1. [Go to...] What did the 2000 Legislature approve and create in regard to the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art?
  2. [Go to...] Did the Legislature offer additional funds to FSU for the Ringling?
  3. [Go to...] What is the purpose of the FSU Ringling Center for the Cultural Arts?
  4. [Go to...] Who proposed the transfer?
  5. [Go to...] Why FSU?
  6. [Go to...] Who will be running the museum after July 1?
  7. [Go to...] What is the status of the current museum director?
  8. [Go to...] Who will direct the museum during the search for a successor to Mr. Ebitz?
  9. [Go to...] What will happen to the employees at Ringling after July 1?
  10. [Go to...] FSU was in Sarasota meeting with Ringling administrators about the museum transfer even before Gov. Bush finished reviewing the legislation. Why?
  11. [Go to...] Will the ownership of the Ringling properties change?
  12. [Go to...] It has been represented that John Ringling’s will directed that the museum properties revert to the City of Sarasota’s ownership under certain circumstances. Is that correct?
  13. [Go to...] There has been a rumor that FSU would allow private developers to build on the property as a money making venture. Is this correct?
  14. [Go to...] Where can I find out more information about the lease?
  15. [Go to...] Is Ringling guaranteed a big infusion of resources as a result of this new law?
  16. [Go to...] Does FSU plan to move the art to other locations, like Tallahassee?
  17. [Go to...] Will any of the collection be sold?
(1) What did the 2000 Legislature approve and create in regard to the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art?
The Legislature passed Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 1194, proposed by State Sen. John McKay, R-Bradenton. The bill includes a provision that transfers the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art from the Board of Trustees of the Museum in the Dept. of State to Florida State University. It also creates the Florida State University Ringling Center for the Cultural Arts which includes these properties in Sarasota County:
  • the art museum;
  • the Ringling residence known as Ca' d'Zan;
  • the Ringling Museum of the Circus; and
  • the Florida State University Center for the Fine and Performing Arts which is adjacent to the Ringling property and which includes the Asolo Theater.
(2) Did the Legislature offer additional funds to FSU for the Ringling?
The Legislature appropriated an extra $1.25 million in salary and $3 million in funds for renovation to FSU in connection with the transfer. FSU Provost Larry Abele is developing a plan to maximize the use of this funding to enhance the museum.
(3) What is the purpose of the FSU Ringling Center for the Cultural Arts?
The new law says that the center shall be operated by FSU to encourage participation by K-12 schools and by other colleges and universities, public and private, in the educational and cultural enrichment programs of the center. FSU is expected to provide academic programs in theatre, dance, art, art history and museum management. The law also states that the purpose and function of the museum -- designated the official Art Museum of the State of Florida -- includes assisting other museums in the state and nation though education programs and through loaning objects from the collection, as long as the collection is safe and secure, engaging in other activities related to visual arts which benefit the public and entering into national and international programs to enhance further the cultural resources of the state.
(4) Who proposed the transfer?
The proposal for placing the museum in the university system came from people who had long cared for the museum and who were concerned the museum was not meeting its potential. For example, Bradenton lawyer and former Ringling trustee Bob Blaloch was an early advocate of moving the museum to the university system so that the museum could fulfill its purpose as an educational institution. And representatives of the Ringling administration and Board of Trustees were closely involved in the drafting of the legislation.
(5) Why FSU?
Both the University of South Florida and the Florida State University were asked to provide an analysis of the benefits and disadvantages of a Ringling merger. These documents were widely distributed and analyzed. The Legislature concluded that FSU’s excellence in the visual and performing arts made it the right partner for Ringling.

