RINGLING MUSEUM OF ART FOUNDATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Meg Hausberg, Chair
H. Michael Bush, Vice Chair
David W. Benfer, Treasurer
Mercedes Soler-Martinez, Secretary
Jasleen “Ritu” Anand
Dennis W. Archer
Adele Fleet Bacow
Larry Cuervo, Jr.
Rebecca Donelson
Andrew M. Economos
Leon R. Ellin
Elma Glisson
Allison Gregory
Ronald A. Johnson
E. Marie McKee
Janice Tibbals Mobley
Howard D. Noble, Jr.
Gregory Parris
Frederic D. Pfening, III
Kelly A. Romanoff
Ellen Sandor
Mayra N. Schmidt
Debra J. Short
James B. Stewart
Keebler J. Straz
Kirk Ke Wang
EX-OFFICIO BOARD MEMBER
James Clark
Marla Vickers
Inviting visitors to experience wonder has driven our work this summer at The Ringling. The inaugural Wonder: Human Experience and the Arts symposium gave curious-minded people an “invitation to wonder,” as the Tibbals Curator of Circus
Jennifer Lemmer Posey says, and fostered open-mindedness about what museums can be. Eighty-eight people participated in the entire symposium, and attendance for the keynote speakers reached into the hundreds. With this issue of The Ringling Magazine, we celebrate staff accomplishments, present upcoming exhibitions, and kick off the 2024–2025 Art of Performance Season, carrying the spirit of wonder forward.
More than 6,000 visitors participated in summer educational programs, two staff members put pen to paper, delving into the past and future of museums, and a new glass acquisition and archival research further enriched our collections. In August, we said goodbye to Jevon Brown, the first Eleanor Merritt Fellow, and welcomed his successor, Dominique Goden.
Experience upcoming and current exhibitions, like Enduring Light: Photographs by Roy DeCarava and Danny Lyon from the Sandor Family Collection, which showcases photos depicting Black life and the civil rights movement in the US. Dive into Japanese culture with Catch of the Day: Flying Fish from Modern Japan, which splashes into the museum this fall. Shinique Smith: PARADE remains on view, with an artist performance in November.
The Art of Performance Season begins October 18 with NocheUnidos, an opening night party copresented with UnidosNow, and continues through mid-April highlighting everything from Eco-Performance to Jazz and hip-hop.
I hope that this edition of The Ringling Magazine will be an invitation for you to experience wonder at The Ringling.
Steven High Executive Director
Yoshitsugu (Bia) (Japanese, 1884–1949), Vase with Flying Fish Design, ca. 1930s. Silver with gilding, 12 × 8 2/5 in. Private Collection.
MAGIC LANTERN SLIDES
By Heidi Connor Chief Archivist
Taking a photograph hasn’t always been as easy as it is today, with instant digital imaging. During photography’s first century, creating a single image was a time-consuming and painstaking task.
The Industrial Revolution brought many innovations to the manufacturing of materials that simplified the photographic process. One of these materials was flat glass, also known as sheet glass or plate glass. Demand for manufacturing flat glass was driven by the markets for window glass and mirrored glass. As the quality of the glass improved, it became popularly used by photographers as a protective layer and as an image support.
The Ringling Archives holds cultural heritage materials that use glass in photography. A. Everett “Chick” Austin, Jr., The Ringling’s first Director, assembled a collection of lantern slides and a magic lantern that he donated to the museum. In his reports to the Florida Board of Control, Austin mentions his lantern slide presentations in the galleries. The Archives continues to follow Austin’s legacy by building the museum’s lantern slide collection. Through the generosity of Mable Ringling’s grandnephew, Anthony Mangieri, the Archives received forty-four circus-related lantern slides in 2022. In 2024, the Archives acquired five lantern slides featuring scenes of the Barnum & Bailey Circus and Ringling Brothers Circus.
