Our Town
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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2026 | SUN NEWSPAPERS
PHOTO BY ROD MILLINGTON
Sarasota Opera opens its winter 2026 season with performances of the Puccini classic “La boheme.”
A BRAVE NEW WORLD FOR SARASOTA ARTS GROUPS
Post-COVID and hurricanes, local leaders adjust to changes
“COVID really taught us about our vulnerability. That every moment is precious. That we should tell the people in our lives we love them. And that we all should be living our best lives.”
JAY HANDELMAN AND CARRIE SEIDMAN ArtsBeat
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ARASOTA — Six years after a global pandemic emptied theaters, museums and music halls, bringing about the demise of multiple nonprofits across the country, Sarasota’s arts organizations appear to be holding their own. But with patron habits changing; government funding dwindling; the economy and tourism shaky and the unpredictable threat of extreme weather — like the two hurricanes that hit Sarasota in the fall of 2024 — local arts groups are looking to the future with a more strategic and cautionary eye than ever before. “I’m optimistic … and also scared to death,” said Joseph Caulkins, artistic director and CEO of Key Chorale, a choral Caulkins music group. “In this climate, you have to be as bold as you can — because pulling back would be death — but also hoping to God it pays off because you won’t know until the day after the show.” To assess the state of the arts in the Sarasota area — post-COVID, hurricanes, funding cuts and cultural changes — ArtsBeat talked with leaders from about a dozen local organizations of different sizes and genres. While each face challenges specific to their own operations, many areas of common concern emerged. SHIFTING SALES PATTERNS Unlike nationwide, where subscription sales began to decline well before the pandemic, most arts organizations in the Sarasota area could reliably count on patrons snapping up full-season subscriptions early, with the lure of discounted per-performance prices and guaranteed seating. That’s no longer the case. Local patrons are being more selective in their choices and waiting longer to make their purchases.
Virginia Shearer, executive director of the Sarasota Art Museum
PHOTO BY SORCHA AUGUSTINE
Jazzmin Carson, left, and Raleigh Mosely II starred in the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe’s fall 2025 production of “Purlie.”
“One lingering effect of the pandemic is that the subscription model is flipped for us and most arts organizations,” said Julie Leach, executive director of the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, which this season saw pre-season subscription sales fall to 40 percent, compared to 60 to 75 percent previously. At the Sarasota Ballet, subscriptions reached an all-time high in early 2020, then fell 15 percent during the pandemic before beginning to climb upward. Overall box office is still down 2 percent from last year, said Executive Director Joe Volpe. Likewise, mainstage subscription sales are down at Florida Studio Theatre — where a single ticket may cost more than some subVolpe scribers pay for an entire series — and at the Sarasota Concert Association, which once had so many season subscribers patrons had to buy a series to be ensured of getting in to some performances. Subscription sales at Sarasota Opera began to rebound in 2023 and increased in 2024, but have slightly decreased recently, according to General Director Richard Russell. Overall, sales are down about 15 percent from pre-pandemic highs. “Our numbers are not entirely back, but they’re getting closer and we’re seeing growth,” he said. Particularly encouraging is that much of that growth has come from new-to-opera patrons, Russell said, whom the organization has targeted with outreach efforts. Key Chorale has seen sales increases year over year, said Trish Ivey, general manager and director of marketing. But as elsewhere, patrons are waiting until the last minute to
make their single ticket purchases. “There are very few advance sales, subscription or otherwise,” seconded CEO Caulkins. “Three to four weeks out from a performance, you don’t know if it’s going to be a stinker or a sellout. We are in a precarious position because we’re growing at a time when the economy is unknown and you don’t have a sense of being able to predict what it’s going to look like in the future.” One outlier is the Asolo Repertory Theatre, where Managing Director Ross Egan said subscriptions are actually stronger than before the pandemic. However, that hasn’t translated to an increase in revenue due to a decline in overall attendance and higher costs for productions. “As far as we know they’re the highest they’ve ever been,” he said, “but in terms of earned revenue, we’re in a similar place as we were pre-pandemic.” One factor that may be contributing to a drop in attendance locally is a notable decrease in newspaper and media coverage of the arts, forcing organizations to buy ads to make up for what they used to get for free in terms of stories and reviews, noted the Opera’s Russell. “This has been a newspaper town far longer than in other places, so that’s been a big change,” he said. “That was always a big source of PR for us. We would see interest grow as soon as an article came out.” TOURISM IS DOWN Visit Sarasota reported tourism down about 6 percent for fiscal 2025, evidencing the impact of Hurricanes Helene and Milton in the fall of 2024. Numbers were more positive last October, but seasonal residents and winter visitors appear to be coming down later, often waiting until after
the year-end holidays. That decline may have impacted the Asolo’s Rep’s fall musical “Come From Away,” which did not sell out in the way past fall shows have. “People loved it but compared to the buzz around town, you’d think that means there’s not an empty seat and we were not selling out,” said Peter Rothstein, ProducRothstein ing Artistic Director. “It had the highest buzz of any show since I’ve been here, so that’s sobering.” Despite the decline in tourism, the Sarasota Art Museum, which opened in the renovated former Sarasota High School just months before the pandemic hit, is currently enjoying a 40 percent increase in attendance over last year and the highest number of members (4,000) in its short history. That may be due to its patronage being “hyper-local,” according to Executive Director Virginia Shearer, who said 60 percent of the museum’s visitors are from Sarasota and Manatee counties. Likewise, membership numbers are up at Art Center Sarasota, in part because it is the organization’s Centennial year and also because “we are very intentional about serving our year-round community,” said Katherine Ceaser, executive director since 2024. The lower tourism numbers could also impact dozens of Sarasota County arts organizations that rely on revenue from tourist tax. The tourist tax grants were initially intended to help nonprofits extend their seasons to boost tourism yearround. Last year, 35 arts organizations shared about $2.1 million, but Sarasota County commissioners, who approve the grants, have requested changes in how the money is awarded, requiring 25 percent of an organization’s patrons be tourists. “They are forcing you to invest that More SARASOTA | B4