John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art.html



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The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art is the state art museum of Florida, located in Sarasota, Florida. It was established in 1927 as the legacy of Mable and John Ringling for the people of Florida. Florida State University assumed governance of the Museum in 2000.¹

Designated as the official state art museum for Florida,² the institution offers twenty-one galleries of European paintings as well as Cypriot antiquities and Asian, American, and contemporary art. The museum's art collection currently consists of more than 10,000 objects that include a wide variety of paintings, sculpture, drawings, prints, photographs, and decorative arts from ancient through contemporary periods and from around the world. The most celebrated items in the museum are 16th, 17th, and 18th century European paintings, including a world-renowned collection of Peter Paul Rubens paintings and cartoons.^{citation needed}

In January 2007, a $76-million expansion and renovation of the Museum of Art was finished. A new Arthur F. and Ulla R. Searing Wing was added -- the new wing being the final component of a five-year master plan that has transformed the museum from a decaying facility to the 16th largest in the United States.³

In all, more than 150,000 square feet (14,000 m²) have been added to the campus, which includes the art museum, circus museum and Cà d'Zan, the Ringlings' mansion, which has been restored, along with the historic Asolo Theater. Entirely new are the Visitors Pavilion, the Education and Conservation Complex, the Tibbals Learning Center and Miniature Circus and the Searing Wing, a 30,000-square-foot (2,800 m²) gallery for special exhibitions attached to the art museum.³ A. Everett (Chick) Austin Jr., a member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians and, from 1927 to 1944, the innovative director of the Wadsworth Atheneum, was the Ringling Museum's first director.⁴

Ringling Estate

The Cà d'Zan mansion

Aside from the art museum, the estate also contains the the Ringling's mansion, Cà d'Zan, Mable Ringling's rose garden, the Ringling Museum of the American Circus, and the Asolo Theater.

Cà d'Zan

Cà d'Zan, (Venetian for "House of John"), is the waterfront residence built by John and Mable Ringling. The mansion was designed by architect Dwight James Baum, with assistance from the Ringlings, and was completed in 1926. It is designed in Venetian Gothic style. Overlooking Sarasota Bay, the mansion became the center for cultural life in Sarasota.⁵

Rose Garden

Mable Ringling’s rose garden was completed in 1913. The rose garden is located near the original Mary Louise and Charles N. Thompson residence within the beautifully landscaped grounds overlooking Sarasota Bay.

Ringling Museum of the American Circus

The Ringling Museum of the American Circus, established in 1948, is the first museum of its kind to document the history of the circus. The museum has a colletion of handbills, posters and art prints, circus paper, business records, wardrobe, performing props, circus equipment, and parade wagons. The museum also contains the Howard Bros. Circus model, a ¾-inch-to-the-foot scale replica of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus from 1919 – 1938, called the "world's largest miniature circus"⁶

The Circus Museum is also preparing for a new exhibition, the return of John Ringling’s personal train car, The Wisconsin, The Circus Museum has sought the expertise of Edwards Rail Car Company for restoration services.

References

External links

• The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art official website
• A Vision Rebuilt--A January 2007 article on the Revival of the Museum
• The Official Virtual Tour of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art