Tag Archives: Art Talk

Art Talk: Karen Bell and Sarasota’s Circus Arts Conservatory

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The Circus Arts Conservatory’s mission is to engage and educate students using unique and innovative learning programs, to measurably improve the quality of life for individuals in care facilities and to advance the extraordinary legacy and heritage of the circus. CAC’s mission underscores its commitment to sharing the entertainment, education, and enrichment that circus arts provide.

A Special Message from Circus Arts Conservatory:
Regarding what is going on right now: Circus Arts Conservatory has pivoted its platform and moved online with CAC Connects. We are using new technology to promote our online performances and classes. CAC has been running summer camp on a much smaller scale this year with success while keeping the campers and staff safe and healthy. We are still optimistically planning for our ’20-’21 season, but we are being prudent and monitoring the situation.

Karen Bell

We sat down recently to chat with Karen Bell, a very talented artist and Professional Circus Clown with Sarasota’s Circus Arts Conservatory. Karen joined CAC in 2005 and has been instrumental in progressing CAC’s outreach programs and creating circus arts curriculum and education programs for the Conservatory.

Division of Cultural Affairs (DCA):  Why did you choose a career in the arts?

Karen: I had no choice! The arts have been a part of me from my early childhood when I made my poor family watch me perform in the living room. Visual arts and performing arts both satisfy my inner self – I find that clowning is a way for me to bring all my talents together into one art form. I am able to create my own costumes and props, write my own material, choose my music and enjoy the audience’s laughter.

Circus Arts Conservatory’s Karen Bell & Robin Eurich performing – photo by Cliff Roles

DCA: How long have you worked in Florida?

Karen: I came to Florida in 1985 to attend Ringling Brothers Clown College. After that I was on the road but I still called Florida my home. I have been back full-time since 2005, when I began working for The Circus Arts Conservatory.

Karen Bell and Robin Eurich performing – photo by Cliff Roles

DCA: What is the best part about your job?

Karen: The best part of my job is working with people who are passionate about our mission.

“I have so much respect for Pedro Reis and Dolly Jabobs-Reis and their vision for the future of the @CircusArtsSRQ, as well as the future of #circus as an art form.” – Karen Bell

Clown-Week kicks off with Karen Bell and Robin Eurich – video produced by Richard Czina

Also, it’s great knowing that no two days will be alike. There is always something that comes up… and no two audiences are alike either, from students in the classroom to senior citizens to our circus audiences. I love working with our Sailor Circus Academy and working with the students that are a part of our Circus Arts Magnet program at Sarasota High School, and I am looking forward to the start of a new Magnet program with Sarasota’s  Booker Middle School.

Karen Bell works with a student – photo by Daniel Perales

DCA: Tell us a little bit about your organization. What are you currently working on?

Karen: Since the beginning of the pandemic, performance has been, of course, discontinued. The Conservatory still wanted to finds ways to engage with our audience, so we introduced CAC Connects. Each day we publish content to Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. It is also on our website CircusArts.org.

Clowning Elements with Karen and Robin – video produced by Karen Bell

We are sharing everything from past circus performances, to educational videos for elementary students, and exercise classes with our Sailor Circus Academy coaches to keep our Sailor Circus students in shape. We also created an amazing live virtual performance called ‘One World Circus’ with professional, world class circus artists from around the world! What an incredible achievement for us – there were 1,700 people from all over the world watching the performance!

DCA: In your opinion, what is the greatest contribution that your organization makes to your community?

Karen: The CAC touches the lives of people from 0 to 100, and with our Education Program we teach physics, language arts and theater in classrooms across Sarasota, Manatee and Hardy Counties. It’s invaluable to work with middle and high school students through our Magnet program.

Karen Bell working with students at the Sailor Circus Academy – photo by Daniel Perales

Students from the Sailor Circus Academy benefit in many ways through the rigorous training program we provide, not only learning circus skills but learning life skills as well. We bring entertainment, memory stimulation and joy to senior citizens at their senior communities and, of course, during our performances of Circus Sarasota and Sailor Circus.

