European refinement, 

Chinese long tradition, North American 

dynamism and openness. 

5-concert Great Performers 

Series tickets are still 

available at a savings of up to 

30%. Choose 3 concerts and 

single tickets are also available. 

Visit www.SCAsarasota.org or 

call 941-966-6161 to get tickets 

or more information. 

Sofia Philharmonic 

Harlem Quartet 

Alisa Weilerstein 

Daniil Trifonov 

Bruce Liu 

S R SOT CONCERT SSOCI TION 

28 WEST COAST WOMAN FEBRUARY 2024 


ArtCenter Manatee will 

host the pre-eminent 

156th Traveling Exhibition 

of the American 

Watercolor Society International 

Exhibition. Chosen from 

a field of 160 water media masterpieces 

selected into the International Exhibition 

(from over 1,000 entries), the traveling 

show features the work of 40 artists. 

This year’s show is sure to inspire 

artists and art lovers. 

As one of only three venues in the country 

and the only in Florida to host this 

show, ArtCenter Manatee will display 

the diverse water media work in the Kellogg 

Gallery from January 30 through 

March 8, 2024. The exhibit will also 

feature a slide show of the entries not 

included in the traveling exhibit for a 

more immersive art experience. Admission 

is $5, which assists in bringing such 

a prestigious exhibition to the ArtCenter 

and Bradenton. The opening reception 

is on Thursday, February 1 from 5-7pm. 

While inclusion in this exhibition is itself 

an honor, participants also compete 

for the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Medals 

of Honor as well as other awards, with 

27 artists sharing more than $40,000 in 

prize money. 

Accompanying the exhibit will be the 

annual aqueous show of the Florida 

Suncoast Watercolor Society (FSWS) in 

the Reid Hodges and Searle Galleries. 

FSWS was formed in 1983 to foster 

the advancement of and promote excellence 

in the art of watercolor painting. 

They seek to inform and educate 

through exhibitions, lectures and painting 

demonstrations as to the best work 

currently being done in watercolor. 

Join them for the opening reception 

on Thursday, February 1, 5pm to 7pm. 

Meet the artists, discover the amazing 

talent of these local as well as international 

water media artists, and enjoy the 

wonderful atmosphere in our galleries. 

Hors d’oeuvres and beverages available. 

A B O U T 

the American Watercolor 

Society 

The American Watercolor Society 

(AWS) is one of the oldest and most 

prestigious art societies in the world. 

Election to the Society as a Signature 

Member is one of the most sought-after 

honors in the painting world. AWS 

Membership comprises many of the 

greatest names in painting throughout 

the Society’s history and includes (to 

name drop a few) the American impressionist 

Childe Hassam, regionalists Edward 

Hopper and Charles Burchfield, 

plus virtually every member of the important 

“California School” of watercolorists, 

and everyone in between, up to 

and including the late Andrew Wyeth. 

156th International Traveling Exhibition of the 

American Watercolor Society 

On display through March 8 at ArtCenter Manatee 

A B O U T 

ArtCenter Manatee 

Located in downtown Bradenton, Art- 

Center Manatee is the premier center 

for art, art education and unique gifts 

in Manatee County. The Center features 

three galleries, five classrooms, 

an artisan gift shop and an art library 

featuring over 3,000 art volumes. 

Day, evening and weekend art classes 

for adults and children are offered 

year-round in painting, drawing, pastels, 

pottery, jewelry design, photography 

and more. 

The artisan boutique features unique, 

affordable gifts by local and national 

artists. Exhibitions in the galleries 

change monthly and showcase local, 

regional and national artists. Meet the 

exhibiting artists at the monthly evening 

opening receptions that are always 

free and open to the public. 

For more information, 

visit www.artcentermanatee.org 

or call 941-746-2862. 

They’re located at 209 9th St W, 

Bradenton. 

Hours: M/F/S 9:00-5:00, 

T/W/Th 9:00-6:00 

(Top Left:) John Salminen, High Street Umbrellas; (Top Right:) Ken Call, Solitaire; (Bottom 

Right:) Wu Jianzhon, Blank Leaving 

Advertise with us next season. 

