Annual Review 2017-18

Kotler-Coville Glass Pavilion

THANK YOU!

The 2017–2018 year was unusual and extraordinary. It is my pleasure to share with our valued supporters this publication which highlights the many activities of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art from July 2, 2017 to June 30, 2018. On March 2nd, nearly 200 supporters of The Ringling gathered for a special evening at Ca’ d’Zan as we announced publicly the details of The Ringling Inspires: Honoring the Legacy and Building for the Future campaign. This historic $100 million comprehensive campaign ensures the legacy of John and Mable Ringling remains preserved for future generations of the Sarasota community. As such, our 10,000 member households and foundation partners made record contributions to The Ringling this year to support a diverse selection of exhibitions, incredible performances, and educational opportunities which I am proud to highlight for you in this publication. Your support also helped us weather the challenge of Hurricane Irma, whose impact forced us to close to the public for nine days while we cleared our grounds and reestablished electrical power. This was the longest closure since the 1960s but luckily, the impact of the storm was less than expected and recovery efforts by our dedicated staff enabled us to be ready to open once power was restored. Despite the storm, The Ringling’s attendance once again exceeded 400,000 visitors and our financial position is stronger than ever in our history. I hope you enjoy reviewing our accomplishments over the past year.

Thank you, dear members, for your support and belief in The Ringling and, as always, I hope to see you at The Ringling many times this season.

Steven High Executive Director

The Ringling’s attendance once again exceeded 400,000

and our financial position is stronger than ever in our history.

Left: Curvae in Curvae (2012) by Beverly Pepper newly installed in front of the Museum of Art. Promised gift of Keith D. and Linda L. Monda.

FINANCES

The Ringling consistently demonstrates fiscal diligence by ending every year with a surplus.

Between 2011 to 2018 our budgets grew from $12.75 million to $20 million. With the 2017–2018 fiscal year, our operating funds ended the year at $20.6 million in revenue, exceeding our budget by 4%, $20 million in expenses, 1% increase over budgeted. With fund transfers for Acquisitions ($152,250), we ended the fiscal year with a surplus of $536,421.

ATTENDANCE

403,119 VISITORS IN TOTAL $20.6 M REVENUE $20.1 M EXPENSES $536 K SURPLUS $1.5 M DRAW FROM ENDOWMENTS

TOTAL REVENUE $20,697,619

TOTAL EXPENSE $20,161,198

ENDOWMENTS

The Ringling’s combined endowments (The John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art Foundation and the Florida State University Foundation) at year-end totaled $38.9 million with the annual draw from the endowments this fiscal year of $1.5 million.

PERFORMANCE

2017–2018 held the Grand Finale of The Ringling International Arts Festival. It was a year of dynamic encounters and an exploration of world music through the innovative programming of New Stages.

The final Ringling International Arts Festival presented twenty-five performances of seven stage productions over four days. Programming expanded throughout The Ringling campus extending out beyond the traditional theater venues and featuring artists that were both local and from around the globe. The Ringling Circus Museum hosted Monica Bill Barnes & Company performing Happy Hour and Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour’s White Rabbit Red Rabbit Italy’s eVenti Verticali performed WANTED in the Asian Pavilion Courtyard, while the Turrell Skyspace and the Huntington Gallery of the Museum of Art were enlivened with contemporary music performed by local ensemblenewSRQ. The Historic Asolo Theater continued as the nucleus of the festival hosting a vibrant array of inventive artists such as Volker Gerling, who presented his intimate, yet broadly-revealing, “thumb cinema.” Sarasota native James McGinn presented the audience with Ing an Die an operatic piece that confronted audiences with a restrained performativity of post-modernism, ballet and contemporary dance. From Zimbabwe came Nobuntu, the acclaimed a-cappella quintet with a program featuring Zimbabwean folksongs, Afro Jazz, and Gospel. Nobuntu transcended racial, tribal, and religious boundaries and brought Ringling audiences to their feet.

After RIAF closed, our Art of Performance season continued with New Stages: A World of Music, a series of global music featuring ensembles from Europe, South America, and the US. Hailing from Sweden, Awake Love Orchestra made their US debut at The Ringling in November, presenting their unique fusion of music. Somi, a singer/songwriter, who calls Harlem’s vibrant immigrant community of “Little Africa” home, performed Petite Afrique a song cycle inspired by her experiences as a first generation American.

