John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art
The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art is the official art museum of the state of Florida, located in Sarasota, Florida, United States. It was established in 1927 as the legacy of Mable Burton Ringling and John Ringling for the people of Florida. Florida State University assumed governance of the museum in 2000.
The institution offers 21 galleries of European paintings as well as Cypriot antiquities and Asian, American, and contemporary art. The museum's art collection consists of more than 10,000 objects, including paintings, sculpture, drawings, prints, photographs, and decorative arts from ancient through contemporary periods. Notable holdings include 16th–20th-century European paintings, especially a significant collection of works by Peter Paul Rubens. Other artists represented include Benjamin West, Marcel Duchamp, Mark Kostabi, Diego Velázquez, Paolo Veronese, Rosa Bonheur, Gianlorenzo Bernini, Giuliano Finelli, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Frans Hals, Nicolas Poussin, Joseph Wright of Derby, Thomas Gainsborough, Eugène Boudin, and Benedetto Pagni.
In all, more than have been added to the campus, which includes the art museum, the Circus Museum, Ca' d'Zan, and the historic Asolo Theater. New additions to the campus include the McKay Visitor's Pavilion, the Kotler-Coville Glass Pavilion exhibiting studio glass art, the Johnson-Blalock Education Building housing The Ringling Art Library and Cuneo Conservation Lab, the Tibbals Learning Center complete with a miniature circus, the Searing Wing, a gallery for special exhibitions attached to the art museum, the Chao Center for Asian Art, and the Monda Gallery for Contemporary Art.
History
Construction and planning
In 1925, John Ringling hired architect John H. Phillips to design the museum. Phillips believed Sarasota would be an ideal location for a museum with Italian-inspired architecture. Dredging and filling were carried out on the marshy Shell Beach site to prepare for construction, which began on June 27, 1927. Due to financial constraints, Ringling abandoned two other concurrent projects: the Sarasota Ritz-Carlton and Ringling Estates.Ringling also envisioned establishing an art school on the museum grounds. Following the death of his wife, Mable, in June 1929, he became increasingly determined to found the John Ringling University. However, this never materialized due to his financial limitations and lack of experience in higher education.
Initial construction was undertaken by Hageman and Harris, later replaced by Chase and McElroy. Although originally scheduled to open in February 1930, the museum's debut was delayed. It opened briefly in 1930 and again in 1931 before officially opening on January 17, 1932.
Opening to Florida State University transfer
John Ringling willed his property and art collection, plus a $1.2 million endowment, to the people of the State of Florida upon his death in 1936. One instruction of the will stated that no one had permission to ever change the official name of the museum. For the next 10 years, the museum was open irregularly and not maintained professionally. Ca' d'Zan was not opened to the public while the state fought with Ringling's creditors over the estate.A. Everett "Chick" Austin Jr., who was the former director of the Wadsworth Athenaeum and a member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, was appointed director of the museum in 1946. From 1932 to 1946, the museum had no director. Although Mable Ringling was listed as director in the museum's charter, she died in 1929 before it opened.
Dr. Laurence J. Ruggiero was director of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art from 1985 to 1992. He had served in the Finance Department and as Assistant to the President at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and was director of the Oakland Museum Association. In 1989, the Circus Gallery was renovated. On January 19, 1991, the newly restored museum reopened. Curators from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Baltimore Museum, and Metropolitan architect Arthur Rosenblatt contributed to the initial evaluation. Restoration work was carried out by museum staff, conservators, and exhibition designer George Sexton, with construction funded by the State of Florida. The project received support from the Florida Legislature, Governors Bob Graham, Bob Martinez, and Lawton Chiles, and numerous private donors.
Even after prevailing in court, the Florida Department of State, which initially held responsibility for the museum, did virtually nothing to manage the endowment or maintain the property. The local community, assuming the museum was the state's responsibility, also provided little support. By the late 1990s, Ca' d'Zan was falling apart, and the exterior footpaths and roads were in disrepair. The museum had a serious roof leak, its security systems were inadequate to protect the collection, and the Asolo Theater building had been condemned. Meanwhile, the $1.2 million endowment had grown to only $2 million.
