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Tamiami Cultural District

Jan 08

2013

North Trail's New College Ranked Kiplinger's Top 100

Posted by ntrpadmin in Tamiami Cultural District , North Trail

New College of Florida ranked on Kiplinger's Top 100

New College of Florida has been recognized once again as a top value in America by Kiplinger’s personal finance magazine, placing seventh on the list of 100 best values in public colleges for 2012-13. This marks the tenth consecutive year that New College has placed among the nation’s top 20 public colleges overall on Kiplinger's list of schools delivering a "stellar education at an affordable price."

Original article published January 2, 2013, by SRQDaily.

Dec 13

2012

North Trail Hotel Enjoys Growth

Posted by in Tamiami Cultural District , North Trail Redevelopment Partnership , North Trail , North Tamiami Trail

Holiday Inn Enjoys Growth

It has been just a little over three years since Holiday Inn Sarasota Bradenton Airport opened its doors within sight of a tarmac. Since then, the hotel has provided room stays for Major League Baseball stars, countless pilots and airline employees, wedding parties and one vice president of the United States.

Perhaps more important than that to Mohammad Gharavi, the hotel has also seen 30 to 35 percent business increases every year. The hotel has also earned accolades both within the Holiday Inn company, where it earned the coveted Torchbearer Award, and from outside groups rating hotels, such as TripAdvisor. "It's all a reflection of what our employees so every day to make this successful," Gharavi said. Thanks to its location near the airport, the hotel has seen a healthy dose of business travelers. But the posh amenities and design, something Gharavi said staff has worked to keep in new condition for years now, has helped keep up a solid tourist following as well. Through the year, the hotel has about 30 to 40 percent of guests in for leisure and the rest here in corporate or group visits. The business enjoyed by the hotel includes a number or contract stays with airlines, who will sleep pilots and other employees at the Holiday Inn Sarasota Bradenton Airport when they need to stay over in Sarasota. But the hotel also has a deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates to provide for athletes and other club staff when they come into the region. Sports has been a significant money-maker for the hotel, with various sports from baseball to rowing growing in both Sarasota and Manatee counties, Gharavi said. And the hotel just hosted a dignitary this fall when Vice President Joe Biden came to town for a campaign stop the week before the election. The hotel housed the vice president, his security and campaign staff, as well as traveling media, virtually taking over the hotel.

Dec 12

2012

North Tamiami Trail Based iTNSarasota Names New Board

Posted by in Tamiami Cultural District , North Trail Redevelopment Partnership , North Trail Events , North Tamiami Trail

ITNSarasota

ITNSarasota Announces 2012-13 Board Officers

ITNSarasota (located at 1226 N. Tamiami Trail) a nonprofit organization providing rides to seniors who no longer drive and adults with vision impairment, has named board officers for the fiscal year 2012-2013. Caroline Chamblis, executive director, announced the new Chairman of the board is Scott Carpenter, the president of cPR Brand Associates; Vice Chairman is Michael Juceam, the owner of Right at Home; the Secretary is Rosenda Calloway, the district travel manager at AAA; and the new Treasurer is Thomas Cramer, a partner at Suplee and Shea.

Nov 09

2012

North Trail's Ringling Museum Opens New Exhibit

Posted by ntrpadmin in Tamiami Cultural District , North Trail Redevelopment Partnership , North Trail Happenings , North Trail , North Tamiami Trail

A Still 20th Century
Jake Coleman, scribe.jacob@gmail.com

The Warren J. and Margot Coville Photography Collection exhibition at The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art opens today and runs through Feb. 3. The exhibition features more than 75 photographs from a host of renowned photographers that principally span the late 19th to early 21st century. The most dated photograph is the 1888 construction of the Eiffel Tower, and to mark the close of the collection, the Covilles selected powerful images from September 11, which likewise marked the first major event principally chronicled with digital photography and an appropriate point to mark the end of their timeline. The show is part of the museum’s continuum for Art of Our Time, which seeks to explore and spotlight contemporary art. “This is part of building an audience and collection,” said Dr. Matthew McLendon, curator of modern and contemporary art. “With contemporary art there’s an anxiety to it that it really is the mirror of our society without the benefit of historical perspective. Photography is one of the keystones of Art Of Our Time. It’s the medium we probably most associate with the 20th century, and it still plays a dominant role in fine art. The Coville collection is so broad that it’s segmented, and we can isolate subgroups as strengths and build on them.” McLendon relates that Warren Coville is seen as the first collector responsible for the advent of photojournalism. Coville's affinity for the medium, which he felt was underappreciated, pushed him to cull a poignant collection of striking images. “The diversity of images has the ability to get a real feel of that century, the best and the worst. For many, these images bring back powerful memories.” The exhibition contains striking images such as: the contemplative Martin Luther King, Jr., in Grosee Pointe, Michigan from 1968; a triumphant Winston Churchill; Hitler and Mussolini Meeting in Venice; Hemingway and Castro; and the Falling Man photo from September 11.