The world premiere of Circus: Wandering City by the esteemed string quartet, ETHEL was received with great acclaim while Chucho Valdés, the Grammy award winning Cuban pianist did not fail to please as he drew cheers from audiences that included many from the Latin community. In Bird’s Eye View, the two-time Grammy winning Turtle Island Quartet, paid homage to the visionary brilliance of jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker. The series concluded with I 25 Giri, a brilliantly talented middle-school choral ensemble from Montebelluna, Treviso—just minutes from the village of Asolo, Italy.

A final tabulation: more than 50 guest artists from eight nations were presented in thirteen genre-defying productions. Additionally, performances on screen and on stage were held in conjunction with exhibitions, such as Toni Dove: Embodied Machines, National Theatre Live, The Royal Ballet and Artist Series of Sarasota throughout the year. Furthermore, in conjunction with Ringling Underground a series of performances were curated featuring local spoken word artist Cedric Hammed who lead spontaneous poetry performances. Makoto Hirano and Danielle Gatto presented their latest Booth, Phone Booth, which allowed participants to “phone” anyone alive/ dead/fictitious using an old phone receiver. College students interpreted the theme of the visual art exhibition Dangerous Women through dance as an homage to the paintings and etchings of the daring women that traveled from our galleries to the Frost Museum of Art in Miami. In total, over 150 performances of 25 productions were staged throughout the year.

Left: SOMI, photo by Robert Allen Mayer

Below: ETHEL, photo by Zach Gross

EXHIBITIONS

Skyway: A Contemporary Collaboration

JUN 24 – OCT 15, 2017

This exhibition was not only a celebration of artistic practice in the Tampa Bay area, but also an exercise in collaboration as it was shared among three institutions: The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota; the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg; and the Tampa Museum of Art. Working together, curators from these institutions provided context for the diversity of art being made in Hillsborough, Manatee, Pinellas, and Sarasota Counties. Works in the exhibition were selected from an open call by museum curators and a visiting juror.

Extraordinary Animals

SEP 22, 2017 – JAN 14, 2018

Ai Weiwei: Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads

JUN 9, 2017 – JUN 1, 2018

Sculptor, photographer, installation artist, architect, and social activist, Ai Weiwei is one of the most renowned artists working today. This installation on the grounds of The Ringling featured 12 bronze Zodiac Heads arranged in an arc at the western edge of the Museum of Art. Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads was inspired by the fabled fountain-clock of the Yuanming Yuan, an 18th-century imperial retreat just outside Beijing. In 1860, the Yuanming Yuan was ransacked by French and British troops, and the heads were pillaged. In re-interpreting these objects on an oversized scale, Ai Weiwei focuses attention on questions of looting and repatriation, while extending his ongoing exploration of the ‘fake’ and the copy in relation to the original. He states that each piece is “a copy of an original, but not an exact copy—something that has its own sensitive layer of languages, which are different, and that bear the mark of our time.” Organized by The Ringling together with the AW Asia Foundation, New York.

Eternal Offerings: Chinese Ritual Bronzes from the Minneapolis Institute of Art

JUN 9 – SEP 10, 2017

Demonstrating The Ringling’s continuing commitment to the study of Asian art, Eternal Offerings showcased nearly 100 Chinese bronze objects from the Minneapolis Institute of Art. The exhibition highlights the manner in which bronze objects were employed to conduct religious rituals, record significant events, and represent elite status from the Shang through Han dynasties (1600 BCE to 220 CE). Several of the works in the exhibition pointed to the various types of rituals—including ancestral, funereal, and musical—found in early Chinese dynasties. Eternal Offerings also demonstrates the significant role of inscriptions on bronzes, especially in the later Western Zhou dynasty (1046 – 771 BCE). Organized by the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

Although not as highly advertised as their exotic counterparts, domesticated animals including dogs, cats, and birds are popular performers in the circus ring. Horses, pigs, and goats also have been trained to perform astonishing displays of intelligence and feats of skill. These animal acts rely on the combination of the familiar with the unexpected to entertain. Posters celebrating the remarkable intelligence and highly developed skills of these four-legged performers once covered walls and fences across America.

