2017–2018
ANNUAL REVIEW
Kotler-Coville Glass Pavilion
THANK YOU!
GOVERNOR
The Honorable Rick Scott
The 2017–2018 year was unusual and extraordinary. It is my pleasure to share with our valued supporters this publication which highlights the many activities of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art from July 2, 2017 to June 30, 2018. On March 2nd, nearly 200 supporters of The Ringling gathered for a special evening at Ca’ d’Zan as we announced publicly the
details of The Ringling Inspires: Honoring the Legacy and Building
for the Future campaign. This historic $100 million comprehensive campaign ensures the legacy of John and Mable Ringling remains preserved for future generations of the Sarasota community. As such, our 10,000 member households and foundation partners made record contributions to The Ringling this year to support a diverse selection of exhibitions, incredible performances, and educational opportunities which I am proud to highlight for you in this publication. Your support also helped us weather the challenge of Hurricane Irma, whose impact forced us to close to the public for nine days while we cleared our grounds and reestablished electrical power. This was the longest closure since the 1960s but luckily, the impact of the storm was less than expected and recovery efforts by our dedicated staff enabled us to be ready to open once power was restored. Despite the storm, The Ringling’s attendance once again exceeded 400,000 visitors and our financial position is stronger than ever in our history. I hope you enjoy reviewing our accomplishments over the past year.
FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY
John E. Thrasher
President
Dr. Sally E. McRorie
Provost
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Steven High
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Nancy J. Parrish, Chair Judith F. Shank, Vice Chair Jeffrey R. Hotchkiss, Treasurer Sarah H. Pappas, Secretary
Ellen S. Berman Thomas J. Charters Warren R. Colbert, Sr.
Daniel J. Denton Rebecca Donelson Kenneth J. Feld
Frances D. Fergusson
Darrel E. Flanel
Margaret Dunwoody Hausberg
Robert D. Hunter Thomas F. Icard, Jr. Dorothy C. Jenkins Thomas W. Jennings, Jr.
James A. Joseph Michael A. Kalman
Nancy Kotler
Patricia R. Lombard
Lisa A. Merritt Tina Shao Napoli Michael R. Pender Margaret A. Rolando
Javi Suarez
Edward M. Swan, Jr. Howard C. Tibbals Larry A. Wickless
Thank you, dear members, for your support and belief in The Ringling and, as always, I hope to see you at The Ringling many times this season.
EX-OFFICIO BOARD MEMBERS
David Schuler,
Chair, Volunteer Services
Advisory Council Leslie Young,
Chair, Docent Advisory Council
Steven High
Executive Director
Elizabeth Dimmitt,
Community Representative to the Board
The Ringling’s attendance once again exceeded 400,000 visitors and our financial position is stronger than ever in our history.
5401 Bay Shore Road Sarasota, FL 34243
941.359.5700
ringling.org
Accredited by the
American Alliance of Museums
Left: Curvae in Curvae (2012) by Beverly Pepper newly installed in front of the Museum of Art. Promised gift of Keith D. and Linda L. Monda.
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FINANCES
The Ringling consistently demonstrates fiscal diligence by ending every year with a surplus.
Between 2011 to 2018 our budgets grew from $12.75 million to $20 million. With the 2017–2018 fiscal year, our operating funds ended the year at $20.6 million in revenue, exceeding our budget by 4%, $20 million in expenses, 1% increase over budgeted. With fund transfers for Acquisitions ($152,250), we ended the fiscal year with a surplus of $536,421.
ATTENDANCE
403,119
38% 37% 17% 8%
Earned Revenue
TOTAL
REVENUE
$20,697,619
VISITORS
Appropriated Funds Endowment & Donations Membership
IN TOTAL
$20.6 M
REVENUE
$20.1 M
EXPENSES
TOTAL
70% 28% 2%
Program Expenses
EXPENSE
$20,161,198
$536 K
Administrative Expenses Fundraising Expenses
SURPLUS
$1.5 M
DRAW FROM ENDOWMENTS
ENDOWMENTS
The Ringling’s combined endowments (The John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art Foundation and the Florida State University Foundation) at year-end totaled $38.9 million with the annual draw from the endowments this fiscal year of $1.5 million.
