ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE
The Sarasota Performing Arts Foundation brings nationally recognized artists to our community through partnerships with local arts and social service organizations.
2025 RESIDENCY
ARTISTS
We’re looking forward to welcoming our next Artists in Residence, who will bring new ideas, energy, and creativity to Sarasota. Through performances, workshops, and community collaborations, these artists will help us explore the power of the arts to inspire, heal, and connect.
Stay tuned for upcoming announcements, and join us in celebrating the transformative impact of the arts in our community.
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PAST ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE
Kevin Spencer
From April 21–26, 2025, magician Kevin Spencer made his Sarasota debut as part of the Sarasota Performing Arts Foundation's Artist in Residence program. Kevin, an award-winning performing artist and academic, partnered with The Haven, Pinnacle School, Oak Park, and others to conduct his "Hocus Focus™" workshops, exploring how magic can support learning for individuals with disabilities.
April 2025
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The Magic of Kevin Spencer is a performance for people of all ages and abilities. It features award-winning magician Kevin Spencer in a fun-filled show that combines storytelling, stage magic, and audience participation. This sensory-inclusive performance is designed to create an experience that is welcoming to all audiences including families with individuals with autism or other developmental or intellectual disabilities that create sensory sensitivities. This is a show the entire family will enjoy!
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The Magic of Kevin Spencer is a performance for people of all ages and abilities. It features award-winning magician Kevin Spencer in a fun-filled show that combines storytelling, stage magic, and audience participation. This sensory-inclusive performance is designed to create an experience that is welcoming to all audiences including families with individuals with autism or other developmental or intellectual disabilities that create sensory sensitivities. This is a show the entire family will enjoy!
SCHEDULE
Dr. Kevin Spencer is an award-winning performing artist and academic who, along with his wife Cindy, toured the world for over 25 years with one of the largest theatrical illusion productions in the U.S. After stepping away from the stage, he became a leading authority on the therapeutic benefits of magic for individuals with disabilities, trauma histories, and developmental challenges. He holds a Ph.D. in Special Education, has published in peer-reviewed journals, and serves on the faculties of Harvard Medical Teaching Hospital, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Carlow University. Dr. Spencer’s programs, Hocus Focus™ and Magic Therapy™, have earned multiple international awards for innovation in health, education, and the arts.
Adrian Anantawan
Adrian Anantawan returned to Sarasota to culminate his three-year residency. Following his previous seasons of exploring accessibility and barriers to the arts, Adrian focused that season on innovation in the arts and how it could increase opportunities. That year, Adrian partnered with The Haven, Easter Seals of Southwest Florida, Oak Park School, the University of Florida Innovation Lab, and more.
January 2025
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Mixing, Mingling, and Music. A special evening of reflection through music and the arts. Grab a glass of wine and engage with music in a whole new way.
Join Sarasota Performing Arts Foundation’s Artist in Residence, Adrian Anantawan for an intimate evening experience the power of music. Adrian will present an interactive, therapeutic concert featuring violin classics—pieces will be presented in a dialogue format, where Adrian will speak after each piece, encouraging the audience to explore their own relationship to music and self-expression. Art Supplies will be available for creative reflection during and after the concert.
707 N Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL 34236
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Adrian will present a musical journey of his life, growing up with a disability—this short concert is family-friendly, interactive, and will feature violin works ranging from classical, jazz and tango styles, and even piece co-composed by the audience live!
All families will receive a free book - “My Family Plays Music”
1331 1st St, Sarasota, FL 34236
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Adrian will perform a free outdoor Public Performance at The Bay Park as part of its Sundays at the Bay Series. Adrian will present an interactive, family friendly concert featuring violin works ranging from classical, jazz and tango styles—the program will feature Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess Suite and Piazzolla’s Four Seasons. The performance will include students from The Haven and other guests to be determined.
SCHEDULE
Adrian Anantawan is a violinist and educator with degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music, Yale University, and Harvard Graduate School of Education, having studied under renowned musicians like Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman. He has performed at prestigious venues and events including the White House, the Olympics, and Carnegie Hall, and has played for figures such as Pope John Paul II and the Dalai Lama. Adrian has led innovative programs like the Virtual Chamber Music Initiative and the Music Inclusion Program, creating opportunities for young musicians with disabilities. He currently serves as Chair of Music at Milton Academy, Artistic Director of Shelter Music Boston, and continues to perform, teach, and advocate for disability inclusion worldwide.
Urban Bush Women
In May 2024, we welcomed Urban Bush Women for an inspiring residency in Sarasota. During their time with us, their dance facilitators explored themes of community alongside female artists and collaborated with local partner organizations. The residency concluded with a dynamic performance and workshop mashup, bringing together Urban Bush Women, local artists, and our audiences in a free public event. This memorable experience celebrated creativity, connection, and community engagement.
May 2024
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No Registration Required. For information please contact (941) 955-2122 — Intended for ages 50+, this movement jam/dance class embraces the ideas that each individual has a unique and powerful contribution to make, and that our bodies are a powerful source of agency. The goal is for "every body" to find their level of challenge and comfort and partake according to their abilities, and to appreciate the groups’ diversity as an attribute to their community. This is a movement class designed for the community so no prior dance experience is needed. Participants explore UBW's technique with close attention to the use of breath, weight, call and response and polyrhythm.
