Baryshnikov Arts Center in Association with The Ringling Museum of Art Announce the Inaugural Ringling International Arts Festival

New York, NY, October 5, 2008 – New York’s Baryshnikov Arts Center and The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida, are pleased to announce the launch of the Ringling International Arts Festival – a new biennial performing and visual arts festival to take place one year from now at the Ringling Museum of Art on the Florida State University cultural campus in Sarasota, FL, October 7-11, 2009. 

The multidisciplinary festival will kick-off the Florida Gulf Coast 2009-10 cultural season with special art exhibitions and over 30 performances in dance, music, and theater over a five-day period.  With artistic direction provided by the Baryshnikov Arts Center and event management by the Ringling, the innovative partnership will present the event throughout the sprawling, 66-acre waterfront cultural campus on Sarasota Bay.  The campus, with over 300,000 square feet of museum exhibition space and three fully-equipped theaters, is the legacy of the legendary “Circus King,” John Ringling.  In the later years of his life, Ringling dedicated his great resources and talents in a quest to bring the fine arts to people in all walks of life. The new festival is appropriately named to honor his generous bequest of the Ringling estate to the State of Florida.     

The festival opens on October 7 with a gala evening featuring the Festival Orchestra led by renowned Atlanta Symphony music director, Robert Spano and featuring New York-based pianist Pedja Muzijevic, in a program of Liszt and Beethoven.  Other performances, including world premieres of newly-commissioned works, will be staged in the Ringling’s 275-seat Historic Asolo Theater as well as in the 500-seat Mertz Theatre and 161-seat Cook Theatre, both in the adjacent Florida State University Center for the Performing Arts.  Exhibitions will be mounted in the recently-expanded Ringling Museum of Art, where the multi-tiered, Italianate courtyard will also serve as 1,000-seat amphitheater for outdoor events. 

 Throughout the galleries and gardens of the Ringling estate, festival goers will also discover an array of street theater, lunchtime concerts, lectures, films, workshops, and artist discussions presented by Florida State University, parent organization for the Ringling Museum.  Artisans and food vendors will also be featured, including the Festival Café where artists and audience may gather to dine and discuss each day’s events.

 The complete performance schedule and festival hotel packages will be available mid-January 2009.  For more information about the Baryshnikov Arts Center, please visit: www.bacnyc.org.  For more information about the Ringling Museum of Art, please visit: www.ringling.org. 

The Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) was established in 2005 to house the core activities of the Baryshnikov Dance Foundation, incorporated in 1979 by Mikhail Baryshnikov. BAC serves as a creative laboratory, meeting place, and performance space for a vibrant community of artists from around the world. BAC is also dedicated to building audiences for the arts by presenting contemporary, innovative work at low or no cost to ticket buyers. Since the Center’s opening in November 2005, BAC has worked with artists across disciplines through fellowship and residency programs; commissioned new dances; established and toured a dance company (Hell’s
Kitchen Dance); produced the Movado Hour series of free chamber music concerts, international arts festivals, and performances by theater and dance artists from around the world; exhibited visual art; and offered numerous free workshops to practicing professional artists.  To date, BAC
programs have served more than 400 artists, and many thousands of audience members have visited the Center. BAC presently owns a total of 14,000 square feet of space, including column free studios, a studio theater, and office space. BAC’s next phase of growth will be the acquisition of a 300-seat theater in the 37 ARTS building, which will enable BAC to expand artistic and public programs while serving as a cultural catalyst for the burgeoning neighborhood of Hell’s Kitchen in New York City.

 The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Florida State University, is one of the largest museum/university campuses in the nation.  It preserves the legacy of John and Mable Ringling by educating and enabling a large and diverse audience to experience and take delight in a world-renowned collection of fine art; Cà d’Zan, the Ringling historic mansion; the Circus Museums; the Historic Asolo Theater; as well as the historic architecture, courtyard, gardens and grounds overlooking Sarasota Bay on Florida’s gulf coast.

General Admission includes the Ringling Museum of Art, special exhibitions, Ca' d’Zan Mansion, Circus Museum, and Mable’s historic Rose Garden, all on 66 acres of lushly landscaped grounds. Adults are $25; senior citizens (65 and over) are $20; children ages 6-17 are $5.  Free Admission for children 5 and under accompanied by an adult, museum members.  Advance tickets are available by calling 941.358.3180. Visit Ringling.org for more information.

The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Florida State University, is one of the largest museum/university complexes in the nation.  It preserves the legacy of John and Mable Ringling, educating and enabling a large and diverse audience to experience and take delight in a world-renowned collection of fine art; Ca' d’Zan, the Ringling historic mansion; the Circus Museums; the Original Asolo Theater; and historic architecture, courtyard, gardens and grounds overlooking Sarasota Bay.
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