    For example:

    1. FSU already operates a distinguished arts program -- a graduate theatre program connected to Asolo Theater Company (not to be confused with the museum’s historic Asolo Theater);
    2. The university has an extraordinary group of fine arts programs in music, theatre, dance, visual arts and film;
    3. The Sarasota Ballet is located in the FSU-owned and operated building, The Florida State University Center for the Performing Arts;
    4. FSU has experience in museum operations (one in Tallahassee and one, the Appleton Museum, in Ocala);
    5. FSU is the only university in Florida and one of the few in the southeast that offers a doctoral degree in art history;
    6. The university operates foreign programs in Florence and London -- and has a unique partnership with the British Museum. Programs at these sites emphasize the arts;
    7. There are significant other contacts between FSU and the Sarasota community, including collaboration among scientists from the College of Arts and Sciences at FSU and the Mote Marine Laboratory;
    8. There is even a unique program for FSU students who produce a circus -- the only such program in the country and this program can provide enrichment for the excellent circus museum at the Ringling.
(6) Who will be running the museum after July 1?
The new law assigns responsibility for the museum's operations to FSU. It dissolves the existing Ringling Board of Trustees and creates a new Direct Support Organization, sometimes called the DSO. The President of FSU, Talbot ‘Sandy’ D’Alemberte, will name members to the board of the DSO, choosing from recommendations made by DSO board members. The DSO is to consist of no more than 31 members, one-third of them from Sarasota and Manatee counties. Operating under a charter and by-laws approved by the university, its primary job is to set policies to maintain and preserve the collections of the museum. The DSO board will have the opportunity to help raise additional funds for the museum, to expand access to its resources and to lift the museum's national and international reputation. The DSO board is also empowered to nominate candidates for museum director to the FSU president. The director is to serve at the pleasure of the university president and to report to FSU’s provost, Larry Abele, or his designee.
(7) What is the status of the current museum director?
The current museum director, David Ebitz, has resigned to accept a position in Pennsylvania that will enable him to reunite with his two children and wife, who teaches at Penn State. He has been of extraordinary help in the transition and he has stated publicly that the decision to move the responsibility of operations to FSU and to fund it better made him reconsider his intention to conclude his service to the museum. In the end, he said, personal considerations led him to leave.
(8) Who will direct the museum during the search for a successor to Mr. Ebitz?
During the search for Mr. Ebitz's successor, FSU will appoint an interim person to be responsible for the day-to-day management of the museum and will authorize continued operations through whatever mechanism deemed is best and necessary.
(9) What will happen to the employees at Ringling after July 1?
About 60 of the employees are currently paid out of annual State of Florida appropriations and their status will be basically unchanged, although there are some variations in personnel policies between the university and the Dept. of State which previously oversaw the museum. FSU’s personnel office is working closely with its counterpart at Ringling to respect the interests of the employees. Approximately 28 full-time and 55 part-time employees at the museum work for the existing Direct Support Organization. FSU is working with the existing DSO board to ensure a smooth and uninterrupted transition so that these DSO staff remain on the payroll. In a handful of cases, staff is paid from state resources with salaries supplemented by funds privately raised and held in the DSO. The university intends to consolidate these payments out of state funds made available by the Legislature for the Ringling transition.
(10) FSU was in Sarasota meeting with Ringling administrators about the museum transfer even before Gov. Bush finished reviewing the legislation. Why?
It is a big job to make a transfer of a valuable property with dedicated employees in such a short time. FSU and the administration of the museum together decided that the interests of the museum and its employees would be better served if the university and the museum moved ahead in finalizing the details of the transfer, even though it was technically premature.
(11) Will the ownership of the Ringling properties change?
No. Museum founder John Ringling left the museum, his residence, paintings, pictures, works of art and so forth "to the State of Florida." This transfer is in compliance with Mr. Ringling’s will. As is customary, various agencies of the state are charged with administering the various properties. For example, FSU -- a state agency -- will hold title to the collections. The Governor and the Cabinet, sitting as the Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund, hold title to the land and buildings -- pursuant to John Ringling’s will -- and are expected to enter into a lease of the land and buildings with FSU. Such leases restrict the use of the property to "public purposes."
(12) It has been represented that John Ringling’s will directed that the museum properties revert to the City of Sarasota’s ownership under certain circumstances. Is that correct?