Original article published November 9, 2012, by SRQ Daily.

Oct 23

2012

Wrapping Up North Trail's Ringling International Arts Festival

Posted by in Tamiami Cultural District , North Trail Redevelopment Partnership , North Trail , North Tamiami Trail

n lieu of the Ringling International Arts Festival coming to a close, we wanted to consult the thoughts of Steven High, executive director of the John and Mable Ringling Museum, about the festival’s artistic ambition, reception and contribution to the Art of Our Time initiative.

Did he think the festival nailed the Art of Our Time mission? “There’s so much out there in contemporary performance,” says High, “so to try to nail that would be extremely difficult. I think what we saw coming out of this year’s performances was a more thoughtful, sort of minimal, theme that threads its way through the program. They were more contemplative in their form. You could create a festival a thousand different ways, but I think as a whole, all the works tended to work well with one another. You had difference and change but also subtle interconnections.” He did note RIAF is a prominent part of the initiative but is not the only way the museum brings contemporary performance, and though officials view the festival as the opening of Sarasota’s cultural season, they bring shows in the traditional, longer-staying format in the winter and spring. RIAF was the first opportunity for the new Skyspace to be incorporated as a performance venue. High thought it worked terrifically, despite being a touch rigorous with the benches. He felt it could’ve been a challenge for audiences to absorb the meditative nature of the Skyspace program itself as well as the experimental works held after, with Adam Tendler and Phyllis Chen respectively. However, a challenge is a good thing and works to the favor of what Ringling is trying to accomplish, he said. “The thing about contemporary artists is they’re really exploring the boundaries and edges of what is art," he said. "They are constantly questioning and probing. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it exposes sensitive areas and sometimes they’re probing and aren’t able to bring the audience along. That’s what it’s all about: trying to present a series of works here where there is that exploration and discovery, doing something unusual. Pig Iron was really that way; I thought it was a fascinating, interesting production.” High says the festival is never the same from year to year. Organizers will now have a decompression session to look at what went well and at those things that were difficult based on audience feedback. “We hear from our audiences," he said. "Last year, people didn’t feel there was enough time or a place to go to talk about the shows, so this year we gave more time, created the RIAF Lounge and encouraged the artists to go out more. It will continue to evolve and change, but I think we are finding a format that works for us pretty well, that isn’t hugely expensive, so we can continue to raise the money to make it happen.” Ringling reports that, not counting the films, 95.8 percent of available tickets were sold at RIAF 2012, and 10 performances, including opening and closing night events, were sold out.

Oct 23

2012

New Business Opening on North Tamiami Trail

Posted by ntrpadmin in Tamiami Cultural District , North Trail Redevelopment Partnership , North Trail , North Tamiami Trail

Martial Arts School Opens

Martial Arts School of Sarasota recently opened. Located at 3135 N. Tamiami Trail, the school offers tae kwon do, jujitsu, tai chi, weapons and self defense. Business hours are Monday through Friday, 5pm to 9pm.

Oct 19

2012

North Trail: Filmmaking at Ringling College of Art & Design

Posted by ntrpadmin in Tamiami Cultural District , North Trail Redevelopment Partnership , North Trail , North Tamiami Trail

Cinematic Glimpse at Future of Film
Jacob Ogles, Jacob.ogles@srqmediagroup.com

The man who helped create a new visual feel for Gotham City visited a more pleasant locale this week. Cinematographer Wally Pfister is holding a series of workshops this week to discuss the art of filmmaking with students at the Ringling College of Art and Design. Pfister for years has known Brad Battersby, department head for the Ringling's digital filmmaking department, from when Battersby was working at the American Film Institute in California. Coming to the Ringling Institute, Pfister said, was a different experience thanks to the broader range of visual art being produced by students in Sarasota. "The level of alert here is extraordinary, and it is different from a place that is very much a film school," Pfister said. He said the film students in Sarasota are exposed to other artwork ranging from sketches to video-game designs, and that will offer a variety of fresh inspirations to budding cinematographers coming out of the Ringling program. Pfister has done workshops on Tuesday and Wednesday. He also participated in an evening screening and conversation about the Stanley Kubrick classic Space Odyssey:2001 on Tuesday. On Wednesday evening, he did a Q&A on Moneyball, where he was director of photography. Today, he will do a commentary at Riverview High School for a screening of Inception, for which he was director of photography. As for insight into his own filmmaking, Pfister revealed himself as a devotee of celluloid film but acknowledges digital technology is making that medium more difficult to use. He also doesn't care much for 3-D, preferring a move to large-format film as a way of drawing audiences into cinema. But he also said the filmmaking industry relied on people continuing to go to movie theaters, and if 3-D blockbusters keep people buying tickets, he will be happy. Asked whether the students graduating from Ringling need to immediately buy an airline ticket to Hollywood, he said such a move isn't as important as it used to be, but that there would likely be a centralized industry in Hollywood for a long time to come. "There is no reason, with inexpensive cameras today that need less lighting, why anybody can't come up with an idea and make a tremendous film anywhere," he said. "But it's still a collaborative, collective medium. You will still see all the best writers get together somewhere, and the actors are in Hollywood.