The earliest reference to a lantern device was in 1420 by Giovanni da Fontana, displaying a drawing of a man with a lantern and a projected image of a devil using no lens. In 1659, Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens created the first projection device using both an artificial light source and a lens. While originally called a “magic lantern,” the projection device has been known by different names. In the United Kingdom, it is referred to as the optical lantern, and in the United States, it is the stereopticon.
The first lantern slides were hand-painted images on glass. Popular artists, including George Cruickshank, Joseph Boggs Beale, and John Tenniel painted lantern slides. The lantern slide became photographic in 1849 when brothers Frederick and William Langenheim developed a method using albumen (egg white) to fix photosensitive emulsion on glass. These glass positives were called Langenheims’ hyalotypes. Once a slide was
OPPOSITE PAGE
Frederick Whitman Glasier (1866–1950), The Gold Car, Barnum & Bailey (detail), 1903. Tibbals Circus Collection.
ABOVE, TOP TO BOTTOM
Ringling Bros., Tents Up!, 1890s. Lantern slide. Courtesy of The Ringling Archives. Chicago Projecting Company, publisher.
Ringling Bros., First Advertising Car, 1890s. Lantern slide. Courtesy of The Ringling Archives. Chicago Projecting Company, publisher.
developed, cleaned, and dried, the plate was ready to be bound. The glass holding the positive transparency was covered with a second, same-sized piece of glass and their edges taped together. Because of its unrivaled translucency, albumen was used into the twentieth century. It was eventually replaced by chemical processes that improved production and the stability of the image. Eventually, glass slides were manufactured by international firms including Kodak; Unger and Hoffman; Edwards, Ilford, and Thomas Co.; and Agfa.
Lantern slides provided home entertainment, and educational sets were produced for public lectures. Slide dealers and manufacturers offered sets of slides on various topics from travel to moral lessons. Manufacturers were commissioned to create sets, and photographers would create slides of their own images. Lantern slides became the dominant form of entertainment before cinema.
A clue on how lantern slides may have been used by circuses is revealed in the 1880 Cooper & Bailey, Great London poster, Positively the Best Show in the World. This poster, promoting The Great London Circus advertising crew, illustrates how they worked from the advance cars to place posters, date sheets, heralds, and couriers at the circus’s next location, known as its next stand. It also features a crowd of people running to see a lantern slide presentation that is being projected from the back of a moving wagon as part of the show’s advance operation. Whether used for education, entertainment, or ballyhoo, lantern slides brought the wonders of the world to audiences. These presentations were on the road to the film industry, and showmen paid attention.
LEFT
Strobridge Lithographing Company, (American, 1867–1960), Cooper & Bailey, Great London: Positively the Best Show in the World, 1880. Poster, 40 x 14.5 in. ½ sheet. Tibbals Circus Collection.
PARADE : A PERFORMANCE BY SHINIQUE SMITH
By Sarah Cartwright, PhD Chief Curator and Ulla R. Searing Curator of Collections
On November 22, Shinique Smith will present Parade, a site-specific performance created as part of her yearlong exhibition, Shinique Smith: PARADE. Directed and choreographed by Smith, the performers in Parade will process through four galleries of the Museum of Art, interacting with each other and with Smith’s sculptural works. Attendees will sit on the sides of the galleries, along the parade route, to experience a segment of the performance as it moves through the spaces. Once Parade has passed, attendees will move to the Museum of Art Courtyard to see the final portion of the performance at sunset.
For Smith, who sees the movement of the body as an essential element of her artistic practice, the concept of “parade” involves an exploration of the human body, both fictive and real, in constant motion between the past and present. In harmony with Smith’s exhibition—where her sculptures
interact with the human figures depicted in European art, and with visitors moving through the galleries—the spectacle of bodies in the Parade performance, moving with and relating to one another across time and space, presents another vivid layer of perspective on our shared humanity.