Advertise with us next season. 

Let us create a custom advertising package just for you. 

Let us create a custom advertising package just for you. 

Call 

Call 941-928-2056 

941-928-2056 or email us at 

or email us at westcoastowman@comcast.net 

westcoastowman@comcast.net 

Here are some of the features we ran this past season.

travel feature 

Escaping to 

the Irish Countryside 

Glenlo Abbey offers beauty, serenity and pampering aplenty 

Pullman Restaurant which is comprised of 

two original carriages from the Orient Express 

Glenlo Abbey Hotel & Estate in Galway 

There’s a gem of 

a place to stay 

outside of Galway 

that I found after 

endlessly searching 

for a nice place to stay 

in Ireland. I had tried the 

usual sources: small hotels, 

country estates, private 

estates, hotels, rentals. I 

wanted to avoid modern, 

but didn’t want to go too 

rustic. I also wanted a good 

location, but not in a city. 

And, of course, I wanted a 

full Irish experience of open 

fields to view the sky and 

walk on bright green grass. After panicking 

when there was no availability 

at the places that met my criteria, I 

was beginning to wonder if I’d have 

to change my search and give up a 

few things. Then I found Glenlo Abbey 

Hotel & Estate in Galway. 

First off, we didn’t bunk with 

monks or any religious order. The 

site goes back to 1740 and was the 

ancestral home of one of the fourteen 

merchant families that made up 

the Tribes of Galway. It’s made up of 

a country house originally known as 

Kentfield House due to its location 

at Kentfield, Bushy Park. It was later 

christened Glenlo House. Over the 

years, it went on to become home to 

several families. 

The Abbey itself was built in the 

1790s as a private church, but was 

never completed or officially consecrated. 

Now the entire property 

- some 138 acres - is owned by MHK 

collection who also own a variety of 

interesting and charming properties 

throughout Ireland. 

I have a preference for staying on 

old estates - I like the history, I like 

that they’ve been preserved and I 

enjoy the old world style they seem 

to always offer. 

Getting there is easy. Shannon 

Airport is about an hour away; Dublin 

more like two and a half hours. Tampa 

has lots of flights to both airports. 

We rented a car and drove from 

Dublin because we wanted to rest up 

there and see the city for a few days. 

I am always asked what driving in 

Ireland was like and simply put, it was 

easy - even getting out of Dublin. 

The estate is on 

the outer edge of 

the city of Galway. 

We stopped in the 

parking lot to take in 

the expansive views 

of the sky from all 

directions and the 

radiant green grass 

that surrounds the 

property. 

The charming 

Bedroom Suite and nattily dressed 

fellow at the door 

greets you and 

takes your bags and 

you enter into old 

world sophistication. 

Glenlo is more like a 

country home that 

is very well appointed, 

but not palatial. 

We chose a room 

with a view looking 

out on the golf 

course, the grounds 

and, off in the 

distance, the 

river Corrib. 

They offer lots of room choices. 

We chose the Corrib Deluxe 

Room (October 6 rates range 

from $550 to $600 per night). 

We added on the breakfast option 

at the River Room Restaurant 

which, I have to say was 

one of the most extravagant 

morning feasts I’ve ever seen. 

Irish specialty foods like cheese, 

butter, baked goods, salmon 

and ham abound. You can fill up 

and hit the road and skip lunch. 

Also on the property are 

the Lodges that are more like 

having your own apartment. Interiors 

are classic contemporary 

and come with a fully-equipped 

kitchen, dining and living area. 

It’s a very short walk to the main 

building. 

ESTATE ACTIVITIES 

Once you’re settled and, if you can 

pry yourself from the plush couch 

and take off the equally plush bathrobe, 

you can venture out on the 

property and explore. 

They’re known for their championship 

9-hole golf course set upon the 

banks of Lough Corrib. The 21 Bay 

Driving Range is the ideal place to 

warm up before a round of golf. 

