- Arts & Culture
- Empowering Arts Grants
With its world-class arts organizations, performances, and collections, Sarasota County has earned a reputation as Florida's "Cultural Coast." Our region is a place where inspiration and artistic expression meet -- drawing new visitors and residents every year. Because the arts so meaningfully impact our quality of life and our regional economy, Gulf Coast Community Foundation is always looking for more meaningful ways to invest in this critical sector.
How It Started
Gulf Coast has invested grants in the arts since the foundation's inception. Over the years, several exceptional arts organizations have consistently earned support from Gulf Coast and our donors because of the vital and dynamic roles they play in our cultural community.
In 2014, Gulf Coast's Board of Directors adopted a new, more flexible approach to funding these groups in pursuit of their artistic missions. Gulf Coast's "Arts Appreciation Grants" offered unrestricted funding to cornerstone arts organizations to use as they best saw fit.
For the Future, Today
After ten years, Gulf Coast saw fit to conduct a review of its former Arts Appreciation Grants, which are now rebranded as the Empowering Arts Grant Program aimed to not just appreciate, but to empower the community’s world-class arts and cultural organizations to meet their full potential.
For fiscal year 2025, our Empowering Arts Grant recipients, totaling up to $785,000 are:
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Asolo Repertory Theatre |
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Circus Arts Conservatory Made possible through the Ina L. Donnan Field of Interest Fund |
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Embracing Our Differences Made possible through the Charlotte Ellis Charitable Fund
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Florida Studio Theatre Made possible through the Mildred and Garrett Eelman Charitable Fund |
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Hermitage Artist Retreat Made possible through the Welles Murphey Fund
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Marie Selby Botanical Gardens Made possible through the A. Hamilton and Edith T. Gardner Fund
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Sarasota Ballet Made possible through the Katherine Naismith Witten Fund
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Sarasota Opera Made possible through the Zoe Anderson Charitable Fund |
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Sarasota Orchestra Made possible through the Elizabeth Miller Charitable Fund
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The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art Made possible through the Violetta Marchisio Charitable Fund
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Venice Symphony Made possible through the John and Mary Doherty Charitable Fund
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Venice Theatre Made possible through the Agnes Gnewikow Charitable Fund |
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Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe Made possible through the Helen Hamilton Fund |