The exhibition Shinique Smith: PARADE is on view in the Museum of Art Galleries through January 5, 2025.
PARADE: A PERFORMANCE BY SHINIQUE SMITH FRI, NOV 22, 11:00 AM Purchase tickets on ringling.org
The exhibition catalogue for Shinique Smith: PARADE will be available in November at the Museum Store.
ENDURING LIGHT
Photographs by Roy DeCarava and Danny Lyon from the Sandor Family Collection
By Christopher Jones
Stanton B. and Nancy W. Kaplan Curator of Photography and Media Arts
As a curator at The Ringling, one of the experiences I most look forward to is working with our interns and fellows. I enjoy mentoring students and recent graduates on museum work and introducing them to the many exciting facets of being a curator at a major museum, and why I’m passionate about the history of photography. Collaborating with interns and fellows enriches me, and working with students new to the field helps curators approach our work with fresh eyes and innovative ideas. Because our interns and fellows come from diverse backgrounds and bring myriad perspectives and experiences to our institution, their contributions revitalize how we approach interpreting our collections.
Over the past year, I’ve worked with Natalia Benavides, our 2024 Coville Photography Curatorial Intern and a senior at New College of Florida, and Jevon Brown, our inaugural Eleanor Merritt Fellow who is a Rhode Island School of Design graduate, on the exhibition Enduring Light. As part of a generous gift of photographs to The Ringling from Richard and Ellen Sandor, we’ve received two significant portfolios: Twelve Photogravures by Roy DeCarava (American, 1919–2009) and Memories of the Southern Civil Rights Movement by Danny Lyon (American, born 1942). These bodies of work by two of America’s most consequential photographers offer distinct but complementary expressions of Black life and the struggle for civil rights in the US, and I felt it important to share them with our community through an exhibition.
Benavides and Brown were involved in nearly every aspect of the curatorial process, from strategizing how to sequence and arrange works in the gallery spaces to selecting which works to highlight for interpretation, to researching the artists and artworks and writing exhibition didactics. “When I arrived for my fellowship last August, the intricacies of museum curation were a complete mystery. This experience has revealed the critical role curators play in shaping museum content. They act as the voice behind exhibitions, a voice that guides visitors through the intended message,” says Brown. “Effective curatorship requires a blend of discipline, vision, and clear direction.” Benavides adds that she learned how fundamental storytelling is to curatorial work. “Curating is about telling a compelling story through the selection and arrangement of artworks, and being adaptable and ready to make changes to create this story as new research emerges or challenges arise is crucial,” she says. The “extent and depth of research required in curating can be surprising,” and “it’s not just about the art, but also about the historical, cultural, and social contexts” that must be well-researched, she adds.
Engagement with subject matter is one of the rewarding aspects of curatorial work, and Benavides enjoyed learning more about the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the civil rights activist group of the 1960s documented in Danny Lyon’s photographs. “Discovering more about the biographies of SNCC members and their grassroots approach to organizing was inspiring,” she says. Brown, an artist himself, adds that reaching Roy DeCarava unlocked a “fascination” with his “humanistic approach to photography.” Brown explained that “he was not just a photographer; he was a poetic weaver of visual stories.” Comparing Lyon and DeCarava, Brown was impressed that both left a legacy through their work, not only contributing to the fight for Black lives during the civil rights era, but also enriched American visual culture through their images.
Enduring Light: Photographs by Roy DeCarava and Danny Lyon from the Sandor Family Collection will be on view through February 9 in the Ulla R. and Arthur F. Searing Wing.
THE EVOLVING HOUSE MUSEUM
By Marissa Hershon Curator of Ca’ d’Zan and Decorative Arts
Original scholarship from my curatorial research on Ca’ d’Zan is featured in The Evolving House Museum: Art Collectors and Their Residences, Then and Now, the newest volume in Brill’s Studies in the History of Collecting & Art Markets series. This peer-reviewed publication explores twelve house museums established around the world and created over a period of more than two centuries. As one of the contributing authors, I address questions related to the collector’s motivations for founding a house museum as well as changes in the interpretation and presentation of Ca’ d’Zan, its historic interiors, and collection over time. In chapter 7, “The Ringling’s Ca’ d’Zan: Its Evolution from Winter Residence to Historic House Museum,” I present new insights gained from years of curatorial inquiry and analysis.