The course offers a challenging 

experience to golfers of all levels, 

including a signature 4th hole on an 

island green (seven of the nine holes 

boasting a water hazard). We’re not 

golfers, but we are avid walkers so we 

walked the path on the outer edges 

of the course instead. 

I highly recommend you check out 

the falconry experience on the estate 

where you can learn about some of 

Ireland’s most impressive birds of 

prey up close and personal, under the 

watchful eye of their Master Falconer. 

Master Falconer, 

falconry experience 

on the estate 

continued on next page >> 


Don’t Miss 

a Single Issue of 

Irish Countryside continued 

(Above) 

The 

Breakfast 

Room 

(Right) 

Sitting 

Area 

at the 

Estate 

A little unknown fact is that the 

Irish Celts were hugely familiar with 

the use of birds of prey to catch their 

food, evidence of which can be found 

in Irish heritage sites such in Newgrange 

County Meath dating back to 

2,000 BC. They’re beautiful creatures 

and it’s always a thrill to have one 

dive down from the sky and land on 

you extended (and gloved) forearm. 

Other options include fishing for 

brown trout and salmon on Lough 

Corrib with their expert guide. Or you 

can lose yourself in a good movie in 

the Abbey Movie Theatre. 

They also have GLO, a spa that has 

four contemporary treatment rooms, 

including a couple’s room, a relaxation 

suite and Tranquility Terrace. 

GLO offers a full range of massages, 

skincare and body treatments. 

Finally, simply enjoy the estate 

and that cool clean air by walking or 

using their complimentary bicycles. 

Picnics can be arranged for you to 

enjoy on the hotel grounds and not 

have to worry about fire ants. 

The Estate is only 2.5 miles from 

Galway with its lively music scene 

and great dining options. The beautiful 

Connemara is a short drive away. 

DINING 

Most prominent is the Pullman 

Restaurant which is comprised of 

two original carriages from the Orient 

Express, beautifully restored and 

set on the grounds of the hotel. It’s 

luxury dining and you van sit by the 

window seat and take in the spectacular 

views overlooking Glenlo Abbey 

Estate and Lough Corrib. 

Converted into a restaurant car 

retaining all of its original character, 

this historic Pullman train carriage 

had been residing at Elsenham Station 

in Hertfordshire, England, before 

arriving at Glenlo Abbey Hotel. 

One of the carriages is named 

Leona ands history includes traveling 

the Orient Express route, covering 

destinations like Istanbul, Monte 

Carlo-Nice, and St. Petersburg. It 

was also part of the Brighton Belle, a 

route frequented by famous personalities 

like Charlie Chaplin. 

In 1965, Leona played a significant 

role in Winston Churchill’s funeral 

cortege, transporting his remains to 

St. Martins Church. Later, it featured 

in the 1974 film adaptation of Agatha 

Christie’s Murder on the Orient 

Express. After serving as a restaurant 

in Essex, Leona, along with the 

1954 carriage Linda, became part of 

the Pullman Restaurant, opening in 

May 1998. 

It makes for an elegant evening with 

offerings like Wild Irish Turbot with 

Lobster Croquette, Silver Hill Duck with 

Beetroot, Rhubarb, Savory Granola, 

Licorice jus. Probably not kid fare. 

Palmers Bar & Kitchen is a contemporary 

bar and lounge that is named 

after the Palmers, who bought 

Glenlo Abbey in 1897 and lived there 

for the next 90 years. Palmers offers 

family dining lunch and dinner offering 

items like has lamb shanks, sea 

bass, steak, and the usual burgers 

and fish and chips. 

Enjoy breakfast served in the River 

Room Restaurant which overlooks 

Lough Corrib, the golf course and the 

Pullman carriages and is a wonderful 

buffet but you can also order off the 

menu - or both! 

Hopefully, this will save you hours 

of searching if you’re looking to stay 

out in the country in Ireland. Try the 

off season as summer (when we 

went) was tough to book. Fall in Ireland 

is nice and you’d still be avoiding 

the heat back home. 

https://www.glenloabbeyhotel.ie/ 

STORY: Louise Bruderle 

west coast 

WOMAN! 

