Sarasota Art Museum

In 2003, a group of 13 forward-thinking Sarasotans came together to further their goal of enhancing Sarasota’s rich cultural landscape with a contemporary art museum. After a two-year dialogue with area arts, educational, and community leaders, the Sarasota Art Museum partnered with Ringling College of Art and Design to transform the historic Sarasota High School into an art museum and visual arts educational center.

As the region’s first museum dedicated to contemporary art, the Museum offers visitors a place to see thought-provoking, boundary-pushing exhibitions and participate in dynamic educational programming with global thought leaders. The facility is a resource for learning about global art discourse and deepening appreciation for 20th and 21st century art and artists through exhibition gallery spaces, an auditorium, an outdoor sculpture garden, a bistro, retail store, and extensive grounds for performance, happenings, sculpture, site-specific and site-responsive installations, movement classes, and gatherings. Sarasota Art Museum is an ideal “third space” for friends and family from the community, the region, and around the world to gather, learn, be inspired, and experience the power of art to transform society.