Looking at visual and written documentation held in the Archives of The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, as well as period sources located in public repositories, I explore the mansion’s history spanning from its construction (1924–1926) to the 1940s and 1950s when the house museum first opened to the public. I investigate the role of the museum’s first Director, A. Everett “Chick” Austin, Jr., in making Ca’ d’Zan a major attraction in Florida. While Austin’s leadership and influence in shaping the museum are well known, fresh insights about his motives for redecorating interiors and making curatorial interventions in the Breakfast Room will be new to readers. Tellingly, Austin’s frank remarks recorded in board meeting minutes reveal his own taste in selecting new
acquisitions and revamping deteriorated rooms. Additionally, newly rediscovered period images held in The Ringling Archives are published for the first time, like the Gavet-VanderbiltRingling Collection on view in a former guest bedroom. While these research findings provide an important reappraisal of Ca’ d’Zan from the mid-1920s to 1950s, ongoing research will continue to reveal more about the mansion’s cultural and architectural importance.
The Evolving House Museum: Art Collectors and Their Residences, Then and Now
Studies in the History of Collecting & Art Markets, Vol. 20
Edited by Margaret Iacono Wertz and Esmée Quodbach
Above, top to bottom: Earl Purdy (American, 1892–1971), Presentation Drawing of the West Elevation of Ca' d'Zan (detail), 1924. Watercolor and ink on paper, Museum purchase, 2010. SN11194 Gavet-Vanderbilt-Ringling Collection on view in a former guest bedroom at Ca’ d’Zan. Photographic Collection, The Archives of The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art.
CATCH OF THE DAY Flying Fish from Modern Japan
By Rhiannon Paget, PhD Curator of Asian Art
Reaching speeds of thirty-five miles per hour and able to propel itself meters over the water, the flying fish seems to defy the laws of nature. Seen only occasionally in Japanese visual culture of earlier eras, images of flying fish began to proliferate in decorative arts during the 1930s and 40s, where they suggested agility, power, and new possibilities. This fall, a group of modernist lacquerware, glass, and metalwork objects, textiles, and works on paper and silk that feature this motif will enchant visitors to the Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Center for Asian Art.
Highlights include a two-panel folding screen by Kotaki Yoshiharu (1904–1987) comprising a pair of iron panels decorated with flying fish leaping gallantly over waves. Their silvery bodies and angular “wings” bring to mind aircraft or torpedoes. Given their lightning-quick speed, and that the first photographs of a flying fish in motion were not published until 1941, Yoshiharu would have had to rely on dead specimens, preexisting illustrations, and/or his own imagination to create this design. Nonetheless, their
wide eyes, delicately graduated bodies, and the fine webs of veining on their fins make the fish startlingly lifelike against the minimalist treatment of the water surface.
Also on view is a handsome stationery box by Hashimoto Sakai, a splendid example of Japanese Art Deco lacquerware. Two flying fish dart across the lid—apparently having leapt out of the banded wave pattern that wraps around the outer walls of the box. The fish’s sharp teeth, spiny fins, and rigid bodies, glittering with mother-of-pearl, give them a predatory edge.
