2023 Principals’ Luncheon

Join us as we honor Sarasota County Principals and their work in arts education. With Keynote Speaker, Presented by the Van Wezel Foundation Adrian Anantawan, Violinist, Educator and Disability Advocate ...

Open House & Auditions at Booker High School

The Booker High School Visual & Performing Arts  Program will host an Open House for prospective students and their families from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday November 12, ...

Dreaming in Premodern China

“Dreaming in Premodern China” This lecture will provide an accessible overview of how Chinese people in ancient and medieval times thought about and responded to dreams. with Prof Rob Campany ...

Scholarship for Performing Arts Online Courses

If any of you are just looking for online education, then you have a great opportunity to get an ArtUniverse Scholarship to study on 3-Month Distance Learning Courses at NIPAI ...

School Board Candidate Forum

Join us on Tuesday, August 9th from 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM at Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe (1012 N Orange Ave, Sarasota) REGISTER HERE! You MUST register to attend the ...

Suncoast Remake Learning Days

The Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading (SCGLR) is bringing Remake Learning Days to the Suncoast of Florida, Charlotte, DeSoto, Manatee, and Sarasota counties in the spring of 2022, and we want ...

What You Can Do to Help the Referendum

Vote YES on March 8th or in Early Voting Saturday February 26th through  Sunday March 6th 8:30am -4:30 daily (Deadline to request a vote-by-mail ballot February 26th.)  Make a donation to support ...

SCAEP Summer 2021 Offerings

Learn more about SCAEP ALSO Youth, IncContact: Donna Hanley, donna@alsoyouth.org, 941-951-2576Program Title: LGBTQ+ youth support servicesDates: Various days/timesAge Levels: Age 13 to 24Description: Drop-in or Zoom support and socialization for ...

Thank You, Arts Teachers!

Survey of School Board Candidates

The Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County, representing over 100 organizations, is a strong advocate for quality education for all students, including the essential role of arts education. We ...

Summer Camps

Asolo Repertory TheatreVirtualLearn MoreThe Bishop Museum of Science and NatureOn LocationLearn MoreFlorida Studio TheatreVirtual and On LocationLearn MoreNorth Port Art CenterOn LocationLearn MoreThe Players Centre for Performing ArtsVirtualLearn MoreSarasota BalletVirtualLearn ...

Virtual Inspire Sarasota

Our Inspire Sarasota Family Festival was scheduled for this Saturday to celebrate our local youths’ artistic accomplishments. Those accomplishments still deserve to be celebrated – virtually! Rise Above Show ChoirRise ...

Volunteer for Inspire Sarasota

The 2020 Inspire Sarasota Family Festival has been cancelled due to COVID-19. The Inspire Sarasota Family Festival showcases the incredible work that our local youth have accomplished in the arts. ...

Thank You, Principals!

Wednesday, November 13 was not your typical luncheon! The Arts and Cultural Alliance and our long-standing Sarasota County Arts Education Partnership committee (formally the Arts Education Task Force) hosted Sarasota ...

X Marks the Spot

The Arts and Cultural Alliance and the The Ringling were thrilled to bring the Chicago Children’s Theatre’s production of X Marks the Spot to Sarasota. This show was designed to ...

Come One! Come All!

The 19th Annual Principals Luncheon will once again honor Sarasota County Principals and their work to ensure that arts are an essential element in all children’s educations. Community members are ...

Rita Moreno at Arts Advocacy Day

Watch Rita Moreno, Award Winning Actress, Singer, and Dancer speak at Arts Advocacy Day 2019. “Arts build community with a capitol ‘C’ and it rhymes with ‘D’ and it stands ...

Congratulations to Nancy Roucher!

Nancy Roucher of Sarasota has received the prestigious Dr. Mary Palmer Trailblazer Award from the Florida Alliance for Arts Education. This accolade is presented to Roucher for her contributions to ...

C/SPA Spring Inspiration Celebration

The Community/Schools Partnership for the Arts (C/SPA) honored and celebrated Sarasota County arts educators at their meeting on May 6, 2019. Held at on Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe’s campus, the ...

Creative Camps

Make your own paper flowers at Sarasota County Libraries. From camps to classes to performances, Sarasota offers many opportunities for your kids to stretch their creativity this summer! Classes Young ...

FESTIVAL OF WOMEN’S VOICES BRINGS 150 VOICES TOGETHER IN SONG

A Festival of Women’s Voices, sponsored by Belle Canto Women’s VocalEnsemble, was held on April 13, 2019 at The Church of the Palms in Sarasota. 150 women, ages 14+, attended ...