Oct 18

2012

North Tamiami Trail Sarasota Reduction in Crime

Posted by ntrpadmin in Tamiami Cultural District , North Trail Redevelopment Partnership , North Trail , North Tamiami Trail

Felony Index crimes in the City of Sarasota have been reduced by 20% since 2010. As a result in the drop in crime, there were 302 fewer victims of these serious crimes in 2012 (compared to the same 9 months in 2010). With no increase in staffing, officers handled 4,830 additional calls for service and made 633 more arrests.

Oct 17

2012

North Trail: Ringling International Arts Festival & Beyond

Posted by ntrpadmin in Tamiami Cultural District , North Trail Redevelopment Partnership , North Trail , North Tamiami Trail

The Ringling International Arts Festival opened Saturday with an exposition expounding upon the future of the Art of Our Time initiative at the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art; supported by a $50,000 grant from Gulf Coast Community Foundation, the third year of the initiative will feature three art exhibitions, 100 stage performances and 40 film screenings.

An historical overview of the museum’s artistic commitment illuminates consistency in forecasting for the contemporary that the initiative is rooted in a legacy. The first Executive Director of museum programs, A. Everett "Chick" Austin, Jr., was vilified for bringing large expositions on contemporary art and contending for the idea of a museum possessing performance space. He’s the man responsible for the purchase if the Historic Asolo Theater. “The important thing is the engagement with living artist as well as their work,” says Dwight Currie, Ringling's associate director of museum programs. He explains the works Ringling has brought in are unique, not to be serialized and in many ways fragile works. Though they certainly want people to see them, museum officials' success isn’t to be measured on mass appeal. It’s important to provide the space for the work. “To be able to have a performance gallery in an institution like this, to bring work a presentive space is important, because when it’s gone, it’s gone forever.” Much was made this year of Ringling’s focus on providing contemporary performance a visible platform, referencing RIAF and the Turrell Skyspace. Attention also turned to the future direction of the museum as it was mapped, incorporating artistic residencies to distinguish itself as a laboratory space that enables artist to create for the future. The particular work and paradigm-shifting creativity of Luke DuBois was held up as the direction the museum is aiming to pursue. “I think as that vision progresses,” says Matthew McLendon, associate curator of modern and contemporary art, “the new audiences we will be generating can have a feeling of investment in these artists knowing that they’re seeing embryonic ideas taking form here at the Ringling that they might see on the world stage later down the road.” The festival wrapped with the closing party hosted in the museum’s courtyard featuring the jazzy tunes of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. It’s rumored Baryshnikov threw down a flash mob. Undoubtedly, the great debate of the festival was the ever inquiring of opinion on Pig Iron’s performance, a vehemently polarizing topic. As reported in last Friday’s SRQ Daily, half the audience left in the company's first performance, but matching the distaste, it seems their were no evacuees in the subsequent weekend shows. As Steven High, Ringling executive director, pointed out in a conversation at the party, to challenge audiences is a good thing. That, he says, is what RIAF is all about.

Original article published October 15, 2012, by SRQ Daily.

Oct 12

2012

North Trail: Florida Creativity Partners with USFSM

Posted by ntrpadmin in Tamiami Cultural District , North Trail Redevelopment Partnership , North Trail , North Tamiami Trail

Save the Date: Florida Creativity Partners with USF-SM for March Event

The Florida Creativity Coalition (www.flcreativity.com) will partner with the College of Education at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee to host the 10th annual Florida Creativity Weekend March 1-3, 2013 to be held on the USF-SM campus in Sarasota and at Florida Studio Theatre. Nationally recognized experts will share how to apply creativity tools and techniques to enhance a person’s professional and personal thinking skills. For an early peek at speakers, cost and registration information, visit flcreativity.com.

Original article posted October 11, 2012, by Biz(941).