The appeal of flying fish among artists and their audiences in the 1930s and 40s is multifaceted. This period saw rapid advances in technology and infrastructure, the rise of commercial and military aviation, and the escalation of Japan’s imperial encroachment in East Asia and the Pacific. Ordinary people—civilians and military personnel alike— experienced the wonder of flight for the first time and were proud of their country’s dominion over sea and sky. Kuroshio Current (1932), a monumental and lavishly decorative composition of life-sized flying fish leaping through azurite waves by the celebrated painter and ardent nationalist Kawabata Ryūshi (1885–1966) may have launched this heroic creature into the public imagination. A decade later, Ryūshi produced a design of ferocious-looking flying fish for a biography of Yamada Isoroku (1884–1943), the commander in chief of the Combined Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy, thus associating the winged piscine with military themes. The motif was also deployed in the West—
travelers passing through LaGuardia Airport may have noticed the Marine Air Terminal’s (completed in 1940) frieze of yellow flying fish, symbolizing the Pan American Clippers.
Catch of the Day: Flying Fish from Modern Japan will be on view November 23, 2024, to April 6, 2025, in the Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Foundation Gallery.
TOP OF SPREAD
Yoshiharu (Japanese, 1904–1987) Screen with Flying Fish and Waves, ca.1932–early 1940s. Iron, silver, gold, shakudō alloy of gold and copper, persimmon wood, 14 3/8 × 5/8 × 67 in. Private Collection.
OPPOSITE PAGE
Isozaki Yoshitsugu (Bia) (Japanese, 1884–1949), Vase with Flying Fish Design (detail), ca. 1930s. Silver with gilding, 12 × 8 2/5 in. Private Collection.
THIS PAGE
Hashimoto Sakai (Japanese, dates unknown), Stationery Box with Waves and Flying Fish, 1935. Lacquered wood and mother-of-pearl, 8 × 13 2/3 × 10 ¼ in. Private Collection.
Kotaki
PERFORMANCE ALMANAC
By Elizabeth Doud, PhD
Currie-Kohlman Curator of Performance
The Art of Performance annually energizes The Ringling’s special events, exceptional exhibitions, and educational offerings with distinguished and culturally relevant live arts programming. Our 2024/25 Season is ripe with an adventurous range of shows to suit varied tastes and social calendars. While celebrating and deepening collaborations with local partners and artists such as UnidosNow, the Asolo Repertory Theatre, the Hermitage Artist Retreat, and Manasota artists, we continue to reach beyond our shores to feature global trends from diverse national and international performing artists.
NocheUnidos
With three keystone events, our fall forecast won’t disappoint. NocheUnidos on October 18 in the Museum of Art Courtyard will be a funky and resplendent cultural meteor shower with a spirit of unity under the stars. Dress in white at this elegant party and co-presentation with UnidosNow celebrating Gulf Coast and Caribbean traditions during Hispanic Heritage Month. From November 13 to 18, the Historic Asolo Theater (HAT) Team launches an eco-takeover of the estate with the SunHAT Eco-Perfomance Fest, five days of indoor and outdoor shows, talks, walks, and dinners that elevate and activate artists working at the intersection of climate, ecology, and environmental justice. In December, the Asolo Rep comes home to the HAT for Christmas with a limited run of All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914. This prize-winning work written and directed by Peter Rothstein, Asolo Rep’s Producing Artistic Director, graces our stage with an expertly wrought story of reconciliation and common humanity.
January germinates promise with MicroWIP, a works-inprogress program. See bold new performances from Sarasota and Manatee Counties in this enlivened evening, back by popular demand. Spring blossoms from February through April with a World Jazz Series including Amir ElSaffar’s Two Rivers Ensemble; the Alain Pérez Quintet; and Brinae Ali and the Baltimore Jazz Collective’s Baby Laurence Legacy Project Rennie Harris’s highly anticipated new work Losing My Religion will come to fruition through the Greenfield Prize commission in an electric Sarasota premiere. Brazil’s Lívia Mattos Trio, with the unique circus stylings of their accordion-wielding frontwoman, will musically commemorate World Circus Day. May these refreshing artistic alternatives give you relief and insight during the hottest season on record.
