Sarasota () is a city in
Sarasota County
Sarasota County is a county located in Southwest Florida. At the 2020 US census, the population was 434,006. Its county seat is Sarasota and its largest city is North Port. Sarasota County is part of the North Port–Sarasota–Bradenton, FL m ...
on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the
Sarasota School of Architecture
The Sarasota School of Architecture, sometimes called Sarasota Modern, is a regional style of post-war modern architecture (1941–1966) that emerged on Florida's Central West Coast, in and around the city of Sarasota, Florida. It is characterize ...
. The city is located in the southern end of the
Greater Tampa Bay Area and north of
Fort Myers and
Punta Gorda. Its official limits include
Sarasota Bay and several barrier islands between the bay and the
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...
. Sarasota is a principal city of the
Sarasota metropolitan area, and is the
seat
A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense.
Types of seat
The following are examples of different kinds of seat:
* Armchair (furniture), ...
of Sarasota County. According to the
2020 U.S. census
The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...
, Sarasota had a population of 54,842.
The Sarasota city limits contain several keys, including
Lido Key,
St. Armands Key
St. Armands Key is an island in Sarasota Bay off the west coast of Florida in the United States. It is part of the city of Sarasota, Florida. The island is connected to the mainland by the John Ringling Causeway.
History
A Frenchman named Charl ...
, Otter Key,
Casey Key
Casey Key is a barrier island off the coast of Southwest Florida, located south of Siesta Key. Casey Key is part of the North Port—Sarasota—Bradenton Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
Casey Key is erroneously named after Captain John C ...
, Coon Key,
Bird Key, and portions of
Siesta Key.
Longboat Key is the largest key separating the bay from the gulf, but it was evenly divided by the new county line of 1921. The portion of the key that parallels the Sarasota city boundary that extends to that new county line along the bayfront of the mainland was removed from the city boundaries at the request of
John Ringling in the mid-1920s, who sought to avoid city taxation of his planned developments at the southern tip of the key. Although they never were completed in the quickly faltering economy, those development concessions granted by the city never were reversed and the county has retained regulation of those lands.
The city limits expanded significantly with the real estate rush of the early twentieth century, reaching almost . The wild speculation boom began to crash in 1926 and the city limits began to contract, shrinking to less than a quarter of that area.
History
The area known today as Sarasota appeared on a sheepskin Spanish map from 1763 with the word over present-day Sarasota and
Bradenton. The origin’s of the name is disputed, with some claiming that it is based on conquistador Hernando de Soto’s daughter Sara, and others claiming that it comes from “sara-de-cota,” meaning “an area of land easily observed” in the language of the
Calusa
The Calusa ( ) were a Native American people of Florida's southwest coast. Calusa society developed from that of archaic peoples of the Everglades region. Previous indigenous cultures had lived in the area for thousands of years.
At the time of ...
indigenous tribe. Around 1883 to 1885, The Florida Mortgage And Investment Company Of Edinburgh bought 60,000 acres for development in what is now the City of Sarasota. Many Scottish people began to arrive in Sarasota in December 1885. The municipal government of Sarasota was established when it was incorporated as a town in 1902. John Gillespie was the first Mayor. When reincorporated with a city form of government, A. B. Edwards became the first mayor of the city.
Geography and climate
Sarasota has a
tropical climate with hot, humid summers and warm, drier winters. The high temperatures and high humidity in the summer regularly push the
heat index
The heat index (HI) is an index that combines air temperature and relative humidity, in shaded areas, to posit a human-perceived equivalent temperature, as how hot it would feel if the humidity were some other value in the shade. The result is als ...
over . There are distinct rainy and dry seasons, with the rainy season lasting from March to November and the dry season from December to February. According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.
Demographics
As of the 2020 census, Sarasota city had a population of 54,842 with 25,209 households.
Of that population, 3.9% were under 5 years old, 14.6% were under 18 years old, and 28.0% were 65 years and older. 52.5% of the population were female persons.
77.7% of the population were white, 15.2% were black or African American, 0.3% were American Indian and Alaskan Native, 2.1% were Asian, 3.7% were two or more races, and 16.6% were Hispanic or Latino.
4,056 veterans lived in the city and 16.7% of the population were Foreign born persons.
The median gross rent was $1,177. 92.5% of the households had a computer and 84.2% of the households had a broadband internet subscription.
90.0% of the population over 25 years were high school graduates or higher, and 37.2% of the population over 25 years had a Bachelor’s degree or higher.
The median household income was $56,093 with a per capita income of $43,387. 15.6% of the population lived below the
poverty threshold.
Government
Sarasota municipal government was incorporated in 1913, changing from a town type to adopting the city type of local government
found in the United States and the title of its government changed to "City of Sarasota". Sarasota later was designated as the
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...
when
Sarasota County
Sarasota County is a county located in Southwest Florida. At the 2020 US census, the population was 434,006. Its county seat is Sarasota and its largest city is North Port. Sarasota County is part of the North Port–Sarasota–Bradenton, FL m ...
was carved out of
Manatee County
Manatee County is a county in the Central Florida portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 US Census, the population was 399,710. Manatee County is part of the North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its county s ...
in 1921 during the creation of several new
counties. In 1945 the
commission-manager government form was adopted for the city and it is governed by a five-person commission elected by popular vote, two members of which serve in the ceremonial positions of "mayor" and "vice-mayor", as chosen by the commission every April. Two at-large commissioners are elected by all voters and the city is divided into three districts for which the residents of each elect one district representative to the five member commission.
Many aspects of the city are overseen by the
county government ranging from the schools, the libraries, the bay, major waterways, county-designated roads, the airport, fire departments, property and ''
ad valorem'' taxes, voting, the health department, extension services, stormwater control, mosquito control, the courts, and the jail. Therefore, the election of county commissioners is important to city voters.
The city's adoption of its "no lodging out-of-doors" ordinance on August 15, 2005,
Ordinance No. 05-4640, made it illegal to sleep outside on public property without permission.
Arts and culture
Performing arts
Sarasota has many musical, dance, theatre, circus and other performing arts venues, including the
Sarasota Ballet
The Sarasota Ballet is an American ballet company based in Sarasota, Florida. It was founded in 1987 by former ballet dancer Jean Weidner Goldstein and is now acclaimed for its performances of Sir Frederick Ashton's ballets under its director Iai ...
,
Sarasota Opera
Sarasota Opera is a professional opera company in Sarasota, Florida, USA, which
was founded as the Asolo Opera Guild and, until 1974, presented a visiting company's productions. Between 1974 and 1979, it set about mounting its own productions in t ...
,
Asolo Repertory Theatre,
Florida Studio Theatre, the Players Centre for Performing Arts, the Banyan Theater Company, The Westcoast Black Theatre, the Urbanite Theatre, Sarasota Contemporary Dance, Sarasota Orchestra, La Musica, Jazz Club of Sarasota, Sarasota Youth Opera, Circus Arts Conservatory and many others.
Theatrical venues include
Florida Studio Theatre,
Asolo Repertory Theatre,
Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall
The Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall is a performing arts venue located at 777 North Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, Florida neighboring the Sarasota Bay. The main theater of the facility contains 1,741 seats.
History
The initial construction of the 1, ...
, The Players Theatre, Urbanite Theatre, and the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe.
In 1925, A. B. Edwards built a theater that could be adapted for either
vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...
performances or movie screenings. Renowned stripper
Sally Rand did her bubble bath and fan dance here.
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-toned trombo ...
,
Will Rogers
William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma ...
and
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
each performed at the Edward Theatre. It remains at the intersection of Pineapple Avenue and Second Street, having been restored and used for performances by the
Sarasota Opera
Sarasota Opera is a professional opera company in Sarasota, Florida, USA, which
was founded as the Asolo Opera Guild and, until 1974, presented a visiting company's productions. Between 1974 and 1979, it set about mounting its own productions in t ...
and others. It is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
.