Aftermath: The Fallout of War in the Middle East

OCT 15, 2017 – JAN 21, 2018

Active in the US and Middle East, the artists in this exhibition depict the conditions and people caught in the crossfire of wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Palestine, and Israel from a variety of perspectives. The artists included in Aftermath are Lynsey Addario, Jananne Al-Ani, Jennifer Karady, Gloriann Liu, Rania Matar, Eman Mohammed, Farah Nosh, Suzanne Opton, Michal Rovner, Stephen Dupont, Ben Lowy, and Simon Norfolk. Aftermath was organized by the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art at the University of Florida.

Approaching the Border

NOV 5, 2017 – JAN 21, 2018

Approaching the Border presented five international artists who explore the complicated facets of the US-Mexico border, a zone where the political is intensely palpable. Their works meditate on the social and political phenomena of the border and the significance of borders in an era when migration and the reemergence of nationalism are key global issues. Some of these artists stage their work in the physical space of the borderlands, in México or the US, and expose the sociopolitical realities that manifest on each side of the boundary. Other projects meditate on the power of borders as powerful signifiers and means of division as they construct national identity.

Photos, top to bottom:

Ai Weiwei, Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads: Bronze 2010. Loaned courtesy of a Private Collection. Celestial Horse China, Han dynasty (25-220 CE). Bronze with traces of polychrome, 44 ⅞ × 34 ½ × 14 ½ in. Gift of Ruth and Bruce Dayton, 2002.45.

Photo: Minneapolis Institute of Art

Photos, top to bottom: Selina Román, Solar Flare II (detail), 2016. Archival inkjet print. Courtesy of the artist. © Selina Román Donaldson Lithography Co., Alf F. Wheeler: Dog Act (detail), 1924. Tibbals Collection, ht2005017. Ben Lowy, A car is torched, along with a Gaddafi loyalist encampment, in the roundabout outside the Bab al-Aziziya compound, Tripoli, Libya (detail), 2011. Archival pigment print. From the series iLibya: Uprising by iPhone. Loan and image courtesy of the photographer. Cristiana de Marchi, still from Doing and Undoing (Borders) (detail), 2013. Courtesy of the artist. © Cristiana de Marchi

COLLECTIONS

Hank Willis Thomas: Branded/Unbranded

FEB 11 – JUN 10, 2018

In 2016 The Ringling purchased eleven photographs from Hank Willis Thomas’s provocative series Unbranded: A Century of White Women, 1915–2015. The entire set of 100 digital chromogenic prints by Thomas, the internationally celebrated conceptual artist, reconsiders classic advertisements over the last 100 years—minus their original text. Released from any context, brand, product, or messaging, the previously subliminal images are free to speak more directly to what is being sold: the constructed identity and reinforced stereotypes of white women in the U.S. over time. To make the archival ads he has photographed even more accessible, Thomas has added new captions—some funny and irreverent, some ironic and pointed. By mining the past to create regrettably timeless representations of disempowered white women, Thomas confronts issues that continue to inform and circulate throughout our culture today. As Thomas commented in an interview with Time in 2011, “Part of advertising’s success is based on its ability to reinforce generalizations developed around race, gender and ethnicity which are generally false, but [these generalizations] can sometimes be entertaining, sometimes true, and sometimes horrifying.”

Toni Dove: Embodied Machines

FEB 25 – MAR 20, 2018

Toni Dove: Embodied Machines, was the first survey of Dove’s pioneering work which operates at the crossroads of live performance, interactive narrative, and virtual reality. The exhibition explored more than 20 years of the artist’s projects, from early installations through her interactive cinema and stage performances and concluding with her most recent experiments at the forefront of digital technology and robotics. Based in New York, Dove has been credited as being one of the innovators of “interactive cinema.” Since the early 1990s, she has been interested in creating immersive experiences where the boundary between viewer and performer is blurred and the history of consumer culture and capitalism is examined. Dove’s collaborative practice brings together vanguard visual artists, filmmakers, fashion designers, robotics engineers, computer programmers, musicians, actors, and writers. Dove, acting as the creative architect of experience, transforms the traditional artist studio system into a 21st-century idea incubator, using the work of art to inform technology.