Robin Eurich and Karen Bell work with a student – photo by Daniel Perales

DCA: What do you think of when you hear “Culture Builds Florida”? Why are the arts and culture important to our state?

Karen: Art is not just important to Florida, but to the world! Circus has deep roots in Sarasota, first with John Ringling bringing the Ringling Bros’ Winter Quarters here and then other circuses followed suit. When Ringling came, his arrival also brought culture to Sarasota; he and his wife Mabel were great art lovers, and they would bring back famous pieces with them when traveling Europe which are now housed in the Ringling Museum. Many cultural arts programs followed soon after.

Slappy and Monday headlining at the Summer Circus Spectacular – video produced by Starfruit Productions

DCA: Is there anything you would like to add?

Karen: As the future is still questionable for the performing arts, we are continuing to be relevant. The CAC will be in schools teaching Circus Science virtually, and we will hopefully be bringing back our Sailor Circus students to start training in our newly renovated and well maintained arena. Our performances will happen again this year, but in what form we are not sure. But rest assured, we will continue to preserve the art of the circus!

The Division thanks Karen Bell and Circus Arts Conservatory for their participation in this interview. For more info about CAC and their programs, be sure to visit their website at www.circusarts.org.
Also, be sure to check out more videos from Clown Week on their YouTube, Facebook and Instagram @ CircusArtsSRQ.

Art Talk: Leiland Theriot, Executive Director of Florida Alliance for Arts Education

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Leiland Theriot is Executive Director of the Florida Alliance for Arts Education (FAAE). The Division of Cultural Affairs recently talked with Leiland about FAAE’s newest partnership with Interactive Academy to provide teaching artists and students access to virtual arts education and remote classes.

Division of Cultural Affairs (DCA): Can you tell us a little bit about FAAE?

Leiland: The Florida Alliance for Arts Education was founded by Dr. June Hinkley (FDOE) and Dr. Mary Palmer (UCF Dean) in collaboration with arts educators and agencies from around the state, including the Department of Education and Division of Cultural Affairs, to establish the Arts for a Complete Education (ACE) coalitions.  Our mission is to improve, enhance, and promote arts education in the state of Florida.  We are currently funded by the FDOE ACE Grant and by two grants from DCA: one for General Support and the other from the National Endowment for the Arts Special Initiative.

DCA: FAAE’s new partnership with the Interactive Academy to provide arts education classes through a virtual platform is particularly timely. How will it work?

Leiland: The FAAE and the Interactive Academy will partner with teaching artists anywhere in the state to remotely continue to provide arts instruction to their students. The delivery can be to one student, or 20, or 1000. IA has several delivery platforms available. The FAAE is the paymaster, registration, and additional marketing. There are no costs initially, and the three will split the net revenue evenly. The best thing is that the platforms are secure and private!

DCA: What was the genesis of the project?

Leiland: Ricardo Canchola (IA) approached me in January at Arts in the Capital Day. We began our discussion, thinking we might have everything worked out by maybe the summer or fall. And then the Coronavirus Pandemic happened, and we were watching our friends losing their “gig” pay. We had respond quickly to try and get them working again.

DCA: Teaching artists are a valuable resource. Are you looking for particular disciplines?

Leiland: No, we are not. You can do any arts discipline. There is a warning for musicians, however – live ensemble playing does not work on any digital platform, due to latency issues.  We do have other options, however, that will work for delivering music instruction.

DCA: What qualifications does a teaching artist need to take part in the program?

Leiland: Our teaching artist should have a high level of content knowledge, and have had experience in delivering online lessons. This is fairly simple to learn the digital platform, and Ricardo has developed video tutorials and is willing to chat with anyone having difficulties. You will need a laptop with video and audio (camera and mic), and your ping speed should be around 20-30 mbps at minimum, around 50 mbps on uploads if you plan to livestream. Visit Speed Test to check your speed.

DCA: How does a teaching artist sign up?

Leiland: Click HERE for the proposal form. You can also get there by going to https://www.faae.org. The first banner on the landing page has a button that takes you to the page for the Interactive Academy, and there you will find a button to Submit a Proposal.