In the early 1950s, the
John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art purchased a historic Italian theater, the "Asolo" (now called the Historic Asolo Theater). This theatre was originally built for Queen Caterina of Cyprus’ palace in Asolo, Italy in 1798 but was dismantled in 1931. A. Everett "Chick" Austin, the museum's first director, arranged the purchase and reassembly of the theater for performances of plays and opera.
In the 1960s philanthropists Lewis and Eugenia Van Wezel enabled the city to build a performing arts hall on the bayfront. The auditorium, the
Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall
The Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall is a performing arts venue located at 777 North Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, Florida neighboring the Sarasota Bay. The main theater of the facility contains 1,741 seats.
History
The initial construction of the 1, ...
, was designed by
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...
's successor firm,
Taliesin Associated Architects team under the direction of
William Wesley Peters. Wright's widow,
Olgivanna Lloyd Wright, who participated in the project, selected its purple color.
In 1989, Stuart Barger, a local architect, designed and oversaw the construction of another Asolo Theater, housed in the
Florida State University Center for the Performing Arts
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to th ...
. It is a multi-theater complex, located farther east on the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art property, being placed between Bay Shore Road and Tamiami Trail, and facing south toward Ringling Plaza. It was built around a
rococo
Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...
, historic Scottish theater previously called the
Dunfermline Opera House
Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Accord ...
, which had been shipped to Florida. The complex provides venues and facilities for students of
Florida State University
Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...
's MFA Acting program, the
FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training. This was the administrative home of the Sarasota French Film Festival for several years.
Florida Studio Theatre's Keating Theatre, formerly the Sarasota Woman's Club, is amongst the oldest surviving buildings in Sarasota. Founded in 1903, the Sarasota Woman's Club eventually set out to create a meeting place to house social events, activities, and forums. On January 1, 1915, the cornerstone was laid at the corner of Palm Avenue and Park Street (now Cocoanut). It served as the town's first library and hosted numerous clubs and public committee gatherings. The Woman's Club also maintained a census and birth registration, an area PTA, and a Red Cross Auxiliary.
The
Sarasota Woman's Club
The Sarasota Woman's Club (also known as the Florida Studio Theatre) is a historic woman's club in Sarasota, Florida. It is located at 1241 North Palm Avenue. It was founded in 1913 and on January 18, 1985, it was added to the U.S. National Regist ...
relocated in 1976 and the building became slated for demolition. Marian McKenna, a patron, and supporter of the arts, did not want to see the building and her memories destroyed. She purchased the building and later sold it to Florida Studio Theatre.
In 1985, the Sarasota Woman's Club building was added to the National Register of Historic Places. After completing more renovations to the historic building in 2003, the theatre was renamed the Keating Theatre in honor of Ed and Elaine Keating, and in 2004, additional lobby space was built in the theatre - the Bea Friedman Room. FST's Keating Theatre now seats 173 and remains a cultural center of Sarasota.
In 2003, FST purchased the Gompertz Theatre. The building was originally the Park-Seventh Movie House in the 1920s. Due to the Depression, the movie house shut its doors and became an empty venue. During its predominantly vacant period in the 1940s, the theatre hosted a variety of roadshows and performers, including Tom Mix and his Wonder Horse and the All Girls’ Orchestra. During this time it was known as the Garden Theater, and later the Art Theater, before becoming known as the Palm Tree Playhouse in 1951. The Playhouse closed again in the 1960s. In the mid-1970s, Asolo Theatre purchased the space for production purposes and their Stage Two Theatre program. It was subsequently sold to Anita Katzman and reoccupied by Siesta Key Actors Theatre and Theatre Works in the 1980s. The building was acquired by Florida Studio Theatre and renamed the Gompertz Theatre in honor of Mrs. Leila Gompertz, who made the lead gift enabling the purchase.
Other Sarasota cultural attractions include, and many other musical, dance, artistic, and theatrical venues.
Music
Sarasota is the home of the
Sarasota Orchestra, which was founded by Ruth Cotton Butler in 1949 and known for years as the ''Florida West Coast Symphony''. It holds a three-week ''Sarasota Music Festival'' that is recognized internationally and boasts it attracts renowned teachers and the finest students of chamber music.
Sarasota also boasts a symphonic chorus, Key Chorale, and professional vocal ensemble, Choral Artists of Sarasota. The Jazz Club of Sarasota is one of the largest and most active jazz clubs in the United States and has promoted jazz events in Sarasota for 39 years.
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
,
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-toned trombo ...
and
Gregg Allman
Gregory LeNoir Allman (December 8, 1947 – May 27, 2017) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. He was known for performing in the Allman Brothers Band. Allman grew up with an interest in rhythm and blues music, and the Allman Br ...
each played concerts in Sarasota.
Joe Perry of
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whi ...
,
Brian Johnson
Brian Johnson (born 5 October 1947) is an English singer and songwriter. In 1980, after the death of Bon Scott, he became the third lead singer of the Australian rock band AC/DC. He and the rest of the band were inducted into the Rock and Rol ...
of
AC/DC
AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...
,
Dickey Betts of the
Allman Brothers Band,
Donald Dunn Donald Dunn may refer to:
* Donald "Duck" Dunn (1941–2012), American bass guitarist, session musician, record producer, and songwriter
* Donald G. Dunn (1923–2021), decorated U.S. Army veteran of World War II
{{hndis, Dunn, Donald ...
of the
Blues Brothers
The Blues Brothers are an American blues and soul revivalist band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as part of a musical sketch on ''Saturday Night Live''. Belushi and Aykroyd fronted the band, in character, respective ...
and
Graeme Edge of the
Moody Blues
Moody may refer to:
Places
* Moody, Alabama, U.S.
* Moody, Indiana, U.S.
* Moody, Missouri, U.S.
* Moody, Texas, U.S.
* Moody County, South Dakota, U.S.
* Port Moody, British Columbia, Canada
* Hundred of Moody, a cadastral division in South A ...
have all settled in Sarasota.
Visual arts
Sarasota and the Cultural Coast are home to fine art, film-making, and decorative arts. Fine art, fine art galleries, artist collectives, film-making, and many decorative arts are practiced in Sarasota and Cultural Coast. The
Sarasota Art Museum
The Sarasota Art Museum on the Ringling College Museum Campus (SAM) officially opened to the public on December 14, 2019. Its location is the Old Sarasota High School building.
Built in 1927, the Late Gothic Revival, brick and terra cotta stru ...
and the
Ringling Museum are both in Sarasota.
Film
In 1952,
Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American film director, producer and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of the American cinem ...
filmed and premiered
''The Greatest Show on Earth'' (with
James Stewart
James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military pilot. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality h ...
,
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923April 5, 2008) was an American actor and political activist.
As a Hollywood star, he appeared in almost 100 films over the course of 60 years. He played Moses in the epic film ''The Ten C ...
,
Betty Hutton) in Sarasota.
In 1998, two studio films were filmed in Sarasota:
Alfonso Cuaron
Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...
’s ''
Great Expectations
''Great Expectations'' is the thirteenth novel by Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. It depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip (Great Expectations), Pip (the book is a ''bildungsroman''; a coming-of-age story). It ...
'', with
Ethan Hawke,
Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Kate Paltrow (; born ) is an American actress and businesswoman. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award.
Paltrow gained notice for her early work in films ...
,
Hank Azaria,
Anne Bancroft and
Robert De Niro
Robert Anthony De Niro Jr. ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor. Known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, he is considered to be one of the best actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of various accolades ...
; and
Volker Schlondorff Volker may refer to:
* Volker (name), including a list of people with the given name or surname
* Volker, Kansas City, a historic neighborhood in Kansas City
* Volker Boulevard, Kansas City
* '' Alien Nations'' (German: ''Die Völker''), a real-tim ...
’s
''Palmetto'', starring
Woody Harrelson
Woodrow Tracy Harrelson (born July 23, 1961) is an American actor and playwright. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, in addition to nominations for three Academy Award ...
,
Elisabeth Shue, and
Gina Gershon.
