The overriding message at the second annual Arts Summit was clear: The arts are good for the health and well-being of both Sarasota’s economy and its community members – and it’s important they not be taken for granted.

The afternoon-long May 11 summit, hosted by the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County and held at the FSU Center for the Performing Arts, included speeches full of facts and figures about the impact of the arts; performances showcasing local artists and shows; a couple of “Creative Champions” awards and even an audience sing-along conducted by Key Chorale’s Artistic Director Joseph Caulkins.  

With nonprofit arts leaders, elected officials, patrons and performers in attendance, speakers were primarily “preaching to the choir,” but that didn’t diminish the importance of the message. The program got off to a melodious start with a rendition of “America the Beautiful” sung in harmony by a quartet from Key Chorale.

“The arts make America beautiful,” said Brian Hersh, CEO of the Alliance, “which is why we wanted to start that way.”

Sarah Cartwright, The Ringling Museum’s curator of collections, shared John Ringling’s original vision for a community where art provides a way for all people to relate not only to themes that are eternal – love, death, meaning, purpose – but to each other. The Ringling museum was established in 1927 and bequeathed to the state of Florida, under the governance of Florida State University, upon Ringling’s death in 1936.

Angelica Hull, the Alliance’s director of grants and advocacy, noted how, in a post-pandemic era when “we are in the middle of an isolation epidemic” – with participation in social clubs, religion and volunteering all having diminished from prior levels – engagement in the arts builds connection and supports mental health. The benefits, documented by scientific research, can be physical as well – lowering inflammation, releasing oxytocin (the “love” hormone), decreasing stress and slowing aging.

“Creative practice has been linked to brains that are 5 ½ to 7 years younger for artists,” said Hull.

Aude Mondé, the Alliance’s director of advancement, explained the 85-member organization’s efforts in the areas of advocacy, funding, arts education, opportunity grants, speaking engagements and tours, while Sarasota County Schools Superintendent Terry Connor assured the crowd that, despite the district’s current financial straits, arts will “continue to be the last option for cost-cutting in Sarasota schools.”

Alicia Brown, a visual artist from Jamaica, and Tania Vergara Perez, a choreographer from Cuba, received awards as “Creative Champions” and shared with interviewer Maria Schaedler-Luera how engaging in their art and connecting with other artists provided stability and community in their transition to a new country and cultural landscape.

Interspersed between speakers were brief performances, ranging from poetry read by a white haired and bearded Bubba Henson to an audience sing-along of the Beatles’ “Hey Jude” conducted by Caulkins that offered different harmonies for bass, tenor, alto and soprano singers. Maiesha McQueen and Alexis J. Roston, currently performing in the Asolo Repertory Theater’s production of “Marie and Rosetta,” belted out rousing renditions of “Didn’t It Rain?” and “I Want a Tall Skinny Papa” from the show.

But the creative highlight of the afternoon was a classical/rock/pop mashup played by two young musicians, both former competition and scholarship winners, brought together by Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota just two months ago. Matrick Thorpe, on cello, and Colin Leonard, on saxophone, performed a jazzy “Medley of Kings” they arranged themselves that included original renditions of “In the Hall of the Mountain King,” an orchestral work from 1875 by Edvard Grieg; “Seven Nation Army” by the rock duo The White Stripes; and pop king Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature.”

The program concluded with an informative and impassioned speech by Tim Jaeger, co-owner of the 502 Gallery and Director of Galleries and Chief Curator at Ringling College of Art and Design, who detailed where Sarasota’s arts community began, where it stands today and where it is headed.

Just as it is crucial for us to reclaim and celebrate Sarasota’s arts history, which began with the Sarasota Artists Colony post-WWII, so is it critical to “build forward with clarity,” Jaeger said, making Sarasota not just a destination for creativity, but a home for creatives. That should include creating pathways for younger and underrepresented artists, investing in arts education and strengthening connections between institutions to share resources, ideas and audiences.

Arts journalism, he said, is also “part of sustaining a healthy cultural eco-system,” as is improving accessibility and affordability to the arts and making sure everyone feels welcome to participate.

“None of this sustains automatically,” Jaeger said. “We need to show up. If we become passive or complacent there are real consequences. We risk losing the very thing that has made Sarasota distinctive for decades.”