TOP OF PAGE, LEFT TO RIGHT
SunHAT Eco-Performance Fest performers: Dance Heginbotham, DJ Cavem, Gelsey Bell, Mondo Bizarro, Compagnie Zolobe.
ABOVE, LEFT TO RIGHT
NocheUnidos performers: 79ers Gang, Bomba Yemayá.
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Two Rivers Ensemble featuring Amir ElSaffar, Lívia Mattos Trio, Alain Pérez, Rennie Harris PureMovement, Brinae Ali and the Baltimore Jazz Collective.
All photos courtesy of the artists.
2024/25
ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE
LAMICHAEL LEONARD
Annually, the HAT hosts artistsin-residence from a range of disciplines who research and develop new performance work in the Charlotte and Charles Perret Family Performance Studio. This season’s featured resident artist is Choreographer and Dancer LaMichael Leonard Jr., an internationally recognized dance artist and Booker High alum. He returns to Sarasota from The Lido Cabaret in Paris, France, after a nine-year tenure with the Bill T. Jones / Arnie Zane Dance Company and a soloist career with The Martha Graham Dance Company in New York City. During his time with the HAT, LaMichael will develop new work and teach dance technique classes, continuing his commitment to impacting the community with art.
In August, our inaugural Eleanor Merritt Fellow, Jevon Brown, passed the torch to Dominique Goden to carry on Eleanor Merritt’s legacy as an arts leader and community advocate. In the conversation below, Dr. Jay Boda, Associate Director of Academics, Innovation, and Research, welcomes Dominique and bids farewell to Jevon.
JAY Dominique, welcome back. Our members might remember you from our May – September 2023 issue of The Ringling Magazine when we highlighted you as one of our outstanding Florida State University graduate students completing your master’s degree in residence at The Ringling. What have you been up to since you graduated with a degree in Museum and Cultural Heritage Studies?
DOMINIQUE Thank you, I’m thrilled to return to The Ringling. Last year, I completed a summer internship at the Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library for its Introduction to Practical Conservation program, created in collaboration with the Alliance of HBCU Museums and Galleries [Historically Black Colleges and Universities]. I gained valuable insights into textile conservation by helping prepare the Ann Lowe: American Couturier exhibition. I later joined ReDefiners World Languages as an Academic Literacy Tutor through AmeriCorps and Volunteer Florida.
JAY Jevon, how did your experience support your postfellowship career goals and vision?
JEVON Overall, I honed my communication skills in arts administration, gaining fluency in the art world language and I am applying this knowledge to my work as a professional artist and cultural producer.
JAY Dominique, why did you want to be a Merritt Fellow and what are some of your goals while at The Ringling?
DOMINIQUE This is a unique opportunity to delve into my passion for textiles and community engagement. The fellowship aligns with my goals to explore untold narratives such as the African American community’s historical
THE ELEANOR MERRITT FELLOWSHIP
A Continuing Legacy
connection to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. I aim to support Ringling Strategic Plan initiatives that broaden, deepen, and enrich our community partnerships.
JAY Jevon, please share the most rewarding part of your fellowship experience, and your post-fellowship plans.
JEVON Collaborating with the Sarasota African American Cultural Coalition for my Juneteenth program talk stands out as a particularly proud moment. It was a labor of love for the Sarasota community, especially those who appreciate the city’s rich cultural history and the artistic influences of its people. It created a space for important conversations across generations. As for what’s next for me, I am actively seizing opportunities in the art world and building my public profile in the media. I’m excited for collaborations that are on the horizon. While I will continue working in arts administration for a bit, I am also laying the groundwork for my next body of work.
JAY Dominique, can you share some of your career vision?
DOMINIQUE The fellowship will help prepare me for future graduate studies and an eventual career in textile conservation. I also aim to become a member of the American Institute for Conservation [AIC] by the time I finish my Ringling fellowship.
JAY Jevon, do you have any advice for Dominique?