''Out of Time'' (2003), a crime drama starring
Denzel Washington
Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has been described as an actor who reconfigured "the concept of classic movie stardom". Throughout his career spanning over four decades, Washington ha ...
and
Eva Mendes used the
Casey Key Swing Bridge
Casey may refer to:
Places Antarctica
*Casey Station
* Casey Range
Australia
* Casey, Australian Capital Territory
* City of Casey, Melbourne
* Division of Casey, electoral district for the House of Representatives
Canada
* Casey, Ontario
* ...
,
Boca Grande and
Cortez. In 2013,
Taylor Hackford’s action movie
''Parker'', with
Jason Statham
Jason Statham (; born 26 July 1967) is an English actor. He is known for portraying characters in various action-thriller films who are typically tough, hardboiled, gritty, or violent.
Statham began practising Chinese martial arts, kickboxing ...
,
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lynn Affleck (' Lopez; born July 24, 1969), also known as J.Lo, is an American singer, actress and dancer. In 1991, she began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on the sketch comedy television series ''In Living Color'', where she rema ...
,
Nick Nolte had scenes filmed at
Ca’ d’Zan in Sarasota.
In June 2017, director
Kevin Smith shot his 2022 film, ''
KillRoy Was Here'', in Sarasota.
Aquarium, zoos and botanical gardens
Sarasota is home to
Mote Marine Laboratory, a marine rescue, research facility, an aquarium, the
Marie Selby Botanical Gardens
The Marie Selby Botanical Gardens is a botanical garden located at 900 South Palm Avenue in Sarasota, Florida. The Gardens are located on the grounds of the former home of Marie and William Selby.
Flora
The Gardens feature preserved collections ...
, the
Sarasota Jungle Gardens
Sarasota Jungle Gardens is a tourist attraction located in Sarasota, Florida, United States since 1939. The gardens contain over of botanical plantings along with bird and animal shows. It is open to the public for a per-use ticket fee, as well as ...
and the Big Cat Habitat & Gulf Coast Sanctuary.
Festivals
Since 1998, the city has hosted the
Sarasota Film Festival annually. The festival attracts independent films from around the world. It claims to be one of Florida's largest film festivals. In 2009 the annual
Ringling International Arts Festival
The Ringling International Arts Festival is an annual festival at the Ringling Museum of Art. The first three years the festival was a collaboration with the Baryshnikov Arts Center, but currently is curated solely by the John and Mable Ringling ...
, held its premier and held its closing event in the historic Asolo theater, which had been moved and rebuilt again. The historic Venetian theater now is housed in the reception building for the museum where it is used for special events as well as performances, informative purposes, and another seasonal film series hosted by the museum.
Florida Studio Theatreproduces the annual Sarasota Improv Festival. Founded in 2009 by Rebecca Hopkins, FST's annual Sarasota Improv Festival brings together the best improvisers from across the country and around the world for a whirlwind weekend of spontaneous creativity. The Festival has become a destination event, drawing thousands of people from across the state of Florida and beyond. Past performers have come from as far as Mexico, Canada, Spain, France, and the United Kingdom to perform on Florida's Gulf Coast.
In 2010, the
Sarasota Chalk Festival that is held yearly in the historic area of Burns Square became the first international
street painting
Street painting, also known as screeving, pavement art, street art, and sidewalk art, is the performance art of rendering artistic designs on pavement such as streets, sidewalks, and town squares with impermanent and semi-permanent materials ...
festival in the United States of America. Celebrating the sixteenth century performance art of Italian street painting, the festival hosted Maestro Madonnaro
Edgar Mueller from Germany, who created the first street painting that changed images from day to night. The festival has a different theme each year and has introduced new techniques in street art. Other applications of street art such as
murals
A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' is a Spanish ...
and "cellograff graffiti" have become companion events also produced by
Avenida de Colores, Inc.
Avenida de Colores, Inc. was founded in 2010 by Denise Kowal as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation based in Sarasota, Florida in the United States. The corporation is organized for the purpose of providing students with experiences and instruction ...
The murals are part of the "Going Vertical" project and although it sometimes coincides with the chalk festival, it is distinct from it and often continues throughout the year. Except for a few commissioned on public property in the Palm Avenue Parking Garage, the murals are on private property and they are in many sections of Sarasota and in Manatee County as well. the Sarasota Chalk festival has relocated to Venice, FL, a small town just South of Sarasota. The name Sarasota Chalk Festival remains the same.
It is also home to th
Harvey Milk Festival an independent music festival in support of
civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...
, focusing on the
LGBTQ community. It has been celebrated in May annually since 2010 on the weekend closest to
Harvey Milk's birthday, and is currently the largest independent music festival in Sarasota, with thousands of attendees throughout the free, public, multi-day event, that also includes gallery showings, film, and other live performances.
Architecture
Italian architecture and culture are present in the area including at the Ringling Museum. A large number of homes and buildings are designed in the Italian style, especially Venetian as influenced by Ringling's
Cà d'Zan. Italian inspired statues are also common and Michelangelo's David is used as the symbol of Sarasota.
Sarasota School of Architecture
The
Sarasota School of Architecture
The Sarasota School of Architecture, sometimes called Sarasota Modern, is a regional style of post-war modern architecture (1941–1966) that emerged on Florida's Central West Coast, in and around the city of Sarasota, Florida. It is characterize ...
developed as a variant of mid-century modernist architecture. It incorporates elements of both the
Bauhaus
The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 200 ...
and
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...
's "organic" architecture. The style developed as an adaptation to the area's
sub-tropical climate and used newly emerging materials that were manufactured or implemented following World War II.
Historic buildings and sites
By the end of the twentieth century, many of Sarasota's more modest historical structures were demolished. Recently, two historic buildings, the Crocker Church and the Bidwell-Wood House (the oldest remaining structure in the city), first restored by Veronica Morgan and members of the Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation that she founded, became city property. These structures were relocated to this park, despite protests from residents who objected to the loss of park area.
In the late 1970s, Sarasota County purchased the Terrace Hotel that was built by Charles Ringling and renovated it for use as a county government office building. The
adjacent courthouse that he donated to the new county in 1921 has been listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
. The courthouse complex was designed by
Dwight James Baum
Dwight James Baum (June 24, 1886 – December 14, 1939) was an American architect most active in New York and in Sarasota, Florida. His work includes Cà d'Zan, the Sarasota Times Building (1925), Sarasota County Courthouse (1926), early residenc ...
.
In the next decade the landmark hotel built by
Owen Burns, the
El Vernona, which had been turned into apartments became endangered. By then it was called the John Ringling Towers and was purchased by a phosphate miner, Gardinier, who wanted to turn it into his corporate headquarters. All of the tenants were turned out and plans were made for the restoration of the building. The city commissioners supported the plan initially, but lobbying to undermine the project began and one of the commissioners changed her vote. The project was denied at the final hearing. The enraged miner abandoned the city and subsequent owners, seeking to demolish it, made garish changes to the building to make it unappealing before finally leaving it open for vagrants to invade and pilfer.
Remarkable preservation success occurred during the 1990s when the community exhibition hall, the
Municipal Auditorium, designed by
Thomas Reed Martin
Thomas Reed Martin (born April 28, 1866 in Menasha, Wisconsin - died February 1949) was an architect who was brought to Florida by one of its major developers during the turn of the twentieth century. He designed some 500 residences and vari ...
and Clarence A. Martin, was listed on the National Register of Historic Paces and meticulously restored to its depression recovery era, 1937
WPA
WPA may refer to:
Computing
*Wi-Fi Protected Access, a wireless encryption standard
*Windows Product Activation, in Microsoft software licensing
* Wireless Public Alerting (Alert Ready), emergency alerts over LTE in Canada
* Windows Performance An ...
community project, completion status and its architectural glory—both inside and out. The city boasts that 100,000 people use it every year and it is a boon to the community for recreation, lawn sports, as well as being heavily attended for auctions, concerts, conventions, flea markets, galas, graduations, lectures, orchid and flower shows, and a full range of trade shows of interest to the community. Later the
Federal Building, designed by George Albee Freeman (the designer of
Seagate for industrialist
Powell Crosley Jr.) and Louis A. Simon, which initially had served as the post office was restored as well.
