Industrial Counterpoint

Thousands of people travel to Southeast Alaska every year to experience the grandeur and wildness of its natural wonders. But getting to those wild places is itself a business of industrial scale — an industrial counterpoint to the experience of nature that is the goal of so much travel. There is tension between the experience of nature and the means to achieve it. It…

Things Seen Along the Bayfront

A recent proposal to bring a second war-themed statue to Sarasota’s Bayfront stimulated heated discussion about public art and the types of sculptures that are desirable and appropriate there. But throughout the discussion no one mentioned one of the biggest sculptures of them all — the tall blue glass monument to finance and commerce located just across the street. Whether or not you believe…

Sometimes the Light Is Everything

I’ll admit it, the doorway to the old Sarasota High School doesn’t always look like this. But maybe it did just for moment as the afternoon light glanced off the stones — even though the doors are locked, the students elsewhere and the old building sits empty awaiting its destiny. That flash of light invites the question of how it looked to the generations…

Bob's Train restaurant, Sarasota

The Historic Sarasota High School

The Ringling College of Art and Design is raising money for its planned Sarasota Museum of Art, an adaptive reuse of the historic Sarasota High School. As part of the fundraising, sculptor Patrick Dougherty was invited to construct one of his stick sculptures on the front lawn in full view of the busiest road in town. The sculpture is magnificent, but in these two…

Bob’s Boathouse

Along Tamiami Trail on Florida’s Gulf Coast there is a deep parking lot with old derelict boats scattered around between the parking spaces. Some are on stumps, others stuck in the ground pointing skyward. Perhaps they have been put there as decoration, or perhaps to help you find your car after a long day (or night). The sign out front says “Bob’s Boathouse,” and…

Sometimes the Little Things

People often do not have any larger message in mind when they do some of the “little things” we see each day — just as nature is not trying to make a point as the sun sets over the ocean. Yet most of us claim a right to attach meaning to the setting sun. So should it be different for the simple actions by…

An Obama Event

Regardless of one’s political persuasion, there is something to be said for experiencing a major campaign event. This one last June in Tampa was held in a community college gymnasium with a standing-room-only crowd. It seemed there were more people waiting in line than the place could ever hold. The press of humanity, the excitement and energy in the room, the warm up acts,…

Ballerina on the Wall

The City of Sarasota commissioned artists to paint murals on the walls in each elevator lobby in the new Palm Avenue Garage. “Ballerina on the Wall” is my impression of a small part of “Dance” by Brazilian artist Eduardo Kobra. The ballerina was waiting demurely in the stairwell, a surprise and contrast to the mottled concrete walls. There are many more pictures of the…

Illumination

There are many ways of seeing, sometimes with just the eyes, sometimes with the mind, and sometimes even more deeply. And what we see with our eyes may be different from what we see with our mind or our heart. As with life, art is about finding meaning among the fleeting visions.