4 /5 Raegan “R Lin”: One of my favorite daytime activities is checking out any kind of museum, especially art galleries. This adorable museum can be the most pleasant use of an hour or two, and is in a great location just off of downtown Sarasota and very close to Siesta Key Beach.
I’ve heard all about the Ringling Museum of Sarasota, of course, but didn’t know of the smaller Sarasota Art Museum that’s also on the Ringling campus. It’s not actually that small of a building, but compared to the average museum it’s a little on the smaller side with 3 floors and not all the space completely taken up.
First I must say that the staff here made half the experience. Everyone was smiling and so kind and willing to help- Martha helped us at the desk and Karen was super sweet as well.
I thought the layout of the museum was a little odd, but it is the historic site of the original Sarasota High School which they tried to still keep parts of so I’m guessing they had to work with what they had. Nonetheless, we were given a trifold pamphlet with a “map” laying out where everything was- except they don’t include the newer and rotating exhibits so it’s really not actually helpful.
There’s a main and colorful staircase or an elevator you can take to the higher floor galleries where they change out exhibits here and there. I really enjoyed the “Future Now” exhibit that was all about sneakers and how they’ve fit into culture and impacted it over time. They had a really impressive collection for this exhibit. And, they even had a fun interactive scavenger hunt where you had to find a list of shoes on display, mark them, and then you got a free sticker if you returned it to the front desk. The inner child in me loved this.
The other exhibit I was not a fan of as the content was mostly really dark subject matter, and the artist clearly created from a place of pain and trauma but it was honestly a little disturbing. It wasn’t the type of art that speaks to me as much personally, but if that’s something you enjoy don’t miss this one.
Normal admission for an adult is $20. I don’t think this is a worthy price unless there are new exhibits that really truly interest you and you’re dying to see. Even then, every second Sunday of the month it’s free admission all day so I would definitely come back then. We didn’t try the bistro but it is nice that there’s an option for food if you stay awhile. I’d say you really only need a solid hour or so to get through the whole museum.