Most of the luxurious historic residences from the 1920s boom period along the northern shore of Sarasota Bay also have survived. This string of homes, built on large parcels of elevated land along the widest point of the bay, is anchored by the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art at its center. Among them is ''Cà d'Zan'', the home of Mable and John Ringling, which was restored recently.
Many significant structures from the comparatively recent "Sarasota School of Architecture" period of the mid-twentieth century, however, have not survived. Since they do not qualify under the age criteria set for historic preservation nominations their historical aspect often escapes public recognition. Others frequently are threatened by demolition plans for new development without consideration of their cultural and historical importance to the community instead of motivating the implementation of plans to retain the buildings and integrate them into new plans.
In 2006, the Sarasota County School Board slated one of
Paul Rudolph's largest Sarasota projects,
Riverview High School, for demolition. The board arrived at the decision despite protests by many members of the community, including architects, historic preservationists, and urban planners. Others supported the demolition as they believed the structure is no longer functional. The issue was divisive. The
World Monuments Fund included the school on its ''2008 Watch List of 100 Most Endangered Sites'' in the category ''Main Street Modern''.
Following a March 2007
charrette led by the
National Trust for Historic Preservation
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 by ...
, a proposal was advanced to renovate and preserve Rudolph's buildings. The school board decided to allow a year to consider implementation of the innovative plan proposed to preserve the buildings, that would include building a parking garage with playing fields above it rather than demolishing the structures. In early June 2008, the school board voted in a 3–2 decision to allow the demolition; School board members Shirley Brown, Caroline Zucker and Frank Kovatch voted against preserving the historic high school. This decision was that school would be demolished and that a parking lot would replace it. One year later, in June 2009, Riverview High School was demolished.
In December 2019, a former
Sarasota High School facility was transformed into the Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling College.
The 93-year-old building was renovated to include 80,000 square feet for the museum's campus with about 15,000 square feet for exhibitions, costing about $30 million according to the president of
Ringling College, Larry Thompson.
Other notable cultural features
The Sarasota neighborhood of
Pinecraft
Pinecraft is a census-designated place located in Sarasota County, Florida, Sarasota County. The neighborhood is a popular winter vacation spot for many North American Amish and Mennonites, particularly from Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Histo ...
is home to a relatively liberal
Amish
The Amish (; pdc, Amisch; german: link=no, Amische), formally the Old Order Amish, are a group of traditionalist Anabaptist Christian church fellowships with Swiss German and Alsatian origins. They are closely related to Mennonite churches ...
community which is unusual compared to other Amish communities as it consists mainly of elderly who moved to Florida because of its mild climate, of Amish people who are on holiday and of Amish who do not fit in easily in other communities. ''
Breaking Amish: Brave New World'', a television series of
scripted reality
Scripted reality (sometimes also euphemized as structured reality or constructed reality) in television and entertainment is a subgenre of reality television with some or all of the contents being scripted or pre-arranged by the production company. ...
is set in Pinecraft. It is a spin-off of ''
Breaking Amish
''Breaking Amish'' is an American reality television series on the TLC television network that debuted September 9, 2012. The series revolves around five young Anabaptist adults (four Amish and one Mennonite) who move to New York City in order t ...
''.
The Rosemary District was an African American community and is home to the Boulevard of the Arts.
Newtown is predominantly and historically African American.
Education
Public education
Public education is provided and managed by the
Sarasota County Public Schools
The District School Board of Sarasota, commonly known as Sarasota County Schools, is a public school district serving all of Sarasota County, Florida. As of 2017, the total number of students is approximately 43,150.
The school district's leader ...
school district.
Elementary schools in Sarasota include the following:
* Alta Vista Elementary
* Ashton Elementary
* Bay Haven School of Basics Plus
* Brentwood Elementary
*
Emma E. Booker Elementary
Emma E. Booker Elementary School is a public elementary school in Sarasota, Florida, which opened in the fall of 1989. It is one of the Booker Schools, with a middle and high school of the same name nearby. It is a part of Sarasota County School ...
* Fruitville Elementary
* Gocio Elementary
* Gulf Gate Elementary
* Lakeview Elementary
* Laurel Nokomis School
* Phillippi Shores Elementary
* Southside Elementary
* Tatum Ridge Elementary
* Tuttle Elementary
* Wilkinson Elementary
Middle schools include Booker Middle, Brookside Middle, Laurel Nokomis, McIntosh Middle, and Sarasota Middle.
High schools include
Booker High,
Riverview High,
Sarasota High, Suncoast Polytechnical High School,
Sarasota Military Academy
Sarasota Military Academy (SMA) is a military academy charter school founded in 2002 in Sarasota, Florida. The academy consists of a middle school and a high school. The school's athletic teams compete as the Eagles. Other extracurricular activitie ...
, and Oak Park School.
Sarasota was also home to the
Flint School, a type of boating school.
Private education
* The Classical Academy of Sarasota
* Sarasota Christian
Higher education
Sarasota is home to
New College of Florida
New College of Florida is a public liberal arts college in Sarasota, Florida. It was founded in 1960 as a private institution known simply as New College, spent several years merged into the University of South Florida, and in 2001 became an aut ...
, a public liberal arts college and the honors college for the
State University System of Florida
The State University System of Florida (SUSF or SUS) is a system of twelve public universities in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2018, over 341,000 students were enrolled in Florida's state universities. Together with the Florida College Syst ...
.
Additional colleges in Sarasota include
Keiser University
Keiser University is a private university with its main campus in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and flagship residential campus in West Palm Beach, Florida. Additional branches are located in other parts of Florida and internationally. Keiser provides ...
of Sarasota (a private, not for profit university);
FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training (
Florida State University
Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...
's MFA Acting Conservatory in conjunction with the
Asolo Repertory Theatre);
Ringling College of Art and Design, a school of visual arts and design; and satellite campuses of
Eckerd College, based in
St. Petersburg, Florida
St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the ...
; and
Florida State University College of Medicine
The Florida State University College of Medicine, located in Tallahassee, Florida, is one of sixteen colleges composing the Florida State University. The college, created in 2000, is an accredited medical school, offering the Doctor of Medicine ...
, based in
Tallahassee, Florida
Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County, Florida, Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In ...
. Other colleges in the city include
East West College of Natural Medicine
East West College of Natural Medicine (EWCNM) is an acupuncture, Chinese medicine, Complementary and Alternative Medicine, and massage school in Sarasota, Florida
Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of ...
, an accredited college of acupuncture and Chinese medicine.
Nearby educational institutions with regional draw include
State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
, and a
commuter branch of the
University of South Florida
The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is ...
, with the main campus located in
Tampa
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...
.
Media
Television
Sarasota is part of the
Nielsen-designated
Tampa-Saint Petersburg-Sarasota television market. The local television stations are
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
-affiliate
WWSB and the
SNN: Suncoast News Network, a continuous local cable news operation run by
Comcast
Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...
,
Frontier
A frontier is the political and geographical area near or beyond a boundary. A frontier can also be referred to as a "front". The term came from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"—the region of a country that fronts o ...
FiOS and the ''
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The ''Sarasota Herald-Tribune'' is a daily newspaper, located in Sarasota, Florida, founded in 1925 as the ''Sarasota Herald''.
History
The newspaper was owned by The New York Times Company from 1982 to 2012. It was then owned by Halifax Media ...
''. WWSB is the only network station with studios in Sarasota. Other network and public television programming serving the community is offered by
Fort Myers and Tampa television stations. Comcast provides
cable television
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...
service.
DirecTV
DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. It ...
and
Dish Network
DISH Network Corporation (DISH, an acronym for DIgital Sky Highway) is an American television provider and the owner of the direct-broadcast satellite provider Dish, commonly known as Dish Network, and the over-the-top IPTV service, Sling TV. A ...
direct broadcast satellite
Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna comm ...
television including Tampa Bay Area local and national channels to Sarasota residents.
