Public input sought for Fruitville Road roundabout art

The next time the three finalists present their sculpture concepts for the roundabout at U.S. 41 and Fruitville Road will be Tuesday, April 18. And this time, the public is invited to participate and provide input.

From 5:30-7 p.m., the artists will present their further refined concepts to the Sarasota Public Art Committee in a meeting that will be open to the public via zoom. Citizens can register for the meeting at SarasotaFL.gov/art-zoom.

During its previous meeting, sculptors Mark Reigelman and Sujin Lim, both of New York, and Shan Shan Sheng of San Francisco presented their partially developed concepts to the committee and received input for further refinements. At the April 18 meeting, the public will have the opportunity to ask questions and make comments.

The roundabout sculpture is part of the city’s Art in the Roundabouts program. The Public Art Committee has previously selected sculptures for roundabouts on U.S. 41 at 10th and 14th streets. The installation at Gulfstream Avenue is budgeted at $250,000.

The program is paid for by the city’s public art fund, to which developers contribute for any construction project valued at more than $1 million. Once the final concepts are developed, they will be presented to the Sarasota City Commission for consideration. 

This will be the second attempt to seek commission approval for art in the Fruitville Road roundabout. In April 2022, commissioners rejected the PAC’s recommendation of “Dwell,” which was also developed by current finalist Lim.