Become a Circle Member and join us!
Circle Members enjoy unique, special opportunities that allow our members to explore the collections and to engage with the expertise of visiting artists, curators and staff. If you are interested in attending these events and becoming a circle member, please contact Sharon at 941-359-5821 or sharon.freddes@ringling.fsu.edu
Schedule of Events
Circle Behind the Scenes with Curator Christopher Jones
Tuesday, Dec 3 @ 5:30-7:30 PM
Meet The Ringling's Curator of Photography and New Media Arts, Christopher Jones, and enjoy a gallery tour and discussion of the special exhibition Manuel Álvarez Bravo: Specters and Parables. A reception will follow on the North Searing loggia.
Born and raised in Mexico City, where he spent most of his career, Manuel Álvarez Bravo (Mexican, 1902-2002) was one of the most important figures in 20th century Latin American photography. Although he took art classes at the Academy of San Carlos, his photography was mostly self-taught, but he was savvy to the emerging international artistic avant-garde. Considered to be one of the founders of modern photography, his work extends from the late 1920’s to the 1990’s. He was a key figure from the period following the Mexican Revolution—often called the Mexican Renaissance—in which arts and literature flourished. This “Renaissance” owed to the happy—though not always tranquil—marriage between a desire for modernization and the search for an authentic national identity with Mexican roots, in which archaeology, history and ethnology played an important role.
This event is by invitation only. RSVP requested by November 26, 941-359-5700 X 5802 or sharon.freddes@ringling.fsu.edu
Circle Member Exhibition Preview and Dinner with Curator Ola Wlusek
Wednesday, Dec 11 @ 5:30-9:00 PM
Join us to preview the exhibition Syd Solomon: Concealed and Revealed and meet Ola Wlusek, Keith D. and Linda L. Monda Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art.
Syd Solomon (American, 1917-2004) described himself as an “Abstract Impressionist” alluding to the fact that his work infused impressionism into the processes, scale and concepts of Abstract Expressionism. Solomon moved to Sarasota in 1946 with his wife Annie. His was the first work of contemporary art to be collected by The Ringling in 1962. His paintings were greatly influenced by climatic factors and reveal a fascination and concern for Florida’s aquatic environment. The exhibition will feature works from The Ringling’s permanent collection, as well as works on loan from the Estate of Syd Solomon and private collections.
This event is by invitation only. $85.00 per person. RSVP requested by December 4, 941-358-3180
Circle Behind the Scenes
Ai Weiwei: Zodiac (2018) LEGO
Thursday, Jan 9 @ 5:00-7:00 PM
Join Steven High, Executive Director & Dr. Rhiannon Paget, Curator of Asian Art, for a Behind the Scenes tour of
the new Ai Weiwei exhibition in the Keith D. and Linda L. Monda Gallery for Contemporary Art. A reception will follow on the Museum of Art south loggia.
Acclaimed Chinese artist Ai Weiwei returns to The Ringling with his new Zodiac (2018) LEGO series. The 12 large works in the series are made entirely of LEGO pieces and demonstrate the artist’s continued focus on the zodiac animal concept. This latest body of work builds on the success of his internationally acclaimed Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads: Bronze and Gold
(2010) sculpture series, which The Ringling hosted in 2017–2018. The Ringling is the first museum in the United States to host this new exhibition.
This event is by invitation only. RSVP requested by January 2, sharon.freddes@ringling.fsu.edu or 941-359-5700 x 5802
Circle Behind the Scenes
Reinstallation of Gallery 21
Part 1: Conversation
Tuesday, Feb 4 @ 10:30 AM-12:00 PM
Chao Lecture Hall
Circle Members are invited to participate in the Conversation program with Barbara Ramsay, Chief Conservator, and Dr. Sarah Cartwright, Ulla R. Searing Curator of Collections, about The Ringling’s efforts to conserve the grand painting Emperor Justinian by Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant and the reinstallation of Gallery 21.
This event is by invitation only. RSVP information will be available at a later date.Your RSVP will inlcude admission to the Conversation.
Circle Behind the Scenes
Reinstallation of Gallery 21
Part 2: Gallery Preview and Reception
Friday, Feb 7 @ 5:30-7:30 PM
Circle members are invited to join Dr. Sarah Cartwright and Barbara Ramsay for a reception and tour of Gallery 21. View the recently conserved and resplendent Emperor Justinian by Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant, and hear about the work that went into this gallery reinstallation.
This event is by invitation only. RSVP information will be available at a later date.
Circle Recognition Cocktail Reception
Community Drum Circle led by Inez Barlatier
Thursday, Feb 20 @ 5:00-7:00 PM
In recognition of your continued support of The Ringling and our programs, we invite you to join us for a cocktail reception and celebration on Ca’ d’Zan terrace. Beginning just before sunset (6:00 PM) join multifaceted Miami artist Inez Barlatier on the Bolger Campiello for a lively and rhythmic celebration of the full moon. Bring your own hand drums, dance, or just watch and enjoy!
Inez Barlatier, the Art of Performance’s 19-20 Spotlight Florida! artist, will be performing Moun-Moon in the Historic Asolo Theater on Feb 21st and 22nd.
This reception is by invitation only. RSVP information will be available at a later date. Your ticket to the Drum Circle will be included with your RSVP.
Circle Member Exhibition Preview and Dinner with Christopher Jones
Being Seen: Recent Acquisitions from The Ringling’s Photography Collection
Wednesday, Apr 15 @ 5:30-9:00 PM
Please join us for an exhibition preview and dinner with Christopher Jones, Curator of Photography and New Media Arts.
Curated from The Ringling’s photography collection, this exhibition features works by photographers who examine the complexities of identity. Consisting primarily of self-portraits and portraits of empowered subjects, these works explore personal agency at the intersection of politics and the representation of the female body. Each photograph presents a unique invitation to renew the dialogue on the authority of the gaze in twentieth-first century.
This exhibition is part of Art of Our Time and is supported, in part, by Gulf Coast Community Foundation and sponsored by the Herald-Tribune Media Group.
This event is by invitation only. RSVP information will be available at a later date.
Coffee and Conversation
Thursday, Apr 28 @ 9:00-10:30 AM
Join Executive Director, Steven High, for an update on what we have accomplished as we approach the end of the season and look towards the next fiscal year. Coffee and breakfast fare will be served.
This event is by invitation only. RSVP information will be available at a later date.
Circle Member Exhibition Preview and Dinner
Skyway 2020: A Contemporary Collaboration
Wednesday, Jun 17 @ 5:30-9:00 PM
Please join us for an exhibition preview and dinner with Ringling Curators, Christopher Jones, Curator of Photography and Media Arts, and Ola Wlusek, Keith D. Monda Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art.
Skyway 2020: A Contemporary Collaboration is a celebration of artistic practices in the Tampa Bay region, as it is a collaboration between four institutions: the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg; The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota; the Tampa Museum of Art; and the University of South Florida Contemporary Art Museum, Tampa. Working together, curators from each institution offer context for the diversity of art being made in Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, and Sarasota counties.
This exhibition is part of Art of Our Time and is supported, in part, by Gulf Coast Community Foundation and sponsored by the Herald-Tribune Media Group.
This event is by invitation only. RSVP information will be available at a later date.
If you are not a Circle member and are interested in attending these events please contact Sharon at 941-359-5821 or sharon.freddes@ringling.fsu.edu for more information.