COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Community Engagement remained a top priority for The Ringling. Under the guidance of the Ringling Foundation Board’s Community Engagement Task Force, museum staff partnered with several non-profits and received generous support from donors to expand our programming and impact. Access was the focus.

Opening the museum’s grounds and galleries to the widest possible audience lead to creative and new models for welcoming all members of our community to experience the power of art.

With the support and guidance of the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, The Ringling initiated a pilot program, Artful Families. Utilizing non-profit partnerships, like Forty Carrots Partners in Play, as well as Title 1 schools, museum staff created opportunities for children and their adult care givers to engage with the museum. Educators met families off-site and then held hands-on art making programs for families at the museum. Following the museum program, families were provided complimentary museum memberships. More than 60 families were provided complimentary memberships throughout the pilot program. This pilot program and the lessons learned created the platform for the creation of a larger program, The Ringling WEB: Where Everyone Belongs.

Generous funding by the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation and continued support by the Community Foundation of Sarasota County enabled the museum to hire a full-time Community Engagement Officer, Ana Juarez. She will direct The Ringling WEB, a new model for engaging at-risk families with the museum. We anticipate serving more than 200 at-risk families annually through this exciting new program.

In addition to the launch of The Ringling WEB and continued success with programs like Partners in Play, Education has also become a partner in Easter Seals Kids Night Out program which takes place once a month. This event provides a respite for care-givers as well as a fun, creative experience for Easter Seals clients who represent a broad spectrum of both physical and emotional disabilities. Southeastern Guide Dogs and Lighthouse for the Blind are other outreach partners. A visit to The Ringling represents an opportunity for individuals who have lost their sight or have lowvision to enjoy the visual arts. We have also become a welcoming destination for Southeastern students who are learning to work with their guide dogs.