Inspire Sarasota Success!

Mei- Li Gonzalez of Sarasota Contemporary Dance Members of the Sarasota community would walk by the performances at the Inspire Sarasota Family Festival in Five Points Park on Saturday and ...

Elementary Students Meet Their Friends in Ghana

Clowns delight students at Alta Vista Elementary and in Ghana. A shared book, “Clifford Goes to the Circus” served as the ice breaker as second graders at Alta Vista Elementary ...

2019 Suncoast Music Scholarships Program

2018 Suncoast Music Scholarship Winners and Co-Chairs: (L-R) Lee Dougherty Ross, Michael Miller, Katherine “KC” Herbert, Dominique Cecchetti, James Boorman, and Susan Hicks The fourth annual Suncoast Music Scholarships program ...

New ‘Historically Speaking’ Program

In special partnership with USF Center for PAInT, FST brought a new program, Historically Speaking to students in Manatee County. Booker Middle School and Sarasota Middle were also able to ...

MLK Celebration

The Association of Florida Teach Artists (AFTA) was awarded a grant to participate in the Martin Luther King Celebration at Bradenton Village. The children enjoyed hip hop dancing with Teaching ...

Sarasota Middle School Music Students Excel

Pictured from left to right: Assistant Principal, Stacey Loos, Jacqueline Gibson, Isabella Alberti, Shannon McNiven, Daphne Churgel, Sitar Ben-Herut, Mia Albuerne, Addisen Pennella, Kathryn Saltzman, and Choral Director, Nadia Sawa ...

The Marvelous, Miraculous Circus Machine!

The Marvelous, Miraculous Circus Machine!, presented by The Circus Arts Conservatory’s Education Program, concluded its Force and Motion curriculum this week with a final educational event at their Big Top. ...

Flying Solo Weekend a hit!

The SaraSolo Productions’ education outreach program hosted a mini festival in collaboration with Carrie Mills and her Booker Middle School theatre classroom. This was a pilot festival of works-in-progress of ...

School Board Candidates – Arts Education

Below are the Sarasota County School Board Candidates’ responses to the Alliance’s arts education survey. Ratings are on a scale from 1 – 5 with 5/strongly agree and 1/disagree. District ...

Why teach using arts integration?  

Have you ever danced your way through the digestive system, or demonstrated the solution to a math problem using your body? How about telling the story of suffrage by bringing ...

Dance as Important as Math

Recently, a blog titled, “Why dance is just as important as math in school” (more…)

Student Scholarships

#artseducation #scholarships Since 1969, the Fine Arts Society of Sarasota has been supporting and stimulating the Arts in Sarasota County. As a part of that mission, the Fine Arts Society ...

Booker High School

On February 13, a group of 35 Booker High School creative writing students (more…)

Patriot Plaza Tours

Civics Come to Life for Middle Schoolers – Part One Patriot Plaza, a beautiful ceremonial amphitheater surrounded by world class art (more…)

Principals’ Luncheon An A+

Learn about the 17th Annual Principals’ Luncheon! (more…)

Welcome by Joseph Caulkins

The power of choral music from Sarasota’s Joseph Caulkins! (more…)

Youth Opera Composer Q&A

Q&A with Sarasota Youth Opera Composer Rachel J. Peters This November 11 and 12, Sarasota Youth Opera will present its sixth world-premiere, Rootabaga Country by Rachel J. Peters.With a cast ...

ED-stravaganza – A Total Success!

On Saturday, August 5, 2017, the Arts and Cultural Alliance joined forces with Sarasota County Schools, The Patterson Foundation, and over 40 participating EdExploreSRQ arts and cultural organizations to present ...

Inspiration through Dance

Submitted by Dr. Zadda Bazzy, Curriculum Specialist for the Visual and Performing Arts for the School District of Manatee County The School District of Manatee County dance educators attended a ...

Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota’s Bountiful Opportunities for Students

–Photo by Rod Millington By Lee Dougherty Ross, Co-Founder, Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota offers a diverse selection of musical experiences to the region, featuring ...

Patriot Plaza and EdExploreSRQ ‘Cross-Pollinate’ to Inspire Students

Patriot Plaza and EdExploreSRQ— two initiatives of The Patterson Foundation—“cross-pollinate” to inspire students and their teachers with experiential learning By Cindy Balistreri, Former Arts Education Manager/Patriot Plaza Tour Manager at ...

