Friday, October 23, 2020

Van Wezel seeks input on new performance center

https://www.yoursun.com/van-wezel-seeks-input-on-new-performance-center/article

By TRACEY BEEKER Guest Writer Oct 21, 2020



The Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin Group. Its color was selected from the lining of a sea shell found on a Sarasota Beach.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY VAN WEZEL PERFORMING ARTS HALL


SARASOTA — The Van Wezel Foundation is launching a regional, communitywide survey to obtain feedback for the planning of a new Sarasota Performing Arts Center at the center of The Bay Park near downtown Sarasota.

The Sarasota Performing Arts Center is at the heart of the city of Sarasota’s master plan to develop the Sarasota Bayfront into a cultural and economic legacy for the region.

The regional survey spans from Tampa to Port Charlotte and is being conducted by Alexander Babbage, a national scientific-based research firm specializing in cultural destination studies. All participant data will remain anonymous. Visit MySarasotaPerforming ArtsCenter.org to take the survey.

The Van Wezel Foundation is leading the vision for the new performing arts center in a public-private partnership with the city of Sarasota. The goal for the Center is to operate 12 months out of the year and present relevant, world-class programming for all audiences.

Preliminary planning calls for a state-of-the-art 230,000-square-foot multi-purpose facility that provides programming all year long, and includes various performance and civic spaces:

• 2,250-seat main stage with universal accessibility

• 400-seat flexible performance space

• 10,000-square-foot education and lifelong learning center

• multiple outdoor public performance spaces

• state-of-the-art technology and design advances

As one of the first performing arts centers to be built post-pandemic in the country, the Sarasota Performing Arts Center will be a national model for architecture, patron health and safety, and coastal resilience, playing a meaningful role to further promote the Gulf Coast region as a preeminent cultural destination.

Obtaining feedback from the community is an essential first step to advance the project forward.

“For more than 30 years, the Van Wezel Foundation has partnered with the city of Sarasota to enhance the quality of life for our community,” said Cheryl Mendelson, CEO of the Van Wezel Foundation. “With input from regional communities, we have a tremendous opportunity to make the Sarasota Performing Arts Center a place for ideas, a place for the arts, a place for you.

“The new performing arts center will serve as an iconic civic asset that meets the needs of everyone living in and visiting the entire Gulf Coast region.”

The 8-to-10-minute online survey will assist the foundation as it plans to develop the new mission-based performing arts center.

The SPAC community engagement initiative is being supported through a grant from the Community Foundation of Sarasota County and will be available to the public through Nov. 30.


Ali H. Johnston, MBA in Real Estate

REALTOR®, Lic. Broker #BK3284964



West Villages Realty LLC
19503 S West Villages Pkwy
Stes A2 (by Appt)
Venice, Florida 34293
Office: 941-460-3179












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