Florida State University transfer
The State of Florida transferred responsibility for the museum to Florida State University in 2000. As part of the reorganization, a board of trustees was created, consisting of no more than 31 members, with at least one-third required to be residents of either Manatee or Sarasota counties.In 2002, the state appropriated $42.9 million in construction funds on the condition that the museum raise $50 million in private-sector support within five years. The museum ultimately raised $55 million by the deadline.
In January 2007, a $76 million expansion and renovation of the Museum of Art was completed. The Arthur F. and Ulla R. Searing Wing was added as the final component of a five-year master plan that transformed the museum. It is now the sixteenth largest art museum in the United States.
In 2013, the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art was renamed The Ringling.
Continued developments
The Ringling continued expanding its galleries and educational spaces in the years following the major renovations. In 2016, the Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Center for Asian Art opened, dedicated to fostering appreciation of Asian history and art. The expansion was design by Boston based architecture firm Machado-Silvetti. That same year, the Keith D. Monda Gallery for Contemporary Art debuted as the first space at The Ringling focused specifically on modern art.In 2018, the Kotler-Coville Glass Pavilion opened as the new entrance to the Historic Asolo Theater. It showcases a growing collection of studio glass and offers free public admission.
2024 hurricanes
In September and October 2024, Hurricanes Helene and Milton struck Florida's west coast, causing significant flooding and wind damage to Sarasota and the Ringling estate.The roof of the Circus Museum was damaged, resulting in interior water infiltration. While no exhibits were harmed, the building was closed to the public for several weeks during repairs.
The Joseph's Coat skyspace exhibit by James Turrell, located in the Searing Wing of the Museum of Art, also closed temporarily during storm cleanup. It reopened in early December 2024.
Ca' d'Zan, the Ringlings' 1926 waterfront mansion, sustained major damage to its lower terrace, roof, and climate control systems. Eight feet of water flooded the basement housing the HVAC and other infrastructure. Displaced roof tiles led to water damage in upstairs rooms, and unmoored boats struck the terrace's support columns. Museum staff and FSU affiliates quickly worked to stabilize the building's interior environment. The mansion was closed to visitors indefinitely while restoration planning commenced.
The estate's grounds were among the hardest hit, especially the large hammocks of banyan trees and strangler figs. The Millennium Tree Trail remained closed for weeks as crews removed damaged trees.
The Historic Asolo Theater and the Museum of Art sustained no lasting damage, and all collections were unharmed. After power was restored following Hurricane Milton, the Ringling Museum reopened within days, offering free admission as a respite for Sarasota residents recovering from the storms.
Ringling estate
Aside from the art museum, the estate also includes the Ringlings' mansion, Ca' d'Zan; Mable Ringling's rose garden; the Circus Museum and Tibbals Learning Center; the historic Asolo Theater; the Ringling Art Library; the Secret Garden, which contains the graves of John and Mable Ringling; and the FSU Center for the Performing Arts.Dwarf Garden
The Dwarf Garden showcases stone statues that the Ringlings brought back with them during their years of travel in Europe. The Commedia dell'arte-like figures are arranged along a circular path and between banyan tree hammocks and thick stands of bamboo.Ca' d'Zan
is the waterfront residence built for Mable and John Ringling. The mansion was designed by architect Dwight James Baum, with input from the Ringlings, and constructed by Owen Burns. It was completed in 1926.The house is designed in the Venetian Gothic style. Overlooking Sarasota Bay, it served as a hub for Sarasota's cultural life for many years. The residence was restored in 2002.
Rose Garden
Mable Ringling's rose garden was completed in 1913, while she and John were residing in another house on the estate. It is located near the original Mary Louise and Charles N. Thompson residence, within the landscaped grounds overlooking Sarasota Bay.John and Mable Ringling are both buried near the rose garden, in a section known as the Secret Garden. The rose garden is surrounded by stone statues arranged in pairs, depicting figures in Italian peasant clothing engaged in scenes of courtship.
Circus Museum and the Tibbals Learning Center
The Circus Museum, established in 1948, was the first museum in the United States dedicated to documenting circus history. Its collections include handbills, posters, art prints, business records, wardrobe, performance props, circus equipment, and parade wagons.The adjacent Tibbals Learning Center houses The Howard Bros. Circus model. Built by Howard Tibbals, this -inch-to-the-foot scale model replicates the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus as it appeared from 1919 to 1938. It is billed as the "world's largest miniature circus."