A Kaleidoscope of Color: The Costume Designs of Miles White

APR 22 – AUG 5, 2018

Elephants transformed into swans, beautiful girls turned into birthday cakes, and clowns became kings. These whimsical visions are captured in the drawings of the talented costume designer Miles White (1914-2000). Paired with original costumes and contemporary photographs, White’s spectacular drawings evoke the adventurous era of design that emerged in mid-century American performance. This exhibition included original sketches, watercolors, swatchbooks, and other production documents. Some drawings were paired with actual wardrobe pieces and historical photographs. Over 500 of White’s original sketches and watercolors are in the Tibbals Circus Collection at The Ringling.

The Ringling is committed to being the center of excellence not only in its research and education but in its diverse collections that represent European, Asian, and Contemporary/Modern Art as well as historic objects from the Ca’ d’Zan estate and circus artifacts and posters.

In alignment with the 2013–2018 strategic plan, the collections department remains focused on collection accessibility, best practices in object preservation and conservation, and the establishment of partnerships/collaborations to stimulate collection-based research and learning opportunities. The collections staff also continues to promote The Ringling as a progressive institution by implementing current trends, exploring new techniques, actively participating in conferences, and serving on professional committees.

At the end of the fiscal year, The Ringling collections included 36,181 objects and 485 new acquisitions were accepted in FY 2017–18. More specifically, the museum received 451 gifts, 3 bequests, and 4 purchases. To ensure that prominent pieces are added to the collection, The Ringling Board of Directors recently approved the purchase of an 18th Century Japanese painting by Mori Tetsuzan and photographs by South African artist, Zanele Muholi, to enhance the Asian and Contemporary/ Modern collections. The total value of acquisitions received in this fiscal year is $1,184,537.50 with $751,537.50 as gifts, $400,000 as bequests and $124,000 as purchases.

36,181 OBJECTS

485 NEW ACQUISITIONS

451 GIFTS

3 BEQUESTS

4 ITEMS PURCHASED

3,330 OBJECTS DISPLAYED 140 OBJECTS LOANED

355 OBJECTS BORROWED

Photos, top to bottom: Hank Willis Thomas (American, born 1976), She’s somewhat of a drag, 1959/2015 (detail), 2015. Digital chromogenic print. Museum purchase with funds provided by William and Jane Knapp, 2016.

Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. © Hank Willis Thomas Toni Dove, The Dress That Eats Souls, artist’s studio, work in progress, segment 1950’s, 2017 (detail). © Toni Dove Miles White, Lady Godiva 1952. Watercolor and ink on paper. Tibbals Circus Collection, ht3000600.

Tiger Japanese, second quarter of 19th century. Hanging scroll; ink and colors on silk. Museum purchase, 2018. SN11597

Collection accessibility is paramount to the museum experience. The Ringling displayed 3,330 objects or 9% of the collection through scheduled gallery rotations, object displays, and exhibitions. To attract a global audience to view and research objects, The Ringling continues to populate eMuseum with digital collection records and images. Currently, 87% of the collection has been digitized and 54% of these object records include digital images. The Ringling has also loaned a total of 140 objects to stimulate more interest in the permanent collections both nationally and internationally. The collections staff completed 13 courier trips to museums in the United States, England, France, and Italy, which included the Royal Academy in London, England and the Musée du Luxembourg in Paris, France. They also escorted artwork to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Met Breuer in New York, and the Nasher Museum of Art in Durham, NC. To showcase selected pieces from the European Collection and to reinforce our role as the State Art Museum of Florida, The Ringling organized, Dangerous Women: Selections from the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, and offered it at cost to the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum in Miami, FL and to The Cornell Fine Art Museum in Winter Park, FL. As the State Art Museum of Florida, The Ringling maintains 16 loans at the Florida State University President’s House and 13 works at the Governor’s Mansion in Tallahassee, FL.

In collaboration with artists and other museums, The Ringling continues to host and curate exhibitions that complement its diverse collections and promote cultural and social viewpoints through artistic expression. The museum borrowed 355 objects. For the opening of the new KotlerCoville Glass Pavilion in January, the collections staff completed within two months the exhibit fabrication and installation of 48 glassworks from the museum’s Contemporary/Modern Art collection and private loans.