Subscribe to our e-magazine 

• Save time 

• Avoid fighting traffic 

• Save some trees 

The digital version is identical to 

the print version but has the added 

benefit of links in articles and ads. 

HOW TO SIGN UP? 

Send your email address to 


We only send one email per month 

and we never sell your address 

(and we don’t ask for money, either) 

WELCOME TO 

THE FUTURE OF READING! 

Unlock a World of Knowledge, 

Inspiration, and Entertainment 

right at your fingertips... All for FREE! 


healthier you 

Sex, Sleep, Sound 

Mind and Heart 

Is Hormone Replacement Therapy Really 

Necessary After Menopause? 

Helping Children Diagnosed With Epilepsy 

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder that can strike 

ANYONE, ANYTIME, ANYWHERE. In fact, 1 in 

26 people will have a seizure during their lifetime. 

The stigma and social isolation; the uncertainty of 

when the next seizure might occur; and the fear of 

SUDEP (sudden unexpected death in epilepsy) are the 

frightening realities for many families in our community. 

JoshProvides pulls back the curtain on epilepsy, through 

community awareness, education, offering a monthly 

Epilepsy Support Group, and providing seizure 

detection & alert devices, transportation assistance and 

assistance with medical services. Our families are NOT 

defined by their disorder…they are warriors who will 

overcome these obstacles thanks to your support! 

Mission: To improve the quality of life for those 

living with epilepsy or other seizure disorders. 

(800) 706-2740 | JoshProvides.org 

Having practiced clinical 

medicine and OB-GYN for 52 

years, specializing in Bio-identical 

Hormone Replacement 

for over 25 years, in my opinion, the 

answer is NO. Hormone replacement is 

NOT necessary for life after menopause. 

However, if you are approaching menopause, 

in menopause, or after menopause, 

there are a few things you should 

consider… 

Firstly, the era of menopause brings 

about the acceleration of the aging 

process, affecting sex, skin, bones, 

mood, sleep, cognition, heart and many 

more aspects of getting older. Secondly, 

hormone replacement can slow down, 

stop and reverse many of these changes. 

Thirdly, natural, Bio-Identical Hormones 

have been found to be much safer 

than the pharmaceutical, or otherwise 

chemical versions, of replacement 

hormones. So, while hormone replacement 

is not necessary after menopause, 

research has shown that it can improve 

the quality and length of your life. 

Results from Research 

on Bio-identical Hormones 

From the Early vs Late Intervention Trial, 

Sept. 3, 2019- “Molecular biochemical, 

preclinical and clinical studies 

have furnished a wealth of evidence 

supporting estrogen’s cardioprotection 

in post-menopausal women without 

adverse effects.” 

From Neurotherapeutics July 16, 2019- 

“The decline of Estradiol has been associated 

with several changes in the brain, 

including cognitive changes, effects on 

sleep and mood. Treatment with Estradiol 

(in post-menopausal women) has 

been shown to improve behavior and 

morphological changes seen in menopause…including 

a number of neuropsychiatric 

disorders such as: Alzheimer’s 

disease, Schizophrenia and depression.” 

In a recent publication, Testosterone 

reduces neuronal secretion of Alzheimer’s 

b-amyloid, Gouras, XuH and Gross found 

that testosterone therapy decreased the 

signs and morphologies of Alzheimer's. 

Dr. Dale Bredeson, Professor of Neurology 

and author of best seller, The End of 

Alzheimer’s, has shown that the combination 

of Estradiol and testosterone 

(when replaced in their bio-identical 

forms) reduced cognitive loss and Alzheimer's 

up to 40%. 

