New art projects announced

The city of Sarasota’s volunteer public-art coordinator has plans for two new downtown public art projects.

Virginia Hoffman, who has served as a member of the city’s Public Art Committee for eight years, is proposing a large interactive public-art project on Main Street.

Hoffman is working with Dr. Clifford Smith, who oversees the public-art program, to start the project.
Once it’s accomplished, it will be the city’s largest public-art project and could take more than a year to complete.

Hoffman is working with the Sarasota Convention and Visitors Bureau, Sarasota Art Alliance, the Sarasota County Economic Development Corp., the Downtown Sarasota Alliance and Downtown Improvement District to create the project.

“We would be calling all artists to create works of art to display all over historical Main Street,” Hoffman said. “All of these organizations will be working with us to provide input on what type of project this could become.”

Hoffman said it would take at least a year to go through the city’s approval process and to obtain new works of art from area artists.

“This will be our most involved art project to date,” Hoffman said. “We are very excited about it.”
Hoffman is also currently issuing a call to all local artists to showcase works of art on a quarterly basis at the historic Federal Building, 111 S. Orange Ave.

“We plan to have four cycles of artwork a year, with artists selling their work without any commissions being taken,” Hoffman said. Artwork opening receptions will also be available for artists at the Federal Building.

“We believe it’s a great fit for a wonderful, historical building,” Hoffman said. “The art showcases should complement the building well.”

The announcements come six months after the Public Art Committee created a program that placed one-dozen sculptures throughout the city’s five shopping districts.

The committee chose the 12 works of art that are featured on Main Street and Palm Avenue and in Burns Square, Towles Court and the Rosemary District.

Those 12 sculptures, part of the “Intersections” public-art project, will remain in place for a year, after which one of the 12 will be chosen as the recipient of a $20,000 award. That sculpture will then become an permanent art fixture downtown.

“We hope these new projects will be as successful as the 12-sculpture project has been,” said Hoffman, noting that a walking tour map of the 12 sculptures has also been published. “It’s an element of the community that has done wonders to promote downtown.”