CONSERVATION

In 2016, the museum was awarded an IMLS grant to purchase and install new painting racks in the Education Vault and Conservation Laboratory, which enabled the documentation and rehousing of 130 paintings that had been stored in an off-site storage facility. In a span of four weeks in 2017, the collections staff successfully examined, stabilized, wrapped, and moved the paintings to an environmentally controlled storage area on The Ringling campus and performed emergency conservation treatment on 43 of the paintings. The staff also supervised other conservation projects that focused on treatment of the Ca’ d’Zan terra cotta, as well as 21 historic iron loggia lanterns, and 9 stone parapet sculptures at the Museum of Art. Condition surveys were completed for 75 outdoor stone and bronze sculptures in the Museum Courtyard, as well as for 60 Japanese prints (43 of these were conserved) and 12 watercolors (11 conserved). Treatment proposals were prepared for 90 paintings and 3D objects slated for Reinstallation in galleries 16, 17, and 18.

To remain current on the trends of best practices, the collections staff hosted workshops organized by the Florida Association of Museums and were collaborative partners for the Florida Historical Society annual conference. Staff shared their expertise with respect to collections management and historic preservation with fellow colleagues. They have also participated on committees or served as board members in the following organizations pertaining to collections management, conservation, and exhibitions: the Preparation, Art handling, Collections Care, Information Network (PACCIN), American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC), the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) and the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH).

Staff continues to explore new ways to use technology. During the fiscal year, the collections department established a partnership with the University of South Florida's Institute for Digital Exploration (IDEx) to encourage collection accessibility and to energize scholarly research through the use of 3D printing and object scanning. This technology will be used to research the museum’s Cypriot collection.

Photos, top to bottom: Sideboard with Blue China by artist Beth Lipman reinstalled in the Kotler-Coville Glass Pavilion Screenshot of eMuseum.ringling.org

Conservation Intern cleaning the early 1700s Watermelon Regatta painting

Hand-painted cast terra cotta replica to replace an unsalvageable element at Ca’ d’Zan

The Ringling is committed to providing best care and conservation treatment to the collection.

EDUCATION

Education programming served over 115,000 people at The Ringling throughout the fiscal year. Over 8,000 facilitated tours and programs were offered by the Education department.

Through these diverse and wide reaching offerings, Education has been instrumental in facilitating learning through positive and engaging visitor experiences.

EDUCATION PROGRAMMING

115,000 PEOPLE REACHED

8,000 TOURS & EVENTS

87,000 VISITORS SERVED ON DOCENT TOURS FAMILY PROGRAMS

300% ATTENDANCE INCREASE

3,500 ROAR ATTENDANCE

Through creative programs and the use of technology, the Education department removed barriers at the Museum for people with disabilities. Assistive listening devices, including induction neck loops, are now offered for all Ca’ d’Zan Mable’s tours and Museum of Art tours. These devices will be used in the Circus and on the Grounds tours in the future. The Ringling’s ongoing partnership with Southeastern Guide Dogs brings guide dog recipients to the Museum of Art for an interactive dog-themed tour of the collection. Education staff use visual description, tactile diagrams of paintings, touching of approved sculptures, and other props to help the group “see” the works in their mind’s eye. In the 2018 fiscal year, staff gave tours to 6 different classes of SEGD students, serving a total of 64 people (plus their dogs!). The Ringling also partners with Lighthouse of Manasota, an organization that serves people who are blind or low-vision. Educators use the same techniques (description, tactile props, approved touching) to help bring the artwork to life. The Museum hosted Lighthouse groups four times throughout the past fiscal year, serving a total of 31 blind or low-vision individuals who otherwise would not have been able to engage with the artwork.

The Ringling also provided American Sign Language interpreters on four different tours (including Museum of Art tours, Mable’s Tours, and John’s Tours) to serve our Deaf patrons. We offer this service free of charge upon request for anyone who needs it. Education staff also host a Community Access Advisory Group, made up of people with various disabilities, to inform how the Museum develops accessible programming. This community group meets twice a year to provide valuable input about how The Ringling can continue to become a more inclusive institution.

The Education Department is continually working to promote our strategic goal as a center for practice and presentation of art and culture. Staff initiated a “Ringling Remix” program to celebrate Pride Month by inviting local drag queen Beneva Fruitville to co-lead a tour with curatorial staff. This sold-out tour brought humor and delight to attendees as Beneva relayed her own unique take on our collection.