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PERFORMANCE
The world premiere of Circus: Wandering City by the esteemed string quartet, ETHEL was received with great acclaim while Chucho Valdés, the Grammy award winning Cuban pianist did not fail to please as he drew cheers from audiences that included many from the Latin community. In Bird’s Eye View, the two-time Grammy winning Turtle Island Quartet, paid homage to the visionary brilliance of jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker. The series concluded with I 25 Giri, a brilliantly talented middle-school choral ensemble from Montebelluna, Treviso—just minutes from the village of Asolo, Italy.
2017–2018 held the Grand Finale of The Ringling International Arts Festival. It was a year of dynamic encounters and an exploration of world music through the innovative programming of New Stages.
A final tabulation: more than 50 guest artists from eight nations were presented in thirteen genre-defying productions. Additionally, performances on screen and on stage were held in conjunction with exhibitions, such as
T o ni Dove: Embodied Machines, National Theatre Live, The Royal Ballet and
Artist Series of Sarasota throughout the year. Furthermore, in conjunction with Ringling Underground a series of performances were curated featuring local spoken word artist Cedric Hammed who lead spontaneous poetry performances. Makoto Hirano and Danielle Gatto presented their latest Booth, Phone Booth, which allowed participants to “phone” anyone alive/ dead/fictitious using an old phone receiver. College students interpreted the theme of the visual art exhibition Dangerous Women through dance as an homage to the paintings and etchings of the daring women that traveled from our galleries to the Frost Museum of Art in Miami. In total, over 150 performances of 25 productions were staged throughout the year.
The final Ringling International Arts Festival presented twenty-five
ART OF
PERFORMANCE
performances of seven stage productions over four days. Programming expanded throughout The Ringling campus
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GUEST ARTISTS
Left: SOMI, photo by Robert Allen Mayer Below: ETHEL, photo by Zach Gross
extending out beyond the traditional theater venues and featuring artists that were both local and from
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NATIONS
around the globe. The Ringling Circus Museum
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hosted Monica Bill Barnes & Company performing Happy Hour and Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour’s White Rabbit Red Rabbit. Italy’s eVenti Verticali performed WANTED in the Asian Pavilion Courtyard, while the Turrell Skyspace and the Huntington Gallery of the Museum of Art were enlivened with contemporary music performed by local ensemblenewSRQ. The Historic Asolo Theater continued as the nucleus of the festival hosting a vibrant array of inventive artists such as Volker Gerling, who presented his intimate, yet broadly-revealing, “thumb cinema.” Sarasota native James McGinn presented the audience with Ing an Die an operatic piece that confronted audiences with a restrained performativity of post-modernism, ballet and contemporary dance. From Zimbabwe came Nobuntu, the acclaimed a-cappella quintet with a program featuring Zimbabwean folksongs, Afro Jazz, and Gospel. Nobuntu transcended racial, tribal, and religious boundaries and brought Ringling audiences to their feet.
PRODUCTIONS
IN TOTAL
@ THE RINGLING
150
PERFORMANCES
25
PRODUCTIONS
After RIAF closed, our Art of Performance season continued with New Stages: A World of Music, a series of global music featuring ensembles from Europe, South America, and the US. Hailing from Sweden, Awake Love Orchestra made their US debut at The Ringling in November, presenting their unique fusion of music. Somi, a singer/songwriter, who calls Harlem’s vibrant immigrant community of “Little Africa” home, performed Petite Afrique a song cycle inspired by her experiences as a first generation American.
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EXHIBITIONS
Skyway: A Contemporary Collaboration
JUN 24 – OCT 15, 2017
This exhibition was not only a celebration of artistic practice in the Tampa Bay area, but also an exercise in collaboration as it was shared among three institutions: The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota; the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg; and the Tampa Museum of Art. Working together, curators from these institutions provided context for the diversity of art being made in Hillsborough, Manatee, Pinellas, and Sarasota Counties. Works in the exhibition were selected from an open call by museum curators and a visiting juror.
