CIRCUS SEASON NEVER ENDS!

By Elizabeth Doud Currie–Kohlmann Curator of Performance

If you have spent any time in Sarasota and follow circus, you know that the Circus Arts Conservatory (CAC) is the region’s preeminent circus organization. However, you may not have realized that the CAC is also renowned both nationally and internationally for their contributions to the field. CAC’s annual world-class Circus Sarasota tent season, their thriving Sailor Circus Academy youth training and education program, and Summer Circus Spectacular, their exciting indoor summer variety show hosted in The Ringling Historic Asolo Theater, are all part of their mission to support the entertainment, education, and enrichment of the circus arts.

Over the last sixteen years, The Ringling has been honored to collaborate annually with CAC to present Summer Circus Spectacular as a distinctive attraction for local residents and visitors. Summer Circus Spectacular at The Ringling has delighted children and adults alike by selling out two shows daily to summer camps, senior centers, and other diverse community groups who love circus. Museumgoers visiting Sarasota for the first time find it irresistible to catch a show during their time at the museum, and there could be no finer way to connect The Ringling’s circus legacy with the thrill and vitality of live circus arts.

The Ringling’s collaboration with CAC began decades ago, when the museum invited the organization to perform in the Circus Museum. The first show resulting from this invitation took place in the Wagon Room of the Historic Circus Galleries in 1998. The Ringling’s staff and volunteers greatly admire the CAC’s leadership in the circus world, their deep commitment to circus pedagogy, and their continued advancement of the extraordinary legacy and heritage of the circus. CAC founders Dolly Jacobs and Pedro Reis are highly respected circus performers who boast far-reaching ties to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus ® lineage. For all their productions—including the annual Summer Circus Spectacular—they rely on rich experience and knowledge of world circus to assemble outstanding teams of behind-the-scenes and center-ring talent.

Join us for the 2023 Summer Circus Spectacular

June 9 – August 12. Tickets are on sale now!

Member Spotlight Wilmer Pearson

Wilmer Pearson has been a Ringling Museum volunteer for more than 20 years. During that time, he’s contributed 12,000 hours from a dozen different volunteer assignments, even playing the role of John Ringling for special events. After having dedicated so much to his beloved Sarasota over the years, Wilmer has finally decided to move back up north to be closer to his family in Wisconsin. The Ringling’s staff, volunteers, and visitors will all miss him dearly.

Hailing from Ontario, Wisconsin, Wilmer began visiting Sarasota over the winters to escape the cold and snow. In 1969, he gave year-round Florida living a try and was hired by Riverview High School to teach tenth-grade English. During that time, he recalls visiting The Ringling and marveling at how it all came to be. He was especially taken with the Historic Asolo Theater. Wilmer enjoys performing and directing, and he was charmed by the eighteenth-century theater’s beauty.

After a few years of living in Sarasota full time, Wilmer returned to Wisconsin, where he worked as a teacher for thirty-two more years. Over the summers, he owned and operated a canoe rental and restaurant on the Kickapoo River. The restaurant offered homecooked meals along with plenty of homemade desserts. In fact, cooking and baking are Pearson family traditions. For the last fourteen years of his mother’s life, she and Wilmer enjoyed baking and delivering sweets to seventy-five of their neighbors on a regular basis.

ANNOUNCING DIGITAL MEMBERSHIP CARDS!

We are excited to introduce a new benefit as part of The Ringling Membership program! Beginning July 1, we will be converting to digital membership cards that can be downloaded

After he retired from teaching, Wilmer became a snowbird in Sarasota. He knew just where he wanted to volunteer. A restored Ca’ d‘Zan had re-opened to an eager public and was in need of tour guides. Wilmer joined a training class of other aspiring guides, many of whom became lifelong friends. After a few years of volunteering, Wilmer became a museum member, and he has been one ever since. He didn’t join for the free admission or other benefits; rather, he wanted to be deeply involved with the museum and support it however he could. In fact, Wilmer is now a member of the Legacy Society, inspired by John Ringling’s vision for what the museum could (and did) do for Sarasota. During his time at The Ringling, Wilmer witnessed the museum’s burgeoning stewardship by Florida State University and all the growth and support that came with it.

When asked what his favorite venue is, he answers without hesitation: “Circus!” Favorite object? “The Tibbals model!” to your personal smartphone device. This new benefit will be included at all membership levels. We will be sharing more details and information in the near future, so stay tuned!

Wilmer observed that the addition of the Howard Bros. Circus Model turned the circus collection into a museum for all. Touring guests through the circus galleries provided him opportunities for interaction, storytelling, and meeting the circus community. Some guests even commented that with his booming voice and tall stature, he could be a ringmaster. In many ways, Wilmer has been The Ringling’s own ringmaster, guiding thousands of guests, sharing countless objects, and helping children of all ages find delight in their visit.

Hanpo

The Eighth Attack on Port Arthur: The Flagship of Russia Struck our Buoyant Mine and Sank Instantly, and Vice Admiral Makarov Drowned

By Rhiannon Paget, PhD Curator of Asian Art

Pitching sharply amid clouds of smoke and spray, the Petropavlovsk, flagship of the Russian fleet, is depicted moments after striking a Japanese naval mine off Port Arthur (Lüshunkou), Manchuria. A gaping hole is visible below the water line. Its captain, Vice Admiral Makarov (1849–1904), appears on deck, sword raised in defiance. Six hundred sailors, officers, and crew members died in the impact and as the warship was swallowed by the Yellow Sea. Makarov was a respected strategist in Japan prior to the war; although the sinking of his ship was an unequivocal victory, the artist Hanpo (active early 20th century) and his peers depicted him as an honorable and valiant opponent. An English title is overprinted in silver at the bottom of the lower sheet, suggesting how Japanese publishers anticipated foreign interest in this event.

This is one of two dramatic battle prints by Hanpo that were donated to The Ringling by Mary and Robert Levenson. The images visualize pivotal episodes of the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), a conflict fought over control of the Korean peninsula and parts of Manchuria, for Japanese audiences. Although facing competition from photography and lithography, which could be produced more cheaply and efficiently, woodblock-printed battle scenes enjoyed brief revivals during the first SinoJapanese War (1894–1895) and the Russo-Japanese War ten years later. The spectacular, vividly colored scenes made possible by woodblock printing gave this medium an advantage over newer reprographic technologies.

Hanpo’s surviving battle prints exhibit a flair for drama, sophisticated composition, and lively brushwork. The artist’s identity, however, remains obscure. These designs are frequently mis-attributed to the literati painter Yasuda Yanpo (1889–1947), who signed his name with different Chinese characters and was barely a teenager at the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War.