Radio
Arbitron
Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio broadcasting audiences. It was founded as the American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by mergin ...
has identified the Sarasota-Bradenton radio market as the seventy-third largest market in the country, and the sixth largest in the state of Florida. There are eight radio stations in the city:
WSMR (89.1FM, classical music),
WSLR-LP (96.5FM, variety-talk and community issues),
WKZM (104.3FM, religious; repeating
WKES Lakeland),
WSRZ
WSRZ-FM (107.9 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a classic hits format. Licensed to Coral Cove, Florida, United States, the station serves the Sarasota/ Bradenton, Florida area. The station is currently owned by iHeartMedia, Inc.
History
The ...
(107.9FM, oldies),
WLSS
WLSS is a radio station serving the Sarasota, Florida area with a news/talk format. It broadcasts on AM frequency 930 kHz and is under ownership of Salem Communications.
WLSS is the most powerful AM station in the Sarasota-Bradenton market. I ...
(930AM, talk),
WSRQ (1220AM, 98.9FM, 106.9FM, talk),
WTMY (1280AM, talk),
WTZB
WTZB (105.9 FM) is a commercial radio station located in Englewood, Florida, broadcasting to the Sarasota/ Bradenton, Florida area. WTZB is airing a mainstream rock
Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many c ...
(105.9FM, rock music; commonly known as The Buzz) and
WSDV
WSDV (1450 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Sarasota, Florida, and broadcasting to the Sarasota - Bradenton radio market. The station airs a hot adult contemporary format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc.
WSDV is powered at 1,000 ...
(1450AM, adult standards).
WHPT
WHPT (102.5 FM, currently known as "102.5 The Bone") is a Cox Radio station located in the Sarasota, Tampa Bay, and St. Petersburg, Florida areas, but can be heard as far south as Fort Myers and Naples, from its transmitter near SR 70, near the ...
(102.5 FM, Hot Talk) and
WRUB (106.5FM, Spanish) are licensed to Sarasota and have broadcasting facilities in the Sarasota / Bradenton area, but have studios in the Tampa Bay area and are focused on that region.
The community also is served by most radio stations from the
Tampa Bay radio market, as well as some stations from the nearby
Fort Myers radio market.
Newspaper
The ''
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The ''Sarasota Herald-Tribune'' is a daily newspaper, located in Sarasota, Florida, founded in 1925 as the ''Sarasota Herald''.
History
The newspaper was owned by The New York Times Company from 1982 to 2012. It was then owned by Halifax Media ...
'' is the daily newspaper published in the city and the weekly newspaper is the ''
Sarasota Observer''. From neighboring Manatee County, the ''
Bradenton Herald'' also is distributed daily in the area and ''
The Bradenton Times
''The Bradenton Times'' is an online newspaper founded and continuously published on the Internet from Bradenton, Florida. It is a web news and community resource site for Bradenton and Manatee County designed to supply broad coverage of infor ...
'' is an electronic weekly newspaper that covers Sarasota topics as well. ''Sarasota Magazine'' also served the community.
Sports and recreation
Sports
Stadiums
In 1937 the
Municipal Auditorium-Recreation Club
The Sarasota Municipal Auditorium, listed in the National Register as Municipal Auditorium-Recreation Club, is a historic multi-purpose facility built-in 1938. It is located at 801 Tamiami Trail North and is owned/operated by the municipal governme ...
was built with funds provided by the
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...
, the municipal government, and local residents and business owners. It became a center for sports, entertainment, and recreation. The sports activities have ranged from badminton, basketball, boating, lawn bowling, and shuffleboard, to tennis. The auditorium hosts clubs for cards, dancing, games, gardening, and numerous hobbies as well as having become the community meeting place for commercial and educational shows and the venue for local schools and charities to hold events and dances. Tourists are attracted to exhibitions provided by local businesses as well as vendors from national circuits. This building was listed in the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
because of its architecture and for providing the enormous range of community activities that are scheduled at it every week.
Sarasota is home to
Ed Smith Stadium
Ed Smith Stadium is a baseball field located in Sarasota, Florida. Since 2010, it has been the spring training home of the Baltimore Orioles.
History
Ed Smith Stadium was built in 1989 to replace Payne Park as a Spring Training and Minor League ...
where the
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...
have held
spring training
Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...
since 2010. The Orioles also have minor league facilities at the Buck O’Neil Baseball Complex at Twin Lakes Park. Previously,
Ed Smith Stadium
Ed Smith Stadium is a baseball field located in Sarasota, Florida. Since 2010, it has been the spring training home of the Baltimore Orioles.
History
Ed Smith Stadium was built in 1989 to replace Payne Park as a Spring Training and Minor League ...
was the spring training home of the
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...
and the minor league Sarasota Reds.
Golf
The warm climate helped the Sarasota area become a popular
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
destination.
John Hamilton Gillespie
Colonel John Hamilton Gillespie (14 October 1852 – 7 September 1923) was a Scottish-American soldier, land developer, businessman and politician, who settled in Sarasota, Florida, becoming Sarasota's first mayor.
Biography
Gillespie was born ...
was an early pioneer of the game in Sarasota. The Sara Bay course in the Whitfield area was designed by golf architect
Donald Ross Donald Ross may refer to:
*Donald A. Ross (1857–1937), Canadian politician
* Donald Ross (golfer) (1872–1948), Scottish-born American golfer and golf course designer
*Donald P. Ross (1902–1973), American horse racetrack and racing stable owner ...
.
Bobby Jones was associated with the community course in Sarasota. Many courses dot the area, including the one originally laid out for the hotel John Ringling planned on the southern tip of
Longboat Key.
Fishing
Sport fishing
Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing or game fishing, is fishing for leisure, exercise or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is professional fishing for profit; or subsistence fishing, which is fishing ...
attracted enthusiasts to Sarasota and the area because of the amazing bounty of the bay.
Tarpon was the biggest draw, but gigantic
gar
Gars are members of the family Lepisosteidae, which are the only surviving members of the Ginglymodi, an ancient holosteian group of ray-finned fish, which first appeared during the Triassic, over 240 million years ago. Gars comprise seven livin ...
as well as many other species abounded to attract people such as
Owen Burns and
Powel Crosley
Powel Crosley Jr. (September 18, 1886 – March 28, 1961) was an American inventor, industrialist, and entrepreneur. He was also a pioneer in radio broadcasting, and owner of the Cincinnati Reds major league baseball team. In addition, Crosley' ...
. The first settled permanently and became one of the most important developers of Sarasota and the second, who more typically, built a winter retreat here and participated in the sport via the clubs, organizations, and tournaments focused on fishing.
Marathon
The Sarasota Marathon started in 2005. In 2010, declining sponsorship and marathon registration led organizers to change the event to a half marathon. The race begins and ends near the John and Mable Ringling Museum.
Swimming
Sarasota is home to two swim teams. The Sarasota Sharks have won national championships. A newer team, the Sarasota Tsunami, was founded by the former Sharks head coach and is also nationally competitive. The teams maintain a rivalry.
Sailing
The Sarasota Sailing Squadron is a highly active facility that has hosted many nationally renowned regattas for both dinghies and larger vessels.
Football
In 2013, Sarasota became the home of the
Sarasota Thunder, which was to play in the
Ultimate Indoor Football League
The Ultimate Indoor Football League (UIFL) was a regional professional indoor football league that began its inaugural season on February 18, 2011 as the Ultimate Indoor Football League before playing as the United Indoor Football League in 2012 ...
, but the team folded.
2014 Pentathlon World Cup Final
In 2014, Sarasota hosted the
modern pentathlon
The modern pentathlon is an Olympic sport consisting of fencing (one-touch épée), freestyle swimming, equestrian show jumping, pistol shooting, and cross country running. The event is inspired by the traditional pentathlon held during the anci ...
World Cup Final.