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This event requires pre-registration with Resilient Retreat which can be completed at resilientretreat.org/the-retreat/application or by calling (941) 343-0039 — In partnership with the Resilient Retreat, This participatory workshop will focus on self-care, rejuvenation, and (re-) constructing healthful images of ourselves and our communities. As we move, share stories, and discuss holism practices from food choices to daily stress relief, Urban Bush Women BOLD Facilitators offer simple tools for reinhabiting our bodies and reinforcing holism from the inside out. We will also bring out and affirm the wisdom that is already in the group, fostering resource exchange and building community. The goal is to bring ourselves to balance, thereby bringing our families and communities to balance as well. No dance or fitness experience is necessary...just a body and a willingness to exhale!
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This is a closed event where Urban Bush Women will be leading worksop for Booker High School students.
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This is a closed event where Urban Bush Women will be leading worksop for Sarasota Contemporary Dance.
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This is a closed event where Urban Bush Women will be leading worksop for Sarasota Contemporary Dance.
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Registration Requested: Register Here — Join 2024 artists in residence from Urban Bush Women (Jaimé Yawa Dzandu, Kentoria Earle, Love Muwwakkill, Mikaila Ware) as they perform an excerpt from Haint Blu followed by a collaborative performance developed with community artists from Sarasota Contemporary Dance, Create Latino, and more.
Haint Blu is an ensemble dance-theater work seeped in memory and magic. Known as the color that Southern families paint their front porches to ward off bad spirits, Haint Blu uses performance as a center and source of healing, taking us through movement into stillness and rest: remembering, reclaiming, releasing, and restoring. It is an embodied look into familial lines and the movements, histories and stories of our elders and ancestors. It reflects on what has been lost across generations and what can be recovered. Haint Blu takes us to the magical place where spirits share their legacies journey onward, and leave the thick residue of their knowing behind.
After the performance, stay for a special Dance for Every Body Workshop. This movement jam/dance class embraces the ideas that each individual has a unique and powerful contribution to make, and that our bodies are a powerful source of agency. The goal is for "every body" to find their level of challenge and comfort and partake according to their abilities, and to appreciate the groups’ diversity as an attribute to their community. This is a movement class designed for the community so no prior dance experience is needed. Participants explore UBW's technique with close attention to the use of breath, weight, call and response and polyrhythm.
Address: 655 N Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL 34236
Haint Blu is an ensemble dance-theater work seeped in memory and magic. Known as the color that Southern families paint their front porches to ward off bad spirits, Haint Blu uses performance as a center and source of healing, taking us through movement into stillness and rest: remembering, reclaiming, releasing, and restoring. It is an embodied look into familial lines and the movements, histories and stories of our elders and ancestors. It reflects on what has been lost across generations and what can be recovered. Haint Blu takes us to the magical place where spirits share their legacies journey onward, and leave the thick residue of their knowing behind.
After the performance, stay for a special Dance for Every Body Workshop. This movement jam/dance class embraces the ideas that each individual has a unique and powerful contribution to make, and that our bodies are a powerful source of agency. The goal is for "every body" to find their level of challenge and comfort and partake according to their abilities, and to appreciate the groups’ diversity as an attribute to their community. This is a movement class designed for the community so no prior dance experience is needed. Participants explore UBW's technique with close attention to the use of breath, weight, call and response and polyrhythm.
Address: 655 N Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL 34236
SCHEDULE
Urban Bush Women (UBW) galvanizes artists, activists, audiences, and communities through performances, artist development, education, and community engagement. With the groundbreaking performance ensemble at its core, and ongoing programs including the Summer Leadership Institute (SLI), BOLD (Builders, Organizers & Leaders through Dance), and the Choreographic Center Initiative, UBW affects the overall ecology of the arts by promoting artistic legacies; projecting the voices of the under-heard and people of color; and bringing attention to and addressing issues of equity in the dance field and throughout the United States. UBW provides platforms and serves as a conduit for culturally and socially relevant experimental art makers.
Adrian Anantawan
In his second year as Artist in Residence, Adrian Anantawan returned to inspire and engage our community. A world-class violinist and educator, Anantawan was born without a right hand and has become a powerful advocate for people with disabilities, raising awareness about issues of access and equity in arts communities. His residency highlighted the importance of inclusion and representation in the arts.
March 2024
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Screening Process Required to Attend — In partnership with the Resilient Retreat, Adrian will present an interactive, therapeutic concert featuring violin classics from Mozart to Gershwin—pieces will be presented in a dialogue format, where Adrian will speak after each piece, encouraging audiences at the Resilient Retreat to explore their own relationship to music, self-expression and healing.
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Adrian will present a musical journey of his life in this family friendly concert! This event is interactive and will feature violin classics from Mozart to Gershwin, and a piece co-composed by YOU - the audience - live!
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Adrian will perform a FREE inspiring, family-friendly program with works by headlined Gershwin, Mozart and Kreisler as part of the Signature Artists of the Bay series. The performance will also include students with disabilities from The Haven and students from Booker High School, with a theme of overcoming adversity and adaptation through the power of music and community.
SCHEDULE
About our Artist in Residence Program
The Foundation’s artist-in-residence program started in 2021 with Kennedy Center Citizen Artist, Olmeca. The program brings distinguished artists to the Gulf Coast Region to engage in artistic exploration of a community need. In 2024, Artists in Residence will explore building community while continuing to explore barriers to arts accessibility.