DCA: How do you plan to attract students to the platform?

Leiland: The FAAE has email distribution lists for memberships (over 3500), local arts agencies, and public schools arts supervisors (who will send to teachers to send to students). Also, most teaching artists already have access to the emails for past participants.

DCA: What is the ultimate goal of the initiative?

Leiland: Our initial goal is to get teaching artists working again. However, once we have a solid revenue stream it is our intention to use it to support our mission – to improve, enhance, and promote arts education. There are four school districts with less than 20% arts education. Those districts do not have elementary music or visual art classes for their students. I would like to see what we could do to change that.

DCA: Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Leiland: I left teaching three years ago to be the Executive Director of the FAAE. I have never regretted that. I love being able to work with such consummate professional artists, teaching artist, and arts educators. It has been a blessing to work with the people at the Division of Cultural Affairs and the Department of Education to support arts instruction throughout the state. Thank you!

The Division thanks Leiland Theriot and Florida Alliance for Arts Education for their participation in this interview. To learn more about FAAE, visit their website: https://www.faae.org/

Interested in being featured on Culture Builds Florida? Click HERE fro the proposal form (Note: submission does not guarantee inclusion.)

Meet the Florida Council on Arts and Culture: Rivers H. Buford, III

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The Florida Council on Arts and Culture is the 15-member advisory council appointed to advise the Secretary of State regarding cultural grant funding and on matters pertaining to culture in Florida.

Appointments to the Council are determined by the Governor, President of the Senate and Speaker of the House, in consultation with the Secretary of State. The Governor manages seven seats that serve four-year terms. The President and Speaker manage four seats each, with terms of two years. The appointments are based on geographic representation, as well as demonstrated history of community service in the arts and culture.

In this bi-monthly series, we will introduce you to each member of the council and share their thoughts on the role of arts and culture in the state of Florida. This month, we chatted with Rivers Buford. Rivers was appointed to the council in 2019 by Governor DeSantis. 

Division of Cultural Affairs (DCA): Tells us a little bit about yourself.

Rivers: As a Government Relations practitioner, I have represented a variety of groups before the state and national government for the past 30 years. I help those who don’t understand public policy or have time to engage in the legislative process. I served under eight different Secretaries’ of State and as a policy advisor to a Senate President.

When I’m not working, I enjoy walking around the woods of my family’s mountain cabin in Clayton, Georgia. I am entering my 35th year of marriage. My wife and I have one daughter, Kathryn Elizabeth. In addition, I have one loyal four-legged family member, Scout, named after Jean Louise in To Kill a Mockingbird.

DCA: Why are the arts and culture important to our state?

Rivers: When I first joined the DOS staff as a team member, the Honorable Katherine Harris was Secretary of State. She sat down with me and explained the value of the arts in cultural relationships, interpersonal relationships and professional business relationships. People want friends with common interests. Art and it’s many disciplines is the universal language that everyone can appreciate, no matter what language they speak or where they live. That is why she felt (and rightfully so) a cultural mission should precede an economic trade mission, to serve as the ice breaker in finding common ground with our future trading partners. The Arts are an economic engine for our state. More people attend events of the arts than sporting events. 

DCA: For you, what is the most inspiring part about working in the arts?

Rivers: I appreciate art in its many disciplines. though I can’t play a single instrument or sing anywhere other than my shower, or paint anything other than a solid wall, I admire those who do, and how they think. It is a gift that I hope to be able to help share with others, so they can learn to appreciate them also.

DCA: What do you hope to accomplish as a member of the Florida Council on Arts and Culture?  

Rivers: I’m an avid (some say rabid) collector of the The Highwaymen Art movement. I hope to be able to light the fire in the minds of other to appreciate our many different disciplines through visits to galleries and museums of all types around our great state. And then hopefully, they will buy something. I once heard, living artist need you to buy now, so they can continue to produce. Dead artists, though their works are great, no matter what the discipline, don’t need the money and are not contributing to our economy.