2017 World Rowing Championships
Benderson Park in Sarasota was the venue for the
World Rowing Championships
The World Rowing Championships is an international rowing regatta organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). It is a week-long event held at the end of the northern hemisphere summer and in non-Olympic years is the highlight of the ...
in 2017, held on September 23 – October 1, 2017.
2021 U-18 Baseball World Cup
Sarasota and
Bradenton together held the
2021 U-18 Baseball World Cup
The 2021 U-18 Baseball World Cup or the XXIX U-18 Baseball World Cup is an international baseball tournament held by the World Baseball Softball Confederation for players 18-year-old and younger held in Bradenton and Sarasota, Florida, USA. The ev ...
.
Other recreational activities
Sarasota is home of the Whiskey Obsession Festival, the largest whiskey festival in Florida. Established in 2013, the festival features several hundred whiskies from around the world. Dozens of professional brand ambassadors and distillers participate in the festival by participating in a panel discussion, leading classes and tastings.
Transportation
Airports
The major airport in the area is
Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport which is shared by
Sarasota and
Manatee counties.
Since being opened in 1941, it has been the area's major airport. Before this,
Lowe's Field
Lowe's Companies, Inc. (), often shortened to Lowe's, is an American retail company specializing in home improvement. Headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina, the company operates a chain of retail stores in the United States and Canada. A ...
functioned as the main airport for the Sarasota Area from 1929 to 1941.
Five airlines offer service out of the airport to locations primarily in the United States and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. The airport serves more than 1,300,000 passengers per year. The airport holds full
port of entry
In general, a port of entry (POE) is a place where one may lawfully enter a country. It typically has border security staff and facilities to check passports and visas and to inspect luggage to assure that contraband is not imported. Internati ...
status providing U.S. Customs inspections for international travelers.
St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport
ST, St, or St. may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Stanza, in poetry
* Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band
* Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise
* Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy a ...
and
Tampa International Airport
Tampa International Airport is an international airport west of Downtown Tampa, in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. The airport is publicly owned by Hillsborough County Aviation Authority (HCAA)., effective December 30, 2021. T ...
are located about an hour north from Sarasota, and
Southwest Florida International Airport
Southwest Florida International Airport is a major county-owned airport in the South Fort Myers area of unincorporated Lee County, Florida, United States. The airport serves the Southwest Florida region, including the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, N ...
in Ft. Myers an hour and 45 min south of Sarasota. All 3 offer a wider range of national and international flights.
Public transit
Sarasota County Area Transit
Sarasota County Area Transit (SCAT) provides public transportation for Sarasota County, Florida and is operated by the county. SCAT maintains 27 fixed-line bus routes plus a dial-a-ride paratransit service (SCAT Plus). The majority of the routes o ...
has a bus service called ''SCAT'' which offers service throughout the county and also offers limited connections with
Manatee County Area Transit
Manatee County Area Transit (MCAT) provides public transportation for Manatee County, Florida and is operated by the county. the system had about riders per weekday as of .
Fares
The regular bus fare is $1.50 on all local fixed routes. Discoun ...
. Sarasota County has joined the
Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority
The Tampa Bay Area Regional Transit Authority, or TBARTA, is a regional transportation agency of the U.S. state of Florida which was created on July 1, 2007. The purpose of the agency is "to plan, develop, finance, construct, own, purchase, ope ...
to plan and build future transportation infrastructure including
light rail,
commuter rail
Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...
and longer range bus service.
Rail
A key issue is providing Sarasota with access to the
Florida High Speed Rail
The Florida High-Speed Corridor is a canceled high-speed rail project in the U.S. state of Florida. Initial service would have run between the cities of Tampa and Orlando, with plans to then extend service to South Florida, terminating in Miami. ...
. The
Seaboard Coast Line ran intercity train service to the city until 1971. There is no
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
train which stops in Sarasota, but Amtrak provides
Thruway bus service at Sarasota Station, located approximately from the city limits of Sarasota, to the nearest Amtrak terminal in Tampa. A freight-only rail line operated by
Seminole Gulf Railway
The Seminole Gulf Railway is a short line freight and passenger excursion railroad headquartered in Fort Myers, Florida, that operates two former CSX Transportation railroad lines in Southwest Florida. The company's Fort Myers Division, which ...
does serve industries in Sarasota. The
Seaboard Coast Line ran the last passenger train, the ''
West Coast Champion
The ''Champion'' was a streamlined passenger train operated by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and Florida East Coast Railway between New York City and Miami or St. Petersburg, Florida. It operated from 1939 until 1979, continuing under the Seab ...
,'' to the company's
depot
Depot ( or ) may refer to:
Places
* Depot, Poland, a village
* Depot Island, Kemp Land, Antarctica
* Depot Island, Victoria Land, Antarctica
* Depot Island Formation, Greenland
Brands and enterprises
* Maxwell Street Depot, a restaurant in ...
on 1971.
Water
As a city located on the Gulf of Mexico, water transportation is a key consideration. The
Intracoastal Waterway is a
waterway
A waterway is any navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other languages. A first distinction is necessary b ...
providing water access to and from the Atlantic coast for tugs, barges and leisure boats.
Port Manatee
SeaPort Manatee is a county-owned deepwater seaport located in the eastern Gulf of Mexico at the entrance to Tampa Bay in northern Manatee County, Florida. It is one of Florida's largest deepwater seaports and also regarded as the closest U.S. d ...
and the
Port of Tampa both provide nearby deep water ports.
Port Manatee provides cargo service primarily while the Port of Tampa is more diverse. Port Manatee formerly even had a cruise line, ''
Regal Cruise Line
Regal may refer to:
Companies
* Regal Beloit, usually referred to as Regal, an American manufacturer of electric motors
* Regal Cinema (disambiguation), several cinemas of that name
* Regal Cinemas, a major American theater chain
* Regal Cinemas ...
'' from 1993–2003. It was seized by
U.S Marshals on April 18, 2003, for not being maintained. The waterway enters
Sarasota Bay which provides access to downtown Sarasota at the city pier.
Roads
Because of its location on the Gulf of Mexico and its proximity to several other large metropolitan areas, road transportation is critical to the Sarasota area. The major roads in the area include:
*
I-75 – the only freeway in the area, I-75 is located east from the center of Sarasota and is a major interstate leading south to Miami and north to
Tampa
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...
*
U.S. 41 Tamiami Trail – a major north-south route through Sarasota enters the city from the south before heading west at the south end of U.S. 301; after briefly following Bayfront Drive the Trail heads north again paralleling the coast
*
U.S. 301
U.S. Route 301 (US 301) is a spur of U.S. Route 1 running through the South Atlantic States. It runs from Biddles Corner, Delaware at Delaware Route 1 to Sarasota, Florida at U.S. Route 41. It passes through the states of Delaware, Ma ...
– heading north from its intersection with U.S. 41, U.S. 301 follows Washington Boulevard running parallel to U.S. 41 until the two roads merge again in Manatee County
*
SR 780 – Fruitville Road (Third Street) – a main east-west thoroughfare linking U.S. 41, U.S. 301, and Interstate 75
*
SR 789 – starts out as John Ringling Causeway before heading to
Bird Key and
Lido Key, SR 789 turns north and becomes Gulf of Mexico Drive, a major road on the islands between Sarasota and Bradenton
Notable people
*
Doug Band
Douglas Jay Band (born October 28, 1972) is an American businessman and lawyer. He is a founding partner and former president of Teneo, a multinational C-suite advisory firm and investment bank. Previously he was Deputy Assistant to Presiden ...
, assistant to
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
and businessman. Helped found the
Clinton Global Initiative and assisted with the
Clinton Foundation
The Clinton Foundation (founded in 2001 as the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation, and renamed in 2013 as the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation) is a nonprofit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. tax code. It was e ...
after his presidency
*
Freddie Bartholomew, 1930s child actor
*
Roy Basler (1906–1989), historian
*
Dickey Betts, guitarist and founding member of
The Allman Brothers Band
*
Daniel Bukantz (1917–2008), Olympic fencer
*
Eugene A. Burdick
Eugene Allan Burdick (October 15, 1912 – November 3, 2000) was a judge in North Dakota's Fifth Judicial District and a surrogate judge of the North Dakota Supreme Court. He was on the bench from 1953 until he retired in 1978.