Extraordinary Animals
SEP 22, 2017 – JAN 14, 2018
Although not as highly advertised as their exotic counterparts, domesticated animals including dogs, cats, and birds are popular performers in the circus ring. Horses, pigs, and goats also have been trained to perform astonishing displays of intelligence and feats of skill. These animal acts rely on the combination of the familiar with the unexpected to entertain. Posters celebrating the remarkable intelligence and highly developed skills of these four-legged performers once covered walls and fences across America.
Photos, top to bottom:
Ai Weiwei: Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads
Ai Weiwei, Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads: Bronze,
2010. Loaned courtesy of a Private Collection.
JUN 9, 2017 – JUN 1, 2018
Celestial Horse, China, Han dynasty (25-220 CE). Bronze with traces of polychrome, 44 ⅞ × 34 ½ × 14 ½ in. Gift of Ruth and Bruce Dayton, 2002.45. Photo: Minneapolis Institute of Art
Sculptor, photographer, installation artist, architect, and social activist, Ai Weiwei is one of the most renowned artists working today. This installation on the grounds of The Ringling featured 12 bronze Zodiac Heads arranged in an arc at the western edge of the
Museum of Art. Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads was inspired by
the fabled fountain-clock of the Yuanming Yuan, an 18th-century imperial retreat just outside Beijing. In 1860, the Yuanming Yuan was ransacked by French and British troops, and the heads were pillaged. In re-interpreting these objects on an oversized scale, Ai Weiwei focuses attention on questions of looting and repatriation, while extending his ongoing exploration of the ‘fake’ and the copy in relation to the original. He states that each piece is “a copy of an original, but not an exact copy—something that has its own sensitive layer of languages, which are different, and that bear the mark of our time.” Organized by The Ringling
Aftermath: The Fallout of War in the Middle East
OCT 15, 2017 – JAN 21, 2018
Active in the US and Middle East, the artists in this exhibition depict the conditions and people caught in the crossfire of wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Palestine, and Israel from a variety of perspectives. The artists included in Aftermath are Lynsey Addario, Jananne Al-Ani, Jennifer Karady, Gloriann Liu, Rania Matar, Eman Mohammed, Farah Nosh, Suzanne Opton, Michal Rovner, Stephen Dupont, Ben Lowy, and Simon Norfolk. Aftermath was organized by the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art at the University of Florida. together with the AW Asia Foundation, New York.
Approaching the Border
NOV 5, 2017 – JAN 21, 2018
Eternal Offerings: Chinese Ritual Bronzes from the Minneapolis Institute of Art
JUN 9 – SEP 10, 2017
Approaching the Border presented five international artists who explore the complicated facets of the US-Mexico border, a zone where the political is intensely palpable. Their works meditate on the social and political phenomena of the border and the significance of borders in an era when migration and the reemergence of nationalism are key global issues. Some of these artists stage their work in the physical space of the borderlands, in México or the US, and expose the sociopolitical realities that manifest on each side of the boundary. Other projects meditate on the power of borders as powerful signifiers and means of division as they construct national identity.
Demonstrating The Ringling’s continuing commitment to the study of Asian art, Eternal Offerings showcased nearly 100 Chinese bronze objects from the Minneapolis Institute of Art. The exhibition highlights the manner in which bronze objects were employed to conduct religious rituals, record significant events, and represent elite status from the Shang through Han dynasties (1600 BCE to 220 CE). Several of the works in the exhibition pointed to the various types of rituals—including ancestral, funereal, and musical—found in early Chinese dynasties. Eternal Offerings also demonstrates the significant role of inscriptions on bronzes, especially in the later Western Zhou dynasty (1046 – 771 BCE). Organized by the Minneapolis Institute of Art.
Photos, top to bottom: Selina Román, Solar Flare II (detail), 2016. Archival inkjet print. Courtesy of the artist. © Selina Román Donaldson Lithography Co., Alf F. Wheeler: Dog Act (detail), 1924. Tibbals Collection, ht2005017.
