Arts & Culture

Players Circle Theater is preparing a robust seventh season, which kicks off next month. We’ll get a preview of the season ahead in a conversation with Players Circle Theater co-founder and Artistic Director Bob Cacioppo.

The new Florida Philharmonic arose after the closure of the Punta Gorda Symphony in January 2024. Ahead of the Florida Philharmonic’s second performance season, we talk with Music and Artistic Director Richard Stoelzel about his plans for the future of the symphony and his personal life journey through music.

The Sidney and Berne Davis Art Center’s latest exhibition “Exposed: The Art of Photography” explores the distinctive styles and vision of five different photographers. Ahead of the Sept. 5 opening reception, we talk with three of the featured photographers: Tonya Barnes, Beth Everhart and Brian Tietz.

The Heights Center’s MOSAIC program provides opportunities for children from low-income households to learn to play a musical instrument and to perform with ensembles of their peers. We learn about the program in an encore conversation with musician, educator, and Director of Arts and Community Programs at the Heights Center, Melissa Barlow, who founded the program.

Players Circle Theater is mounting a staged reading-style production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s iconic musical “Oklahoma!” featuring the company’s largest ensemble ever assembled. “Oklahoma!” is widely credited with ushering in the Golden Age of American musical theater. Ahead of the opening night performance, we explore this production and the musical’s enduring impact on the musical theater genre.

Bridging the Gap Center for the Arts is Southwest Florida’s newest arts and culture nonprofit. The new organization is committed to providing support, education, community, and performance opportunities for BIPOC artists. We’ll learn about the new organization in a conversation with founder and executive director Sonya McCarter, board of directors member Cotrenia Hood, and dance instructor Eden Collier.

Multi-award-winning Blues musician, songwriter, painter, and craftsman James “Super Chikan” Johnson visited Florida Gulf Coast University this past spring to speak to students and make a couple of performances at Artis-Naples. During his visit he stopped by the WGCU studios for conversation about his life’s journey through music, his handcrafted instruments made from recycled parts, and how he got his stage name.

The Heights Center’s MOSAIC program provides opportunities for children from low-income households to learn to play a musical instrument and to perform with ensembles of their peers. We learn about the program in a conversation with musician, educator, and Director of Arts and Community Programs at the Heights Center, Melissa Barlow, who founded the program.

Printmaking is an art form that has been around since the Renaissance. To ensure that it continues to flourish, some fine art printing presses regularly invite painters, sculptors and mixed media artists to come in and work with a master printer to produce fine art prints. Paulson Fontaine in Berkeley, California has done this for 25 years and through August 10, the Sarasota Art Museum is hosting a traveling exhibit of some of their prints.

The Alliance for the Arts will close the month of September for renovations that will include upgrades focused on safety, efficiency and enhancing the visitor experience.