Life
Burdick w ...
, North Dakota Fifth Judicial District judge and surrogate judge for the
North Dakota Supreme Court
The North Dakota Supreme Court is the highest court of law in the state of North Dakota. The Court rules on questions of law in appeals from the state's district courts.
Each of the five justices are elected on a no-party ballot for ten year te ...
*
William J. Burns
William John Burns (October 19, 1861 – April 14, 1932) was an American private investigator and law enforcement official. He was known as "America's Sherlock Holmes" and earned fame for having conducted private investigations into a number of ...
,
Director of the Bureau of Investigation, later the
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
*
Flossie M. Byrd
Flossie M. Byrd (August 8, 1927 – March 17, 2020) was a home economist, family and consumer services scientist, educator, and the first provost and vice president for academic affairs at the public historically black university (HBCU), Prairie ...
, home economist and academic
*
Barber Conable,
New York state senator
The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate.
Partisan compo ...
,
U.S representative from New York, and
World Bank President under President
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
*
Marlow Cook
Marlow Webster Cook (July 27, 1926 – February 4, 2016) was an American politician who served Kentucky in the United States Senate from his appointment in December 1968 to his resignation in December 1974. He was a moderate Republican.
He ...
, U.S senator from
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...
*
Eric Curran
Eric Curran (born June 8, 1975) is an American race car driver who competes in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for Action Express Racing with co-driver Felipe Nasr. Curran and previous co-driver Dane Cameron won their first race together, t ...
, racing driver
*
Ian Desmond
Ian Morgan Desmond (born September 20, 1985) is an American former professional baseball infielder and outfielder. He played 11 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Nationals, Texas Rangers and Colorado Rockies. Desmond is a ...
, professional baseball player for the
Colorado Rockies
The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...
*
Lois Duncan
Lois Duncan Steinmetz (April 28, 1934 – June 15, 2016), known as Lois Duncan, was an American writer, novelist, poet, and journalist. She is best known for her young-adult novels, and has been credited by historians as a pioneering figure in th ...
, writer, novelist, poet, and journalist
*
Sonia Pressman Fuentes
Sonia Pressman Fuentes (born May 30, 1928 in Berlin, Germany) is a German American author, speaker, feminist leader, and lawyer.
Early years and education
Fuentes was born in Berlin, Germany, of Polish parents, with whom she came to the U.S. to ...
, lawyer; author and co-founder of
National Organization for Women
*
Jackie Gerlich, dwarf actor and circus entertainer
*
Brian Gottfried (born 1952), tennis player, reached Nº3 in the world in 1977
*
Carla Gugino
Carla Gugino (; born August 29, 1971) is an American actress. After appearing in ''Troop Beverly Hills'' (1989) and ''This Boy's Life'' (1993), she received recognition for her starring roles as Ingrid Cortez in the ''Spy Kids'' trilogy (2001 ...
(born 1971), actress
*
James A. Haley
James Andrew Haley (January 4, 1899 – August 6, 1981) was a United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative from Florida.
Born in Jacksonville, Alabama, Jacksonville, Alabama, Haley attended the public schools and the Univer ...
, U.S. representative from Florida and member of the
Florida House of Representatives
The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted ...
. Vice-president and later president of the
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1952,
1956
Events
January
* January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan.
* January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...
, and
1960
It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism.
Events
January
* Ja ...
*
Denver David Hargis, U.S representative from
Kansas
Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...
*
Forest Harness
Forest Arthur Harness (June 24, 1895 – July 29, 1974) was an American lawyer, World War I veteran, and politician who served five terms as a U.S. Representative from Indiana from 1939 to 1949.
Biography
Born in Kokomo, Indiana, Harness atten ...
,
U.S representative from
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
and
Sergeant at Arms of the Senate
The Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper of the United States Senate (originally known as the Doorkeeper of the Senate from April 7, 1789 – 1798) is the protocol officer, executive officer, and highest-ranking federal law enforcement officer of the ...
*
Ian Hornak
Ian Hornak (January 9, 1944 – December 9, 2002) was an American draughtsman, painter and printmaker. He was one of the founding artists of the Hyperrealist and Photorealist fine art movements; credited with having been the first Photoreal ...
, founding artist of the
Hyperrealist
Jean Baudrillard ( , , ; 27 July 1929 – 6 March 2007) was a French sociologist, philosopher and poet with interest in cultural studies. He is best known for his analyses of media, contemporary culture, and technological communication, as we ...
and
Photorealist fine art movements. Owned a winter home in Sarasota from 1985 to 2001.
[Stephen Bennett Phillips, Eric Ian Hornak Spoutz, "Ian Hornak Transparent Barricades," exhibition catalogue, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Fine Art Program, Washington D.C., 2012][Joan Adan, Eric Ian Hornak Spoutz, "Transparent Barricades: Ian Hornak, A Retrospective," exhibition catalogue, Forest Lawn Museum, Glendale, California, May 2012]
*
Brian Johnson
Brian Johnson (born 5 October 1947) is an English singer and songwriter. In 1980, after the death of Bon Scott, he became the third lead singer of the Australian rock band AC/DC. He and the rest of the band were inducted into the Rock and Rol ...
, lead singer of
AC/DC
AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...
*
Josh Kaufman
Josh Kaufman (born November 9, 1976) is an American soul singer and singer-songwriter. A native of the Tampa Bay area in Florida, Kaufman is based out of and resides in Indianapolis, Indiana. He is best known for winning the season 6 of NBC's '' ...
, soul singer and singer-songwriter
*
Margaret Kerry, actress, radio host, and model for
Tinker Bell in the 1953 Walt Disney film ''
Peter Pan''
*
David Lawrence, publisher; founded what would later become ''
U.S. News & World Report''
*
La Norma Fox
Norma Fox ( Nielsen; born 9 February 1926), also known as La Norma, is a Danish-born aerialist and trapeze artist who performed throughout Europe before moving to the United States with her husband, the Frenchman André W. Fox, in 1949. In 1952, ...
,
trapeze artist
A trapeze is a short horizontal bar hung by ropes or metal straps from a ceiling support. It is an aerial apparatus commonly found in circus performances. Trapeze acts may be static, spinning (rigged from a single point), swinging or flying, an ...
in
RBB Circus and Sarasotan from 1949 onwards
*
Mirjana Lučić-Baroni, professional tennis player
*
Jes Macallan
Jes Macallan is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Josslyn Carver in ABC drama series ''Mistresses'' and Ava Sharpe in The CW superhero comedy-drama ''Legends of Tomorrow''.
Career
Jes Macallan is an actor and director. Bef ...
, actress
*
John D. MacDonald
John Dann MacDonald (July 24, 1916December 28, 1986) was an American writer of novels and short stories. He is known for his thrillers.
MacDonald was a prolific author of crime and suspense novels, many set in his adopted home of Florida. On ...
, crime novelist
*
Marlon Mack
Marlon Devon Mack (born March 7, 1996) is an American football running back for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at South Florida and was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the fourth roun ...
, running back for the
Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...
of the National Football League
*
Myka Meier
Myka Meier (born 27 June 1982) is an American-British entrepreneur, etiquette coach, and author. She is the founder of Beaumont Etiquette and co-founder of the Plaza Hotel's Finishing Program. Meier has authored two books, ''Modern Etiquette Mad ...
, etiquette coach and writer
*
Eric Minkin
Eric Minkin (אריק מנקין; born November 28, 1950) is an American-Israeli former basketball player. He played the center position. He played in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, and for the Israeli national basketball team.
Biography
...