Our Viewpoints lecture series continued to present notable guest scholars to our community in thoughtful discussions on exhibitions and our collections. Lectures in 2017–18 included Talisein Thomas on Ai Weiwei, Rodney Huey on circus history, Carol McCusker on the exhibition Aftermath, Jan Bardsley on gender politics in postwar Japan, and Vanessa Toulmin on the European circus. Our docent tour program brought the museum collections to life for over 87,000 visitors through engaging, conversational tours. Adult programs offered everything from Slow Art Day to lectures, artist talks, and gallery tours. We continued to support emerging museum professionals via our two resident graduate programs with FSU and hosted five students at The Ringling for the academic year.

Family engagement and intergenerational learning in our Youth and Family programs continue to expand at a dramatic pace. We implemented new tour models and expanded existing programming in order to better serve visitors of all ages. The Education team began monthly Stroller Tours for adults with infants, creating a low-stress environment in which new parents can enjoy the company of other adults. Summer Museum of Art Mondays, free programs that encourage participants to connect creative art-making projects to objects they observe in the Museum, were significantly expanded. This summer, the revised program model allowed us to serve greater numbers and increase program attendance by nearly 300%! Our early literacy program Ringling Order of Art Readers (ROAR) served over 3,500 toddlers and parents. We also hosted regular Family Days on the weekends that connected families to specific areas in the collections.

School and teacher programs are essential to

The Ringling’s educational mission, and this year we welcomed over 10,000 students for on-site field trips. School tours are always offered at no charge and include optional bussing funds for schools in need. We offered several professional development training opportunities for teachers to support arts integration, including one in collaboration with the Circus Arts Conservatory. The Ringling continued our partnership with Any Given Child and hosted their teachers here several times to support arts-infused classroom learning.

Above, left to right: Visitors with low vision explore the Original Circus Museum by touch Children participate in a family program in the Museum of Art

Activities during Museum of Art Monday

A group from the Lighthouse uses tactile diagrams to "see" a painting

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

The important work of community engagement at all levels is a top priority of The Ringling. Through various partnerships and programs, the Museum continues to be a leading institution for inclusion, diversity, equality, and access.

This year the Community Foundation of Sarasota County generously provided grant funding to assist The Ringling with numerous community engagement initiatives. With this funding, The Ringling provided social and cultural learning experiences through our collections and special exhibitions, regular programming such as Conversations and our Gallery Walk and Talks, and even special events and programs during Art After 5. In March 2018, in conjunction with the Branded/Unbranded exhibition by artist Hank Willis Thomas, a conversation with the artist was held in the Museum’s Historic Asolo Theater. The conversation was followed by a reception and meet-and-greet with the artist. The funding from the Community Foundation of Sarasota County allowed the Museum to waive admission costs for this event, thus eliminating any financial barriers that might have prevented individuals from participating. The lecture was filled to capacity, and several local organizations both promoted and attended the event. The Conversation with the Artist Hank Willis Thomas explored themes focused on identity, history, and popular culture.

The Ringling program Where Everyone Belongs: Families Learning Together (WEB) began in 2017 as part of an organization-wide mission to increase inclusion and access to the museum. The program was designed to reach disadvantaged youth and their families while also fostering strong partnerships with the various non-profit Sarasota and Manatee county organizations who serve them. WEB offers free family-level museum memberships to the families who participate in on-site training days hosted by the program’s coordinator, Barancik Community Engagement Fellow Ana Juarez. These trainings provide participants with tools they need to feel confident visiting the museum on their own as a family, ensuring an enriching parent-child museum experience.

Through the WEB program, The Ringling has now established ongoing partnerships with the following organizations/programs:

Easter Seals: Project Rainbow/Kids Night Out

Forty Carrots: Partners in Play

Harvest House: Home Again

Jewish Family and Children’s Service (JFCS): Healthy Families/Healthy Children, Camp Mariposa

Newtown Estates Boys and Girls Club

Riverview High School’s Cyesis Teen Parenting Program

Sarasota Housing Authority: Pathways to a Better Life

UnidosNow: Future Leaders Academy

Visible Men Academy (VMA)

WEB concluded its first year in June 2018, and within that time, in addition to establishing partnerships with the local nonprofits listed above, the program issued 192 free familylevel museum membership to families and served 2,003 participants. A total of ten on-site trainings were held in the first year, and each training was individually tailored to meet the specific needs of the families being served. On May 19, 2018, the Museum hosted its first WEB Family Festival to create a welcoming, celebratory environment for WEB family members. A total of 163 family members attended this event, with over 50 attendees from Forty Carrots, 38 from Jewish Family and Children Services, 25 from Visible Men Academy, and 19 from Easter Seals. Funding for the WEB: Where Everyone Belongs program is generously provided by the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation and the Community Foundation of Sarasota County.