How about safety? Fornier has been 

following 85,000 women in France for 

almost 20 years. In a peer-reviewed 

study, he found that the incidence 

of breast cancer in post-menopausal 

women was the same as a woman not 

on any hormones. In other words, 

the relative risk of breast cancer for 

women on bio-identical hormones is 

zero. Whereas Fornier also found that 

the relative increase for women replacing 

with pharmaceutical or otherwise 

chemical hormones increased their risk 

up to 60%! Holtorf, in another recently 

published article found the same thing, 

“the bio-identical hormones are much 

safer than their pharmaceutical/chemical 

counterparts.” 

For those wanting to learn more 

about the research behind Bio-identical 

Hormones, you can find thousands of 

articles on the NIH or US Library of Medicine 

websites concerning the efficacy 

and safety of bio-identical hormones. 

Additionally, What Every Woman Should 

Know about Hormones by Dr. Pam Smith, 

is a best-selling book with a thousand 

science evidence-based references regarding 

Bio-identical Hormones. 

At The Renewal Point, we use a combination 

of testing methods to ensure 

that we are targeting the root of the 

problem. By utilizing lab values, patient 

symptoms, and patient history, we are 

able to design a Bio-identical Hormone 

Balancing program that is unique to 

each patient’s specific needs. And, since 

hormone levels inevitably change as we 

age, we closely monitor each patient 

over time, to determine when changes 

are needed. 

If you are experiencing bothersome 

symptoms of perimenopause, menopause, 

and/or aging, we encourage you 

to give us a call ~ we are here to help! 

Visit us at https:// 

www.therenewalpoint.com/ 

—————————— 

SOURCE: Dr. Watts, 

MD, ND, MSNM and 

Deb Spinner, ARNP, 

MSN, are experts in 

Integrative Medicine. 

With over 25 years 

experience in Hormone 

Balancing, a 

Post-doctoral Certification 

in Metabolic 

Endocrinology, and a 

Dr. Dan Watts 

MD, ND, MSMN 

The Renewal Point 

FOUNDER/DIRECTOR 

Fellowship in Anti-Aging, Regenerative, 

and Functional Medicine, Dr. Watts has 

put together programs that have helped 

thousands of patients renew their love 

and vigor for life. 

4905 Clark Road, Sarasota 

Phone: 941-926-4905 

www.TheRenewalPoint.com 



summer fun 

Summer Circus Spectacular 

at the Historic Asolo Theater 

Circus Arts Conservatory and The Ringling join to bring world-class circus talent 

Circus fans of all 

ages, from near and 

far, can beat the 

heat this summer 

at reasonable prices 

while experiencing the best 

of the circus arts, thanks to the 

continued collaboration of The 

Circus Arts Academy (CAC) and 

The Ringling. The Summer Circus 

Spectacular returns this year 

with some of the circus world’s 

most exciting acts signed on for 

the family-friendly, one-hour, action-packed 

show. 

The 2024 Summer Circus Spectacular 

– which has become a seasonal 

highlight for locals, visitors, families and 

groups alike – takes place at the Historic 

Asolo Theater at The Ringling (5401 

Bay Shore Rd., Sarasota) from June 14 

through August 17. 

“While we are always pleased to bring 

the very best circus artists from around 

the world to Sarasota to perform in our 

shows, being able to showcase this talent 

at the beautiful and intimate Historic 

Asolo Theater makes it one of the 

most memorable and unique arts experiences 

in town,” said CAC Executive Vice 

President/COO Jennifer Mitchell. “This 

show not only offers an affordable entertainment 

option for all ages but is also 

the perfect summertime family-friendly 

activity. With daytime and evening options 

available at The Ringling, there will 

always be a convenient time to come 

and enjoy the magic of the circus arts!” 

The lineup for the 2024 

Summer Circus Spectacular 

includes: 

✤ Jared Walker, Master of Ceremonies: 

Walker’s first professional engagement 

with the CAC was as Ringmaster for the 

Summer Circus Spectacular in 2018; shortly 

afterwards, he was hired as the creative 

director for the CAC and its Sailor Circus 

Academy. The Florida native got bitten by 

the theater bug in third grade and later 

expanded to show choir, marching band 

and drama club. 

He graduated with a BFA in Music and 

Theatre from Shenandoah College & Conservatory 

and made a career as an Equity 

actor while moonlighting as a director, 

choreographer and costume designer. 

