Arts & Culture
A Convention of Muses
Performing arts, museums and festivals flow throughout Southwest Florida like the innate talent of a virtuoso. Theatre-goers flock to the Manatee Performing Arts Center in Bradenton and the Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, while the Village of the Arts in Bradenton and the Hermitage Artist Retreat in Englewood invite new artists and merchants to set up shop.
Check out the Sarasota Chalk Festival or the many productions at the State College of Florida that are open to the public. The show must go on, and Sarasota-Manatee FL is one of the best places to watch it.
Working in the Arts
- Theater and Performance
- Festivals & Art Shows
- Museums
Where the Arts Come to Life
The performing arts in Sarasota and Manatee County create a vibrant community on the Suncoast. From one of the first professional ballet companies on Florida’s West Coast to one of the largest community theatres in the U.S., assets throughout the region led American Style Magazine to rank Sarasota as the No. 1 Small City for Art in 2012. The Bradenton area in Manatee County is also home to a State College of Florida campus, which hosts a combined total of more than 10 performances every year with the Neel Performing Arts Center and Studio 84.
A Global Affair
People flock from around the world to the Suncoast for a tapestry of events like the Downtown Venice Art Festival, which has been held annually in November for over 30 years, or the International Chalk Festival in Sarasota, where family-friendly activities and arts & crafts vendors fill the city’s downtown streets to enjoy chalk artists from across the globe. The Ringling International Arts Festival has also attracted thousands of visitors to Sarasota for musical, theatrical, and dance performances by renowned artists, while, in Bradenton, the award-winning Blues Festival has heralded the performances of world-class musicians like Chris Cain and Samantha Fish.
Uncover Rich Treasures
Close to 500 years ago, Conquistador Hernando de Soto traversed the Manatee River in search of gold. Today, the counties of Sarasota and Manatee offer countless treasures, with Bradenton’s Riverwalk linking residents to The Bishop Museum of Science and Nature — the largest natural and cultural history museum on Florida’s West Coast. Just to the south, the Sarasota Art Museum’s 15,000-square feet of exhibition space offers an endless rotation of contemporary art while the Ringling Museum of Art and Ca’d’Zan, John Ringling’s 41-room mansion, offers a trove of art from around the world.
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