Right: Hank Willis Thomas: Branded/Unbranded exhibition

RESEARCH

PUBLICATIONS

The Ringling published three major publications in 2017–18. The most significant was the publication of Italian, Spanish, and French Paintings in the Ringling Museum of Art. This five-year project presents the first comprehensive catalogue on The Ringling’s most significant European paintings in a major 600+ page publication. Authored by our former curator, Dr. Virginia Brilliant, this publication finally represents the high quality of the collection to scholars and the general public around the world. It is a major accomplishment for The Ringling. Toni Dove: Embodied Machines is the catalogue for The Ringling organized exhibition of the same name edited by curator Matthew McLendon. And Ca’ d’Zan: A Pictorial Guide is a new look at Ca’ d’Zan with beautiful new photography that is intended to be a visitor “must have” publication. Authored by Ron McCarty and edited by David Berry, this is Ron’s final publication on Ca’ d’Zan before his retirement this August. The Collection catalogue and Toni Dove were produced and distributed in association with SCALA Arts Publishers, London and New York.

ART LIBRARY

1,358 INTERLIBRARY LOAN REQUESTS

439 PROGRAM ATTENDEES

1,272 TIMES VISITED

2,630 TITLES USED

521 ITEMS PURCHASED 457 BOOKS DONATED

FACILITIES & GROUNDS

The Ringling Art Library supplied 819 books through Interlibrary Loan to other academic and museum libraries. As a part of the FSU library system, we also participate in a robust exchange of materials with the Tallahassee campus, having filled 539 Interlibrary Loan requests during the past year for FSU’s faculty and students. 439 people attended the Library’s Literati Book Club, Conversations with the Library presentations, and tours of the Library. Members of the public visited the Library 1,272 times during the past year and 290 reference questions were answered and 301 college students used the Library. Impressive use is made of the Library’s General Collection; 2,630 titles were used within the library. One of the foremost goals of the Art Library is to supply the scholarly needs of The Ringling’s staff. In addition to the acquisition of books recommended by curators, educators, and conservators, the Library filled 1,016 requests for resource materials for staff use from other institutions. Staff used the Library 2,420 times. The Library purchased 521 new titles with a special focus on the subjects of Asian Art and Studio Glass along with new additions to the already recognized areas of excellence in Renaissance and Baroque Art. Our generous donors contributed 457 books during the past year.

The Ringling Library director participated in the Cross College Alliance meeting regularly with the group of five academic library directors in order to share information and collaborate on joint projects beneficial to all of the campuses and their students. Strong contacts have also been made with the art history instructors at Ringling College of Art and Design and New College.

Fiscal year 2018 was both challenging and rewarding for The Ringling. The Museum weathered a major hurricane as well as welcomed the opening of a landmark venue.

The Ringling’s new Kotler-Coville Glass Pavilion, home to The Ringling’s studio glass collection, opened to the public on January 22, 2018. The 5,500 square-foot building designed by Lewis & Whitlock was awarded the American Institute of Architects Florida Honor Award of Excellence for Renovations and Additions and the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass Honors Award presented at SOFA in Chicago this November. The building and collection are the result of generous gifts and inspiration from Nancy and Phil Kotler and Warren and Margot Coville. In addition to providing an innovative and captivating space for display of the collection, the Glass Pavilion also serves to furnish a welcoming and accessible entrance to the Museum and the Historic Asolo Theater.

Hurricane Irma, the largest storm to hit Florida since 1960, arrived at The Ringling during the early morning hours of September 10, 2017. In preparation for the storm, Ringling staff spent approximately 3,200 hours moving venue by venue to ensure objects, buildings, and grounds were properly secured. Once Hurricane Irma had moved through, staff immediately began recovery efforts expending a total of 5,400 hours clearing grounds, repairing several electrical and air conditioning systems, and reinstalling collections into their venues. In total, The Ringling sustained damages to several objects, grounds and gardens, buildings and systems totaling over $400,000 which will be reimbursed by various insurance coverages including FEMA funds.

