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.