Ben Lowy, A car is torched, along with a Gaddafi loyalist encampment, in the roundabout outside the
Bab al-Aziziya compound, Tripoli, Libya (detail), 2011. Archival pigment print. From the series iLibya: Uprising by iPhone. Loan and image courtesy of the photographer.
Cristiana de Marchi, still from Doing and Undoing (Borders) (detail), 2013. Courtesy of the artist. © Cristiana de Marchi
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COLLECTIONS
Hank Willis Thomas: Branded/Unbranded
FEB 11 – JUN 10, 2018
In 2016 The Ringling purchased eleven photographs from Hank Willis Thomas’s
provocative series Unbranded: A Century of White Women, 1915–2015. The
entire set of 100 digital chromogenic prints by Thomas, the internationally celebrated conceptual artist, reconsiders classic advertisements over the last 100 years—minus their original text. Released from any context, brand, product, or messaging, the previously subliminal images are free to speak more directly to what is being sold: the constructed identity and reinforced stereotypes of white women in the U.S. over time. To make the archival ads he has photographed even more accessible, Thomas has added new captions—some funny and irreverent, some ironic and pointed. By mining the past to create regrettably timeless representations of disempowered white women, Thomas confronts issues that continue to inform and circulate throughout our culture today. As Thomas commented in an interview with Time in 2011, “Part of advertising’s success is based on its ability to reinforce generalizations developed around race, gender and ethnicity which are generally false, but [these generalizations] can sometimes be entertaining, sometimes true, and sometimes horrifying.”
The Ringling is committed to being the center of excellence not only in its research and education but in its diverse collections that represent European, Asian, and Contemporary/Modern Art as well as historic objects from the Ca’ d’Zan estate and circus artifacts and posters.
36,181
T o ni Dove: Embodied Machines
FEB 25 – MAR 20, 2018
OBJECTS
T o ni Dove: Embodied Machines, was the first survey of Dove’s pioneering work
which operates at the crossroads of live performance, interactive narrative, and virtual reality. The exhibition explored more than 20 years of the artist’s projects, from early installations through her interactive cinema and stage performances and concluding with her most recent experiments at the forefront of digital technology and robotics. Based in New York, Dove has been credited as being one of the innovators of “interactive cinema.” Since the early 1990s, she has been interested in creating immersive experiences where the boundary between viewer and performer is blurred and the history of consumer culture and capitalism is examined. Dove’s collaborative practice brings together vanguard visual artists, filmmakers, fashion designers, robotics engineers, computer programmers, musicians, actors, and writers. Dove, acting as the creative architect of experience, transforms the traditional artist studio system into a 21st-century idea incubator, using the work of art to inform technology.
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NEW ACQUISITIONS
In alignment with the 2013–2018 strategic plan, the collections department remains focused on collection accessibility, best practices in object preservation and conservation, and the establishment of partnerships/collaborations to stimulate collection-based research and learning opportunities. The collections staff also continues to promote The Ringling as a progressive institution by implementing current trends, exploring new techniques, actively participating in conferences, and serving on professional committees.
451
GIFTS
3
BEQUESTS
4
A Kaleidoscope of Color: The Costume Designs of Miles White
APR 22 – AUG 5, 2018
ITEMS PURCHASED
At the end of the fiscal year, The Ringling collections included 36,181 objects and 485 new acquisitions were accepted in FY 2017–18. More specifically, the museum received 451 gifts, 3 bequests, and 4 purchases. To ensure that prominent pieces are added to the collection, The Ringling Board of Directors recently approved the purchase of an 18th Century Japanese painting by Mori Tetsuzan and photographs by South African artist, Zanele Muholi, to enhance the Asian and Contemporary/ Modern collections. The total value of acquisitions received in this fiscal year is $1,184,537.50 with
3,330
Elephants transformed into swans, beautiful girls turned into birthday cakes, and clowns became kings. These whimsical visions are captured in the drawings of the talented costume designer Miles White (1914-2000). Paired with original costumes and contemporary photographs, White’s spectacular drawings evoke the adventurous era of design that emerged in mid-century American performance. This exhibition included original sketches, watercolors, swatchbooks, and other production documents. Some drawings were paired with actual wardrobe pieces and historical photographs. Over 500 of White’s original sketches and watercolors are in the Tibbals Circus Collection at The Ringling.