After 9/11, he moved back to the east coast 

of Florida to be near his aging parents, 

then moving to Sarasota in 2004 to perform 

at the Golden Apple Dinner Theatre. 

He served as the director and manager 

for the Players Theatre in Sarasota for 10 

years prior to coming to the CAC. 

Contortionist 

Uranbileg Angarag 

will astound 

audiences 

with her 

superhuman 

flexibility 

The Bello Sisters 

will showcase 

tremendous grace, 

strength and 

teamwork during 

their acrobatic 

hand balancing 

routine 

✤ Uranbileg Angarag, Contortion: When 

she was 5 years old, Angarag went to see 

a circus show, saw a contortion act and 

loved it so much she pictured herself on 

stage. Afterwards, her parents took her 

to audition at the Mongolian National 

Circus; at age 6, she began training. By 9 

years old, she was performing. 

She has been doing circus for last 23 

years, traveling around the world – to 

places including Russia, Korea, Turkey, 

Hungary, Indonesia, Japan, throughout 

Europe, at sea on cruise ships, and more 

– doing performances, working with 

many different circuses and entertainment 

groups such as Cirque du Soleil, 

MSC Cruises, Ulaanbaatar Circus, Phantasialand 

Schmidt-Loffelhardt GmbH & 

Co. KG, and more. Angarag has previously 

performed for the CAC during Cirque des 

Voix in 2023. 

✤ The Bello Sisters, Acrobatic Hand Balancing: 

Loren, Celine and Joline Bello are 

an Italian-German acrobatic trio of sisters 

who come from a circus family. Their father 

performed with Cirque du Soleil for 

Hair hang artist 

Camille Langlois 

Slack wire artist 

Antino Pansa 

Provided photos/CAC 

12 years and their mother was the first 

woman to walk on a highwire on stilts. 

Since developing their act, the sisters 

have become one the most-requested 

halftime show performers within 

sports leagues like the NBA and 

NCAA Basketball. In 2020, the Bello Sisters 

competed on both “America’s Got Talent” 

– where they made it into the Top 10 – and 

“Italy’s Got Talent” and then, in 2023, they 

returned for another shot at the championship 

on “America’s Got Talent: All-Stars.” 

The trio previously performed for the CAC 

during Circus Sarasota earlier this year. 

✤ Camille Langlois, Hair Hang: Originally 

from Quebec, Langlois began her acrobatic 

journey at the age of 9, when she 

enrolled in gymnastics. As she was also interested 

in dance and the performing arts, 

the opening of a sport-arts-circus studies 

program at her high school captured her 

attention. Her professional training began 

at the Circus School of Quebec and concluded 

six years later at the National Circus 

School of Montreal. Langlois – who loves 

the diversity of movement, the freedom of 

creation offered by the various disciplines 

as well as the union of art, performance, 

and interpretation – is also skilled at acts 

including aerial hoops, chains and pole. 

✤ Antino Pansa, Slack Wire: Pansa is a 

Guyanese circus artist of French nationality. 

He began training in 

the circus arts at the age 

of 14, and this passion – 

passed on by his father, 

who also practiced slack 

wire – would soon take 

center stage in his life. 

He is a graduate of the 

National Circus School of 

Montreal. He specializes 

in slack wire but is also a 

talented trampoline and 

floor acrobat, as well as a 

hand-to-hand carrier and 

Korean plank acrobat. He 

was recently featured as a 

slack wire artist in Cirque 

du Soleil’s 2023 creation, 

“ECHO.” He also wowed 

the crowd during the 

CAC’s Royal Gala in February 

of this year. 

✤ Renaldo, Clowning: Al 

“Renaldo” Calienes began 

his circus career with the 

Big Apple Circus at age 

26, eventually becoming 

a core company member. 