Pictured in front, left to right Anna von Gehr, Margot and Warren Coville, Phil and Nancy Kotler, and Veronica Brady Pictured in back, left to right: Mark Pritchett, Jean and FSU President John Thrasher, and Steven High, at the opening of the Kotler-Coville Glass Pavilion

Kotler-Coville Glass Pavilion

ADVANCEMENT

With the unveiling of The Ringling Inspires: Honoring the Legacy and Building for the Future campaign, The Ringling achieved record growth in philanthropic giving this year raising over $17 million toward our ambitious $100 million campaign goal.

MEMBERSHIP 10,000

MEMBERSHIP HOUSEHOLDS $1.2 M IN REVENUE IN TOTAL @ THE RINGLING $17.6 M RAISED

This transformational comprehensive campaign supports aspects of the Museum’s culture that continue to honor John and Mable Ringling— preserving its significant legacy and history through conservation and restoration care of our collections, enhancing and developing new facilities, investing in the staff with the establishment of endowed positions, assisting in the creation of programming to provide access to a diverse audience and community, and much more. Through The Ringling Inspires, along with you—our amazing supporters—we are honoring John and Mable by preserving their legacy of philanthropy—one that leaves a compelling impression with visitors while also investing in the Museum’s future. Thank you to the many individuals, foundations, and other key supporters who truly inspired this year with significant and generous gifts. The Ringling could not have had such a successful philanthropic year without all of our wonderful and dedicated donors.

2017 – 2018 MAJOR DONORS

Francine J. Blum

The Bolger Family Foundation

Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Foundation

Membership continues to thrive and met major milestones this year. Membership achieved a strategic goal of reaching over 10,000 membership households, and contributed over $1,200,000 toward museum goals. The fall saw a very successful return on a 40,000 piece acquisition direct mail effort, gaining over 800 new members. These efforts have been so successful that the team plans to increase acquisition efforts in the coming year. The membership department was also integral throughout the spring and summer in the development and implementation of a new membership database system, Tessitura. Through the system, we hope to improve the member experience onsite and online, and hope to continue to build toward more streamlined communications, renewals, and acquisitions to members. Major Gifts

TOTAL RAISED FY 17/18 – $17,670,921

(Includes Membership)

Major Gifts $7,657,342

Planned Gifts $1,070,102

Gifts of Artwork $6,107,509

Grants $593,780

Sponsorships $378,348

Annual Fall & Spring Appeal $120,387 Museum Membership $1,217,393

Partner & Circle Membership $500,731

Giving Challenge $25,329

Because of YOU, The Ringling has achieved huge success with The Ringling Inspires campaign!

• Launched the $100 Million campaign, The Ringling Inspires

• More than doubled annual fundraising

• Grew Membership from 6,000 to 10,250 households

• Grew the Legacy Society by 65%

• Created a formal Sponsorship Program for Exhibitions and Programs

• Created a New National Model for Reaching At-Risk Families

• Launched a Community Engagement and Access initiative

• Debuted the Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Center for Asian Art, the Bolger Campiello, the David F. Bolger Playspace, the Kotler-Coville Glass Pavilion, the Charlotte and Charles Perret Performance Studio and the Keith D. and Linda L. Monda Gallery for Contemporary Art

• Endowed two signature curatorial positions

• Significant restoration of the historic home Ca’ d’Zan including the terra cotta decoration and the newly restored Bolger Reflecting Pool

• Nearly doubled the museum’s permanent collection through significant gifts of artwork and art acquisition funding

Rebecca Donelson and Robert C. Blattberg

Leon R. and Margaret M. Ellin

The Feld Family Foundation

Florida State University

Florida State University Foundation

Jeffrey R. Hotchkiss and Elizabeth W. Winder Institute of Museum and Library Services

The Koski Family Foundation

Nancy and Philip Kotler

Laura Lobdell and Darrel E. Flanel

Keith D. and Linda L. Monda

Charles M. and Charlotte I. Perret

The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art Foundation

The Shank Family Foundation

Howard C. and Janice R. Tibbals

Pictured, left to right: Tom Jennings, Veronica Brady, FSU Provost Sally McRorie, Keith and Linda Monda, Paul Hudson, Anna von Gehr, Mark Pritchett, and Steven High Howard and Janice Tibbals