JEVON Follow your passion at The Ringling. Build relationships within The Ringling community and the greater Sarasota area because it will create unexpected synergy and fuel your success in remarkable ways. Good luck!
Scan this QR code or visit ringling.org/fellowships to learn more about fellowships at The Ringling.
EDUCATION SUMMER ROUNDUP
This summer, the Education Team brought back favorite programs such as Open Studio, ROAR!, Stroller Tours, and Family Art Making and introduced some popular new programming. MakerSpace Monday invited visitors of all ages to make art as part of the free Mondays. Family Nights @ Art After 5 offered families free admission and unique activities on Thursday evenings such as family yoga classes held among Peter Paul Rubens’s Triumph of the Eucharist series in Galleries 1 and 2. Overall, our summer programming served over 6,000 grateful visitors who spent the season immersed in art.
The Ringling also partnered with Girls Inc., a local nonprofit focused on girls aged five to twenty-four, offering our first multipart program for teens, Mindfulness in the Museum. Fourteen girls and their Girls Inc. leaders spent Thursday mornings in June exploring the ways art, museum spaces, and the outdoors support being present, self-aware, and creative. With the help of several expert facilitators, the teens practiced yoga in the Circus Museum and breathwork in Joseph’s Coat: A Skyspace by James Turrell, experienced a sound bath in the Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Center for Asian Art, and explored movement as a form of self-expression.
The girls also exercised their creativity with art making and visual journaling. “The program was truly amazing and transformative for these girls,” shared Claudia Lagnese, the Manager of STEM and Career Readiness at Girls Inc.
“I watched them get outside of their comfort zones in a way that is not possible in our classrooms.” One participant shared that she loved “all the things [she] made and learned about how to be more mindful.” Thanks to the generosity of the Gulf Coast Community Foundation, each participant left with a yoga mat and a bag filled with art supplies to continue her mindfulness practice beyond the program.
“Implementing new programs takes the support of many staff members,” said Youth and Family Program Coordinator Ames Morton-Winter. “Collections assesses the safety of holding new programs in venues, Events helps coordinate program needs, Security arranges to keep venues open, Marketing helps to design guides and handouts for families, and our fantastic volunteers bring the programs to life. Thinking of new ideas is exciting, but it’s more complicated to implement them. I’m so grateful we have a supportive staff who prioritizes creative, free programming for the families in our community.”
RECENTLY PUBLISHED
Ames Morton-Winter, Coordinator for Youth and Family Programs, released her first book in the museum field, Purposeful Museum Programming Using Visitor Response Pedagogies (Rowman & Littlefield, 2024). The book aims to serve as a resource for museums of all sizes and genres, offering practical, accessible, and inclusive programming ideas that prioritize visitors’ responses to pieces. Morton-Winter asserts that museum programs grounded in effective theories of learning and emotional response are the most impactful in building community, honoring diverse perspectives, and creating a memorable visitor experience. The book includes an A-Z Toolkit of programming ideas and highlights response-based programs occurring at museums worldwide. “I hope the book will serve as a resource for all types of museums and museum professionals that want to expand their programming and offer alternative experiences with works of art beyond a traditional didactic tour,” shares Morton-Winter.
The Ringling and UnidosNow present
Noche Uni dos
Noche Unidos
Season Kickoff Party
Featuring Bomba Yemayá + 79rs Gang
OCT 18
7:00 PM VIP ADMISSION
7:30 PM
Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month in the magical Museum of Art Courtyard at NocheUnidos!
We will honor the rich and dynamic cultures that have influenced our Gulf Coast community with dancing, music, fellowship, and food.
Dress in white as we come together to usher in the season with elegancia.
TICKETS | ringling.org
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
Holiday Splendor will be held on December 5, 12, and 19 from 5:00 – 8:00 PM. This festive, annual event is the perfect way to celebrate the holidays!
Bask in the glow of holiday decorations and festive tunes as you explore Ca’ d’Zan and enjoy performances by local K–12 schools and other musicians, performers, and vendors throughout the estate.