A gifted clown, he went on 

to work with Circus Sarasota, 

the Royal Hanneford 

Circus, the Luna Stage Theater Co., at 

SeaWorld, Canada’s Garden Bros. Circus 

and England’s Zippo’s Circus. Recently, he 

toured with UniverSoul Circus. He is also 

author/illustrator of the children’s book 

“Renaldo Joins the Circus!” 

“It is always thrilling for us to bring a live, 

professional circus show to the beautiful 

Historic Asolo Theater at The Ringling, 

which works to preserve the history and 

legacy of the circus,” said CAC founder and 

President/CEO Pedro Reis. “Our missions 

are so closely aligned – we both strive to inspire, 

educate and entertain – and our collaboration 

has provided immeasurable joy 

for thousands of circus fans over the years.” 

The show runs Friday, June 14 – Saturday, 

August 17. Show times are 11 a.m. and 

2 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, and 2 

p.m. and 5 p.m. on Saturdays. Tickets are 

$20/adults, $15 children (15 and under); 

tickets for the 7 p.m. opening night performance 

and celebration on Friday, June 

14 – which includes a gala reception with 

the artists after the show and refreshments 

– are $75. 

To complete their circus experience, 

Summer Circus Spectacular patrons have 

access to the Circus Museum on the day 

they attend a show for just an additional 

$5. Visit ringling.org or call the Box Office 

at 941-360-7399. 


MORE THAN A CIRCUS 

THE CIRCUS ARTS CONSERVATORY EMBODIES: 

PERFORMANCE 

TRAINING 

OUTREACH 

LEGACY 

The CAC offers year-round 

professional performances 

featuring international circus 

stars. Our seasonal Sailor Circus 

Academy shows are a Sarasota 

tradition—fun for the whole family! 

Try out our programs for 

team bonding, fitness, or just 

curiosity—You can even try 

the flying trapeze! Sign up for 

as many classes as you like or 

bring your whole corporate 

team for a one-of-a-kind team 

bonding experience. 

In addition to our arts-integrated 

classroom programs, we offer 

recreational classes for children 

and adults, summer camps, and 

events with community partners. 

The CAC makes it easy to find 

circus fun in the Sarasota area. 

The CAC, founded by 

Pedro Reis and Dolly Jacobs, 

preserves Sarasota’s rich and 

vibrant Circus Arts legacy 

through everything we do, 

including supporting annual 

events like the Circus Ring 

of Fame induction. 

FOLLOW YOUR CIRCUS DREAM and try a recreational class! Let your 

child join the circus for a week of camp or have an unforgettable circus 

team-bonding experience with your colleagues. Be dazzled and delighted 

by a circus show! 

Learn more about how you can Join the Circus at circusarts.org 


The Bath or Shower You’ve Always Wanted 

IN AS LITTLE AS 1 DAY 

$ 

1000 OFF * 

• Tub-to-Shower Conversions 

• Replacement Tubs 

• Replacement Showers 

• Walk-in Tubs 

• Low-Barrier Showers 

• Soaker Tubs 

• Accessories and more! 

AND 

No Payments & 

No Interest for 

18 Months ** 

OFFER EXPIRES 6/30/2024 

Military & Senior 

Discounts Available 

CALL NOW! 

(888) 392-0365 

• 900+ Authorized Dealers 

• Made in the U.S.A. 

• Factory-Trained & Certified Installers 

• Limited Lifetime Warranty 

*Includes product and labor; bathtub, shower or walk-in tub and wall surround. This promotion cannot be combined with any other offer. Other restrictions may apply. This offer expires 6/30/2024. Each dealership is 

independently owned and operated. **Third party financing is available for those customers who qualify. See your dealer for details. ©2024 BCI Acrylic, Inc. 


QUIT TOBACCO 

with GROUP QUIT 

There's never been a more important time to quit. 

- 

Develop your 

personalized 

quit plan. 

FREE nicotine 

replacement patches, 

gum, or lozenges.* 

More than 

DOUBLES your 

chances of success! 

*If medically appropriate for those 18 years of age or older 

Pre-registration is required. 

CALL TODAY: 

866-534-7909 

Sponsored by:

wcw JULY 2024

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?