Pam Schwartz and I traveled down to Lido Key on the west coast of Florida near Sarasota. Saint Amands Key is the ritzy shopping district and we were going to meet a travel reported who was writing about Florida travel for her mid-Western paper. While Pam explored for a bit I sketched in the center of town where these Greek statues were arranges in a circle. A man in a bright yellow shirt sat reading the newspaper while smoking a cigar.
Property on the island was originally purchased by Charles St. Amand in
1893, who used it for fishing in the gulf and the bay. The name of the
island, St. Armands Key, was based on a misspelling of his name. Years
later, the circus magnate John Ringling bought land on the island to
build a large residential development. His plan was to build a shopping center around a circle in the middle of the town. Due to the intervening Florida land crash, the Depression, and World War II, it wasn’t until the fifties
that the area really began to take off.
Many of the
statues date back to the twenties reflecting John Ringling’s belief in
bringing art and culture to the city of Sarasota. His travels to the Renaissance cities of Italy inspired this vision. The
classical sculpture he saw combined the realistic portrayal of
individual beauty and the humanistic aspects of localized beauty.
Sculpture was a key component of his vision as he began marketing lots
on St Armonds Key in 1927.
One of the statues in my sketch, standing in front of a beach shop at the corner of John Ringling Boulevard and St. Armands Circle is, Asclepius, the god of medicine and one of the seven virtues. Allegory of Sarasota, Its Seven Virtues was conceived and designed by Edward Pinto and was dedicated on Feb 2, 2008. Also in my sketch is Music, created by Ewald Judt. This statue represents the performing arts.
The Save Our Statues (SOS) project’s goal has the goal of preserving the
statues John Ringling purchased. Twenty-one new statues
were added in 2007 to enhance his legacy. Today, St. Armands Circle is a
hub of activity for the island that is otherwise filled with mostly posh
residences. The beach, sitting on Lido Key, on the Gulf of Mexico is
only a few blocks away.