The price of admission is one unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots ®
ACQUISITION HIGHLIGHT ROCK POPPY FALCON
by Karen Willenbrink-Johnsen
By Marissa Hershon Curator of Ca’ d’Zan and Decorative Arts
Based in Washington State, Karen Willenbrink-Johnsen is considered a living legend in the world of contemporary studio glass for her skillful glassblowing and hotsculpting, and for generously teaching others the techniques she has mastered. Most recently, she was a formidable contestant on the glassblowing competition reality television show, Blown Away, where she wowed audiences with her nature-inspired creations as well as her zest for life. Invigorated by her lifelong passion for birdwatching and gardening, Willenbrink-Johnsen creates sculptures, often depicting birds and flowers, that pay homage to an array of wildlife and plants.
Reflecting on over forty years of sculpting glass, the artist shared that she is “a student of nature” who considers it “an honor and great responsibility to reflect the natural world in [her] art.” With Rock Poppy Falcon, she captured the majesty of a bird of prey in a tranquil moment with a hood covering its eyes. In falconry, the hood has a calming effect, so the bird won’t be startled by light, sound, or movement during training and while perched on the trainer’s gloved arm prior to hunting. The artist is renowned for her skill as a colorist. Here, she created the falconer’s glove, bird’s plumage, and flower’s petals, using a range of glass powders while hot sculpting the elements to emulate patterns and textures found in nature. The multiple parts are carefully placed in a garage, where the heated temperature is precisely controlled, before being joined together by hot assembly.
Rock Poppy Falcon is one of several eye-catching works of studio glass that Edris Weis has generously given to The Ringling, in addition to donating funds in support of important museum purchases to expand the permanent collection.
Karen Willenbrink-Johnsen (American, born 1960), Rock Poppy Falcon, c. 2005. Gift of Edris Weis, 2024.
THE ANSWERS TO THIS CROSSWORD PUZZLE CAN BE FOUND THROUGHOUT THE ARTICLES IN THIS MAGAZINE!
Across
1. Lantern slide presentations were the dominant form of entertainment before
5. One of the two photographers featured in the exhibition that offers distinct but complementary expressions of Black life and the struggle for civil rights in the US.
6. The Ringling partnered with this local nonprofit to explore the ways art, museum spaces, and the outdoors support being present, self-aware, and creative.
7. This artist was a recent contestant on a reality television show.
8. New research on and insights into will be featured in a new publication.
Down
2. The Revolution brought many innovations to the manufacturing of materials that simplified the photographic process.
3. This elegant party will celebrate Gulf Coast and Caribbean traditions and Hispanic Heritage Month.
4. This Ringling Director played a major role in making Ca’ d’Zan a major attraction in Florida.
5. Images of flying fish began to proliferate in decorative arts during the 1930s and 40s, where they suggested agility, power, and new possibilities.
Hashimoto Sakai (Japanese, dates unknown), Stationery Box with Waves and Flying Fish (detail), 1935.
Lacquered wood and mother-of-pearl,
× 13 2/3 × 10
in. Private Collection.
@venga_bus
SAVE THE DATE FOR MUSEUM STORE SUNDAY!
Shop at The Ringling Museum Store on December 1 and SAVE 20% on scarves, tote bags, and umbrellas. (Members save 25%)
2,100 museum stores around the globe participate in Museum Store Sunday, offering a special shopping experience showcasing broad assortments of highly curated, unique, mission-related gifts.
TRUNK SHOW
DEC 14 + 16 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
PIRHAH JEWELRY
Local artist Alexis Stone’s jewelry breaks traditions and redefines what we consider classic.
The Ringling MUSEUM STORE
DECEMBER 6 –8
Open Daily
10:00 AM – 5:30 PM Thursdays until 8:00 PM Located in the McKay Visitors Pavilion