(born 1950), American-Israeli basketball player
*
Daniel Myrick, director of horror films
*
Bello Nock
Bello Nock (born September 27, 1968), often known simply as Bello, is an American daredevil clown and circus performer. Nock has been listed in the ''Guinness Book of World Records'' for his highwire walk over a cruise ship. He has performed s ...
, daredevil and circus performer
*
Carol Perkins Carol Perkins (born December 29, 1957) is an American business owner, fashion model and pet product designer who started her own company, Harry Barker, Inc., in 1997. The success of Harry Barker (company sales doubled between 2006 and 2009) has gar ...
, fashion model
*
Jack Perkins, reporter, commentator, war correspondent, and anchorman
*
Joe Perry, lead guitarist of
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whi ...
*
Paul Reubens, actor known for creating and portraying
Pee-wee Herman
*
Michael Rey
Michael Rey (born in Sarasota, Florida 1979) is an American abstract painter. Rey lives and works in Los Angeles, California.
Education
Rey received his BFA in 2002 from Ringling School of Art and Design, Sarasota, Florida, and his MFA in 2008 ...
, abstract painter
*
Charles Edward Ringling, one of the Ringling Brothers
*
Stephen Root, actor, voice actor, and comedian
*
Milton Rubenfeld
Milton Rubenfeld ( he, מילטון רובנפלד; September 13, 1919 – February 21, 2004) was a pilot who flew for the Royal Air Force and U.S. Army during World War II, later becoming one of the five founding pilots of the Israeli Air Force ...
(1919–2004), pilot and one of five founding pilots of
Israeli Air Force
The Israeli Air Force (IAF; he, זְרוֹעַ הָאֲוִיר וְהֶחָלָל, Zroa HaAvir VeHahalal, tl, "Air and Space Arm", commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial warfare branch of the Israel Defense ...
*
Randy Savage (1952–2011), professional wrestler
*
Sam Shields
Samuel George Shields III (born December 8, 1987) is a former American football cornerback. He played college football at the University of Miami. Shields was signed by the Green Bay Packers as an undrafted free agent in 2010. He won Super Bo ...
, cornerback in the National Football League
*
George Snyder,
Maryland state senator
The Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. Composed of 47 senators elected from an equal number of constituent single-m ...
and majority leader
*
Dick Smothers
Richard Remick Smothers (born November 20, 1938) is an American actor, comedian, composer, and musician. He was half of the musical comedy team the Smothers Brothers, with his older brother Tom Smothers, Tom.
Life and career
Smothers was born i ...
, actor, comedian, composer, and musician
*
Jerry Springer, television personality
*
Alex Steinweiss, graphic artist, credited with being the inventor of
album cover art
An album cover (also referred to as album art) is the front packaging art of a commercially released studio album or other audio recordings. The term can refer to either the printed paperboard covers typically used to package sets of and 78-rpm ...
.
*
Mildred Ladner Thompson
Mildred Ladner Thompson (June 24, 1918 – June 25, 2013) was an American journalist, writer and columnist. Her career included tenures at ''The Wall Street Journal'', where she became one of its first female reporters, as well as the ''Associated ...
, journalist and writer
*
Dick Vitale, college basketball coach and broadcaster
*
Adrienne Vittadini
Adrienne Vittadini (born October 9, 1943, in Győr, Hungary) is an American fashion designer.
When she was 13, her family fled Győr during the 1956 Hungarian revolution. In 1979, she started what would become a multimillion-dollar fashion busin ...
, fashion designer
*
Joseph Volpe, general manager of the
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...
*
Nik Wallenda, tightrope walker
*
Iain Webb, Director of The Sarasota Ballet and former dancer with
The Royal Ballet
The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in ...
*
Scott Weiss, venture capitalist
*
Hoyt Wilhelm,
MLB
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
pitcher and
Baseball Hall of Fame
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...
inductee
*
George Howard Williams
George Howard Williams (December 1, 1871November 25, 1963) was an American politician and attorney from Missouri. A Republican, he served as U.S. Senator from Missouri from 1925 to 1926, completing the term of Selden P. Spencer following the lat ...
,
U.S Senator from
Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
*
Robert Windom
Robert Emerson Windom (July 14, 1930 – October 21, 2016) was an American physician who served as the United States Assistant Secretary for Health and Human Services under President Ronald Reagan from 1986-89.
Windom graduated from Duke Unive ...
, former
Assistant Secretary for Health and Human Services under President Ronald Reagan
*
Linda Winikow
Linda Winikow (May 9, 1940 – August 24, 2008) was an American politician from New York. Winikow pleaded guilty to grand larceny, commercial bribe receiving and making illegal campaign contributions.
Early life
On May 9, 1940, Winikow was bo ...
, politician and
New York State Senator
The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate.
Partisan compo ...
*
Roger Zare, composer and pianist
*
Bridgett Zehr
Bridgett Zehr (born c. 1985) is an American ballet dancer. After terms with the Houston Ballet and the National Ballet of Canada, she joined the English National Ballet in 2011 as a principal.
Biography
Born in Sarasota, Florida, Zehr trained from ...
, ballet dancer with the
English National Ballet
English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Dame Alicia Markova and Sir Anton Dolin as London Festival Ballet and based in London, England. Along with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish ...
Sister cities
The U.S. sister city program began in 1956 when President
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
proposed a people-to-people, citizen diplomacy initiative. The Sarasota chapter was established in 1963. A sister city, county, or state relationship is a broad-based, long-term partnership between two communities in two countries. A relationship is officially recognized after the highest elected or appointed official from both communities sign off on an agreement to become sister cities.
Sarasota's
sister cities
A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties.
While there are early examples of inter ...
are:
*
Perpignan
Perpignan (, , ; ca, Perpinyà ; es, Perpiñán ; it, Perpignano ) is the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the ...
,
Pyrénées-Orientales
Pyrénées-Orientales (; ca, Pirineus Orientals ; oc, Pirenèus Orientals ; ), also known as Northern Catalonia, is a department of the region of Occitania, Southern France, adjacent to the northern Spanish frontier and the Mediterranean Sea. ...
, France (1994)
*
Vladimir,
Vladimir Oblast
Vladimir Oblast (russian: Влади́мирская о́бласть, ''Vladimirskaya oblast'') is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its closest border 66 Meter, km east of central Moscow, the administrative cen ...
, Russia (1994)
*
Tel Mond
Tel Mond ( he, תֵּל מוֹנְד) is a town in the Sharon region of Israel, located east of Netanya and north of Kfar Saba. In it had a population of ..
History
Before the 20th century, the area of Tel Mond formed part of the Forest of Shar ...
,
Central District, Israel (1999)
*
Dunfermline
Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Accord ...
,
Fife
Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...
, Scotland, UK (2001)
*
Siming District,
Xiamen, Fujian
Xiamen ( , ; ), also known as Amoy (, from Hokkien pronunciation ), is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Strait. It is divided into six districts: Huli, Siming, Jimei, Tong'an, ...
, China (2007)
*
Mérida,
Yucatán, México (2010)
Friendship cities
*
Rapperswil-Jona
Rapperswil-Jona is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of See-Gaster in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.
Besides Rapperswil and Jona, which were separate municipalities until 2006, the municipality includes Bollingen, Bussk ...
,
Kanton St. Gallen
The canton of St. Gallen, also canton of St Gall (german: link=no, Kanton St. Gallen ; rm, Chantun Son Gagl; french: Canton de Saint-Gall; it, Canton San Gallo), is a canton of Switzerland. The capital is St. Gallen.
Located in northeastern ...
, Switzerland (2017)
*
Busseto,
Emilia-Romagna
egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title ...
, Italy (2020)
See also
*
Newtown
*
Sarasota Police Department
The Sarasota Police Department is a full-service law enforcement agency for Sarasota, Florida. It provides police services to 59,000 residents. The Sarasota Police Department operates on a budget of $26,902,601 (2011–2012) with approximately ...
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
Cities in Florida
Cities in Sarasota County, Florida
County seats in Florida
Sarasota metropolitan area
Populated coastal places in Florida on the Gulf of Mexico