Embracing Our Differences and Early Learning Coalition Provide Meaningful Opportunity for Students

Early Learning Coalition of Sarasota County Embraces Our Differences By Shelly Dorfman, Arts Literacy Consultant, and Susie Wells from the Early Learning Coalition Embracing Our Differences became the “text” for ...

Sharing from The Patterson Foundation: “A year of accomplishment for EdExploreSRQ”

By Brian Hersh Link to the original The Patterson Foundation blog post: http://impact.blog.thepattersonfoundation.org/11265-2/ “The hope of EdExploreSRQ keeps the magic going in the classroom. This has been exponentially helpful to ...

Symphonius performance by La Musica!

By Karen Johns Sarasota County students and public were invited to this spring’s 30th La Musica International Chamber Music Festival to enjoy both new and well-known pieces and the world ...

Science and…the Circus!

Submitted by Karen Bell and Robin Eurich, Education Outreach Team at The Circus Arts Conservatory The Circus Arts Conservatory’s Education Outreach program recently invited two area middle schools to discover ...

Exploring the Incredible History of Ballet

Blog contributed by Dr. Sherry Lawrence, Sarasota International Dance Festival Board of Directors. As part of an on-going Lecture Series, Robert de Warren recently presented a multimedia lecture program at ...

Jazzlinks Shines in Sarasota County Schools!

Jazzlinks program will bring history to life for Sarasota County 11th graders By Nancy Roucher, Jazzlinks Coordinator and Julie Leach, Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe Executive Director This semester, history is ...

Learn About Embracing Our Differences

By Brenna Wilhm Director of Education, Embracing Our Differences Embracing Our Differences is much more than “just a walk in the park.” From its very beginning, Embracing Our Differences has ...

Sharing Sarasota’s Art & History at The Ringling

By Bonnie Thomas, Scholastic Programs Coordinator for The Ringling What do a circus performer, a mythological warrior, and a famous entrepreneur have in common? You might be thinking: Not much! ...

Project Elevate by Any Given Child Sarasota

By Maria Schaedler-Luera, Program Manager for Arts Integration Project Elevate, a program created by Any Given Child Sarasota, just ended a week of culminating events to celebrate a one of ...

Bringing Art to Every Child

The Association of Florida Teaching Artists (AFTA  is a 501c3 not for profit) was funded to present a two month arts program at Newtown Estates Recreation Department and the Salvation ...

Celebrating a year of service

This post was originally seen on The Patterson Foundation Blog. At Sarasota National Cemetery, all Patriot Plaza Guides are volunteers, but not all volunteers are Guides. On June 1, The ...

The Tale of Princess Anna Magdalena

Once upon a time (May, to be exact), three musicians visited schools in Sarasota and Manatee counties to share the story of a princess named Anna Magdalena, the handsome Prince ...

Robert de Warren lectures at North Port High School

Dance students at North Port High School recently experienced an exciting opportunity to learn more about the history of ballet and modern dance through a lecture presented by Robert de ...

Sarasota Youth Opera Turns 30

For 30 years Sarasota Youth Opera (SYO) has given young people an opportunity to experience opera first hand through participation in after-school choruses, main stage productions, summer workshops, and fully-staged ...

Speaking and Writing: The FST Perspective

Imagine a classroom with 18 students who spontaneously cheer when they find out they are about to begin a writing lesson.  I am fortunate.  I don’t have to imagine it, ...

Early Encounters with the Arts

Through a partnership between the Early Learning Coalition of Sarasota County and the Arts and Cultural Alliance, children within Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten (VPK) classrooms experienced a wide range of authentic artistic ...

Viva Innovation! Viva Arts!

On November 13, 2013, the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County hosted its 13th Annual Principals’ Luncheon in the Grand Foyer at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. This highly-anticipated ...

Artists in Libraries 2013

Thanks to a partnership between the Library Foundation for Sarasota County and the Arts and Cultural Alliance for Sarasota County, children participated in FREE art workshops at their local libraries ...

Does Music Make You Smarter?

Does music make you smarter?  Does music training make you more successful?  Do music and arts education do these things for all students?  These are questions that have been in ...

Arts Education in Sarasota County

Welcome!  This is the first blog post of Arts Education Sarasota, a blog that will focus on arts education in Sarasota County Schools and the community.  Sarasota County has had ...