No. There is no reversion clause in Mr. Ringling’s will. Mr. Ringling’s bequest was subject to these conditions:
  • his residence would become part of the museum and used for the general purpose of hanging Venetian paintings;
  • the museum would always be known as "The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art" with that name appearing on catalogues and stationery;
  • no changes by sale, trade or other means can be made in any of the paintings or objects of art that were part of the museum at the time of his death in 1936;
  • funds he designated in his will to enhance the museum’s contents could be paid to the State of Florida to carry out that purpose; and
  • museum maintenance would be financed by a reasonable admission fee, except that on at least one day per week, admission to the museum must be free.

The will stated that if the State of Florida failed to accept the bequest subject to those conditions, the property would have gone to the City of Sarasota on the same terms and conditions. The Legislature authorized the State of Florida to accept the gift in 1937. Both the transfer of the museum to FSU and the establishment of the FSU Ringing Center for Cultural Arts are consistent with John Ringling’s will.
(13) There has been a rumor that FSU would allow private developers to build on the property as a money making venture. Is this correct?
No. FSU’s mission as a public university is education, not development. And in any case, the state of Florida has safeguards to protect against inappropriate use of public property: one of the jobs of the Governor and Cabinet is to act as the state’s landlord, managing and leasing property on behalf of the citizens of the state. In that role, the Governor and Cabinet are called the Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund, and they require state agencies like FSU to have an approved land use plan for property and to get permission if any significant changes are proposed. As importantly, the uses of the property are restricted to "public purposes" because it belongs to the State of Florida. It is expected that the lease approved by the Trustees will require FSU to submit a plan for consideration within one year, as is customary. In preparing this plan, FSU intends to begin its review with the Master Plan Report updated in 1999 for the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art by E. Verner Johnson and Associates, Inc., Museum Architects and Planners, of Boston.
(14) Where can I find out more information about the lease?
Contact Robin Young, Bureau Chief of Public Land Administration, Department of Environmental Protection, in Tallahassee. (850) 488-2291
(15) Is Ringling guaranteed a big infusion of resources as a result of this new law?
Apart from the appropriations enacted by the 2000 Legislature, the answer is no. But the museum and its many supporters can expect FSU to be an advocate for additional state funds for enhanced academic programming in subjects like art history, museum studies, and art education, as well as funding for capital improvements and other matters important to the museum. In addition, FSU will bring its well-established private fundraising operation to the partnership with Ringling and will support efforts to increase resources at the Museum. (Since 1994, the endowment of FSU has increased from $50 million to more than $269 million with the expectation that by July, it will exceed $300 million.) The university has built a large and highly professional fund raising staff. This staff is expected to expand further and a full-time fundraiser for the Sarasota area has been put into the budget. This person’s responsibilities will include coordination with individuals knowledgeable about Ringling’s fund-raising efforts.
(16) Does FSU plan to move the art to other locations, like Tallahassee?
No. There is no site suitable and there is no proposal for such a site in Tallahassee or elsewhere. The Ringling art belongs at the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. To be accredited, museums must have a firm policy on collection loans but these vary from institution to institution, depending on circumstances. FSU will work with the new board of the Ringling Direct Support Organization, museum professionals and other interested parties to ensure that the policy at Ringling is appropriate. The law specifically provides for loans to be made to other museums "when such loans do not threaten the safety and security of the objects…." The law also lists other institutions that may benefit from temporary loans and authorizes the museum’s Direct Support Organization to make these temporary loans.
(17) Will any of the collection be sold?
The museum has always been authorized under the law to sell any art object in the collection acquired after Mr. Ringling’s death in l936 and the new law does not change that limitation. Even for art acquired after 1936, the sale must be recommended by the executive director of the museum and the Direct Support Organization "if they first determine that the object is no longer appropriate for the collection." Proceeds of such sales would be deposited in an audited trust fund earmarked for art acquisition, restoration and conservation at Ringling.
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