Lakewood Ranch exhibit hints at state of the arts

We all likely have heard retail follows residential development.

Is art next in line?

Certainly, Lakewood Ranch has been building residential success stories over the last 20 years, and now appears close to opening its own cultural mecca in The Players Centre for Performing Arts at the new Waterside development.

But what about an art gallery?

Since I've only lived here a couple years, I checked with those who have been in the area since the turn of the century, and they couldn't remember an art gallery anywhere in Lakewood Ranch,

So it was with interest I attended the Sarasota Visual Arts Group's "Open Studio Series" that began April 7 and runs through April 16 at 8131 Lakewood Main Street, No. 106. The hours are noon through 6 p.m. daily.

I came across Sarasota artist Jack Dowd, one of nine artists exhibiting their work during the event, and he offered a different perspective of Lakewood Ranch than I usually hear.

"This all comes down to making sales," Dowd said about any art gallery. "You want to be in a place where they are building homes. You want to have young couples buying homes as opposed to older people who are giving away their art."

When talking about Lakewood Ranch, the conversation often revolves around folks who are ... let's call them "more established." While Schroeder-Manatee Ranch CEO and President Rex Jensen has been telling us for years that Lakewood Ranch was designed to accommodate the regular working stiffs right up the enormously wealthy, both young and old, we sometimes don't listen.

Yes, young couples are moving to Lakewood Ranch, too.

Dowd, 79, is a guy who has been around. He grew up in New York City, sketching since the time he was 6. While his life path always included art, he tried various professions to earn a living. He was a teacher and that didn't go so well economically. He tried playing in a cover rock band, "The Lifeguards." They, of course, performed Beach Boys tunes.

He owned a string of 10 bars, which was a hit financially. Then he became a chain-saw artist, entertaining festival goers by buzzing away at huge blocks of wood until a grizzly bear or other figure appeared.

In his 40s, though, he decided to concentrate on sculpture for a living, because "everybody paints and draws."

He moved to Florida and found a demand for his talent and has made a living in the art world ever since. He knows a thing or two.

It was interesting to listen to his viewpoint of why an art gallery will do well on Lakewood Main Street, and especially in the space the Sarasota Visual Artists had rented for their 10-day run.

"Downtown Sarasota is overloaded with galleries," he said. "You have a lot of competition there. There is no competition here."

He loves the unit they rented. "You have big windows and high ceilings," he said. "The spotlights already are here, although this used to be a clothing store."

The atmosphere along Lakewood Main Street, which induces people to go for a stroll to visit the restaurants and taverns, should be attractive to a gallery owner, he said. Thousands of people attend First Fridays and regular special events bring hundreds or more to the area.

When Dowd first started pondering an event on Lakewood Main Street, he thought of it only as a temporary arrangement. After the exhibit's opening few days, his hope is that a prospective gallery opener checks out the space and considers the unit, which will be available again when the exhibit concludes.

University Pines' artist Tim Jaeger would like to see a gallery in Lakewood Ranch become a reality. "There definitely is a market here," he said. "We wanted to see how this community would respond to us. This community is engaged."

Myself, I would love to see it.

It's always fun to talk about somebody else's money.