I met the ever-lovable Amanda Landesberg at my first staff meeting with This Week in Sarasota earlier this year. Apart from her good looks and charming personality, I found myself observing the piece of jewelry adorning her neck. After the meeting, I asked Amanda about her intricate necklace, and she told me she did it herself. I thought … yeah, right!  I was blown away by her meticulous attention to detail, her color theory and most importantly her indescribable taste. Soon after that meeting, I got to see many more [...]

The Background: Sarasota’s oldest arts organization, Art Center Sarasota, and Sarasota’s music event coordinator extraordinaires, The Closet, teamed up last Friday, August 31, to present a four-band, five-dolla, concert at the recently renovated Art Center. Darwin’s on 4th contributed to the event by donating two pony kegs of their fabulous locally brewed beer.  The Shamrock Pub, another regular supporter of arts and music, also donated beer for the event. The Set-up: Last year’s renovations at Art Center Sarasota made the building into a unique local music venue. The newly walled and renovated sculpture [...]

YPG and the Arts: The Sarasota Young Professionals Group (YPG) is an organization of 21 to 40-year-old professionals from Sarasota. Part of the YPG’s goals, under current YPG Board Chair Frank Maggio, has been to bring together young professionals and the multitude of arts offerings that are available in Sarasota. In the past two years, YPG has focused on arts offerings for its members from discount ticket packages to mixers held at cultural venues. YPG programs such as The Culture Collective provide young professionals with the opportunity to experience local arts events at [...]

If you are planning a wedding or vow renewal and love the Sarasota Pops, are a lover and supporter of local arts organizations and dream of having an entire symphony orchestra play at your ceremony, then the Sarasota Pops Wedding Contest is for you. As part of a wedding-themed season, the Sarasota Pops Orchestra is creatively merging love and fundraising in an innovative wedding contest. The Contest: Between October 1, 2012 and March 10, 2013, the Sarasota Pops will match one of four finalist couples with a concert. The couples [...]

For the Sarasota ladies looking for something a little different from the traditional ladies’ night, Darwin’s on 4th has the perfect event on Thursdays. It begins with the unconventional and fun: a dance class. Focusing on a different style each week and lasting a full hour, everyone is welcome to learn some new steps. The evening continues with music from DJ Imminent, our local guarantee for a fun and danceable night. The traditional ladies’ night treat of free drinks happens from 9:30 until 10:30 p.m., and everyone can enjoy half-price wine [...]

The past few days of Suncoast Super Boat Grand Prix events have been successful at raising money for Suncoast Charities for Children and bringing our community together. On Thursday night the Hyatt Regency’s “Pre-Race” Party and Fashion Show brought out Sarasota for casino games, fashion and local music. The Sarasota crowd does “cocktail casual” better than anywhere south of Charleston, with the crowd decked in summery dresses and a few nautical-themed outfits. Beautiful Sarasota ladies strutted the runway styled by JFLO Salon, Spa, and Boutique, wearing outfits from Swim City and [...]