Downtown group invests in art festival concept

Mark Kauffman has a big idea, but he thinks part of its beauty lies in its simplicity.

Kauffman, a downtown property owner, wants to help organize a Sarasota arts festival that features performances across a variety of mediums — theater, orchestra, opera, ballet and more. Given the region’s reputation as a cultural hub on Florida’s west coast, Kauffman believes such a festival is a logical undertaking for Sarasota’s arts community, and the feedback he’s gotten thus far has vindicated that belief.

“Anyone who’s heard about this is so enthusiastic about it,” Kauffman said. “They ask the same question: Why hasn’t it been done before? It’s so obvious.”

On Aug. 3, Kauffman presented information about his vision to the Downtown Improvement District, a self-taxing group of property owners for which he serves on the board of directors. Once again, he found a receptive audience: At the conclusion of the conversation, the DID board voted 5-0 to approve allocating $100,000 toward the art festival concept.

For the presentation, Kauffman was joined by Jim Shirley, the executive director of the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County, and Jeffery Kin, the artistic director for The Players Centre for Performing Arts. Both Shirley and Kin shared Kauffman’s excitement about the potential to put together an annual festival as a destination event and a showcase for local artists.

“From the first moment I heard about this idea from Dr. Kauffman, I was completely sold,” Kin said.

Shirley said the Arts and Cultural Alliance could serve as a leading supporter for the event as an organizing group comes together, and Kin expressed an interest in taking a leading role in coordinating the festival. Kauffman envisioned taking three years to put the inaugural festival together, a timeline with which Kin said he agreed.

Kin said the first steps would have to be simple, starting a conversation within the arts community about fundamental details for a festival. Who’s interested in participating? When could it realistically be held? What would it be called? Kin said it was important to be meticulous early on to set up the festival for long-term success.

Both Kin and Shirley noted that an arts festival featuring a variety of local organizations wasn’t an entirely new idea, but that sort of concept hasn’t been able to come together in the past. Kin said the leaders of this initiative would need to showcase why this iteration of the idea would succeed. He said it was helpful that this proposal originated with a private group of property owners, which could allow the festival to present itself as an independent entity that would treat all participating arts organizations equally.

“Some of the arts groups, when you mention a festival, will be like, ‘Well, we’ve heard this before — how is this going to be different?’” Kin said to the DID board. “I think this very meeting and your investment is what makes this different.”

DID board member Eileen Hampshire said she loved the idea, but she was concerned that a limited amount of performance space would present a logistical problem. Kin and Shirley affirmed that was a challenge the festival would need to navigate, but they expressed optimism about the prospect of making it work, especially if there were a few years of lead time.

“As organizations see the opportunity of a unified festival like this to really continue the brand that we have, we’ll find support, and we’ll get creative on our spaces as we go,” Shirley said.

DID board member Ron Soto questioned why the downtown group would be a leading investor in the festival if the venues would span all of Sarasota. Shirley and Kin said the festival could start with a greater presence in the downtown area, but they also expressed interest in seeking additional financial support from other corners of the community.

“There’s only one way you’re going to build a big festival,” Shirley said. “That’s to embrace that bigness.”

Ultimately, the DID board was unanimous in its support for the festival concept.

“I just think this is a game-changer,” Kauffman said. “It could grow into something huge. It could put Sarasota on the cultural map that it deserves to be on.”