Van Wezel Family Supports Sarasota Performing Arts Center Project
Dr. Anthony (Tony) Van Wezel Stone and Katherine Van Wezel Stone, Esq., grandchildren of Lewis and Eugenia Van Wezel, announced their
support of the Sarasota Performing Arts Center project, continuing a family legacy rooted in arts, education, and community impact.
Following months of productive discussions with the Sarasota Performing Arts Foundation, the grandchildren of Lewis Van Wezel, Dr. Anthony (Tony) Van Wezel Stone and Katherine Van Wezel Stone, Esq., have announced their support of the Sarasota Performing Arts Center project. The project is part of a public-private partnership between the City of Sarasota and the Sarasota Performing Arts Foundation (formerly known as the Van Wezel Foundation).
The discussions, according to the Van Wezel family have “led us to an appreciation that the project is an evolving concept in which the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall will continue to serve the City as a venue for the arts in harmony with and alongside the new Performing Arts Center.”
Tania Castroverde Moskalenko, CEO of the Sarasota Performing Arts Foundation, stated, “More than 50 years ago, Lewis and Eugenia Van Wezel gave Sarasota a gift that shaped its cultural identity. Today, Tony and Katherine are ensuring their family legacy lives on through a new, inclusive, and resilient Performing Arts Center built for the next century of creative excellence, with the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall continuing as part of the cultural campus it inspired.”
The scope of the project has been refined over the past year, based on input from the community, including the family, along with feedback from the March 17, 2025, City Commission meeting. Castroverde Moskalenko added that the Foundation is prepared to steward multiple venues as part of a unified cultural campus in which an updated Van Wezel Hall will continue to host artistic performances and educational opportunities.
The City of Sarasota and the Foundation are working together closely to ensure the proposed Center meets the needs of the community and anticipate having updated project concepts to share later this spring. Concept 2.0 relocates the new Performing Arts Center to the south side of the Centennial Park canal and aligns the cost and seating capacity to the original Request For Proposal (RFP) issued in 2023.
The Van Wezel family sees the evolution of the project as reflective of shared values centered on education, access, stewardship, and long-term community benefit, values that guided the original Van Wezel gift more than five decades ago.
“Our Grandfather and his wife, Eugenia, loved Sarasota and believed in the power of the arts to strengthen community and bring people together,” the family said in a joint statement. “After meeting with the Foundation, we are pleased that the Performing Arts Center project will build on their vision while ensuring our family’s legacy continues to serve our community.”
The Van Wezel family will participate in upcoming community engagement efforts, including the Center Stage Conversations series, an informal event series open to the public about the Performing Arts Center project.
“We are deeply thankful to Tony, his wife Sandra, and Katherine for thoughtful, productive conversations rooted in shared values and mutual respect,” said Castroverde Moskalenko. “Their support reflects a shared belief in honoring our legacies while embracing our future.”
For more information about the Sarasota Performing Arts Center project and upcoming events, visit PerformingArtsFoundation.org.
About the Foundation
Sarasota Performing Arts Foundation’s mission is to create and sustain a vibrant performing arts center, advance education, and enrich communities by inspiring minds through the power of the arts. Since 1987, the Foundation has partnered with the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall to bring arts education to more than 40,000 students annually across five counties. Today, the Foundation continues this commitment while leading the vision for a new Sarasota Performing Arts Center in partnership with the City of Sarasota, the Bay Park Conservancy, and the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall.
For media inquiries, contact:
Laura Ansel, APR, CPRC
Director of Communications
LAnsel@PerformingArtsFoundation.org
239-888-5229