OBJECTS DISPLAYED
140
OBJECTS LOANED
355
OBJECTS BORROWED
Tiger, Japanese, second quarter of 19th
Photos, top to bottom:
$751,537.50 as gifts, $400,000 as bequests and $124,000 as purchases.
century. Hanging scroll; ink and colors on
Hank Willis Thomas (American, born 1976), She’s somewhat of a drag, 1959/2015 (detail), 2015. Digital chromogenic print. Museum purchase with funds provided by William and Jane Knapp, 2016. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. © Hank Willis Thomas silk. Museum purchase, 2018. SN11597
Toni Dove, The Dress That Eats Souls, artist’s studio, work in progress, segment 1950’s, 2017 (detail). © Toni Dove Miles White, Lady Godiva, 1952. Watercolor and ink on paper. Tibbals Circus Collection, ht3000600.
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CONSERVATION
The Ringling is committed to providing best care and conservation treatment to the collection.
In 2016, the museum was awarded an IMLS grant to purchase and install new painting racks in the Education Vault and Conservation Laboratory, which enabled the documentation and rehousing of 130 paintings that had been stored in an off-site storage facility. In a span of four weeks in 2017, the collections staff successfully examined, stabilized, wrapped, and moved the paintings to an environmentally controlled storage area on The Ringling campus and performed emergency conservation treatment on 43 of the paintings. The staff also supervised other conservation projects that focused on treatment of the Ca’ d’Zan terra cotta, as well as 21 historic iron loggia lanterns, and 9 stone parapet sculptures at the Museum of Art. Condition surveys were completed for 75 outdoor stone and bronze sculptures in the Museum Courtyard, as well as for 60 Japanese prints (43 of these were conserved) and 12 watercolors (11 conserved). Treatment proposals were prepared for 90 paintings and 3D objects slated for Reinstallation in galleries 16, 17, and 18.
Photos, top to bottom:
Collection accessibility is paramount to the museum experience. The Ringling displayed 3,330 objects or 9% of the collection through scheduled gallery rotations, object displays, and exhibitions. To attract a global audience to view and research objects, The Ringling continues to populate eMuseum with digital collection records and images. Currently, 87% of the collection has been digitized and 54% of these object records include digital images. The Ringling has also loaned a total of 140 objects to stimulate more interest in the permanent collections both nationally and internationally. The collections staff completed 13 courier trips to museums in the United States, England, France, and Italy, which included the Royal Academy in London, England and the Musée du Luxembourg in Paris, France. They also escorted artwork to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Met Breuer in New York, and the Nasher Museum of Art in Durham, NC. To showcase selected pieces from the European Collection and to reinforce our role as the State Art Museum
of Florida, The Ringling organized, Dangerous Women: Selections from the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, and offered it at cost to the
Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum in Miami, FL and to The Cornell Fine Art Museum in Winter Park, FL. As the State Art Museum of Florida, The Ringling maintains 16 loans at the Florida State University President’s House and 13 works at the Governor’s Mansion in Tallahassee, FL.
Sideboard with Blue China by
artist Beth Lipman reinstalled in the Kotler-Coville Glass Pavilion
Conservation Intern cleaning the early
1700s Watermelon Regatta painting
To remain current on the trends of best practices, the collections staff hosted workshops organized by the Florida Association of Museums and were collaborative partners for the Florida Historical Society annual conference. Staff shared their expertise with respect to collections management and historic preservation with fellow colleagues. They have also participated on committees or served as board members in the following organizations pertaining to collections management, conservation, and exhibitions: the Preparation, Art handling, Collections Care, Information Network (PACCIN), American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC), the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) and the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH).
