Jacob Ogles
The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art could soon see a change in ownership.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has proposed moving all institutions at The Ringling Museum out from the auspices of Florida State University. Instead, he wants New College of Florida to control the grounds.
His budget proposes shifting duties and responsibilities at the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Ca’d’Zan and the Ringling Museum of Circus to the Sarasota liberal arts college instead of the Tallahassee-based school.
All those assets sit on property in Sarasota adjacent to New College. But the move will surely draw attention two years after new DeSantis-appointed Trustees at New College started a conservative makeover of the state honors college, firing its prior President and hiring former Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran as its new leader. The small school has since seen its state funding increase substantially.
Corcoran praised the proposal and suggested it would improve the posture for both New College and FSU.
“Governor DeSantis has demonstrated amazing leadership in making Florida’s State University System the nation’s premier public higher education system,” Corcoran said. “To continue this great work means ensuring each university reaches its greatest heights. Florida State University is advancing its scientific research and closing in on membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities. New College is building America’s best liberal arts college, and the addition of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art strengthens that mission, offering an unparalleled cultural and academic resource that benefits students, local residents, and visitors alike. This proposal will move the needle for both institutions to attain greater heights.”
State Sen. Joe Gruters, a Sarasota Republican, said he wants to speak with officials at Florida State University, where he used to serve on the Board of Trustees. But he said the idea is worth exploring. The proposal also comes amid rumors New College could at some point take over the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee campus.
“The Ringling is a crown jewel for anybody,” Gruters said. “Does it make sense for all three of those campuses to be united into one? I think it I something that should be looked at.”
DeSantis’ budget also calls for transferring more than $829,000 from the University of South Florida Tampa campus to USFSM.
That includes the home of legendary circus magnate John Ringling. The property was opened as a museum housing he and wife Mable’s collection of art in 1926 while both Ringlings were still alive. It closed for a period after his 1936 death, but control of the grounds was transferred to the state and it reopened in 1946 under the Florida Board of Governance, which oversaw the state higher education institutions at the time.
Of note, New College also has its history tied to the Ringling family. Corcoran’s office sits within College Hall, originally the home of Charles and Edith Ringling. Charles was John Ringling’s brother. Both brothers were part of Ringling Bros. circus fame.
New College was founded as a private college in 1960 and acquired Charles Ringling’s estate a year later. The school became public in 1975, originally as part of the University of South Florida.
FSU took over operation of The Ringling in 2000, after years of fighting about whether it or USF should manage the institution, according to a Tampa Bay Times article from the time. Of note, New College became independent of USF in 2001, and remains part of the State University System.
FSU also runs the graduate level Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training at the Asolo Repertory Theater. DeSantis’ proposal makes no mention of moving that program. The Asolo Rep is located on The Ringling campus.
10 comments
Bill Pollard
February 3, 2025 at 9:06 pm
I’m sure if DeSantis gets his hands on the Ringling property it will be destroyed just as New College was.
Flash Light
February 3, 2025 at 10:21 pm
Another power grab that has no basis in reality.
FSU has the arts infrastructure to support the museum — New College does not.
This isn’t plug-and-play. The academic support currently with the museum isn’t going to want anything to do with New College.
Rev. Grant Balfour
February 3, 2025 at 10:48 pm
Ah, New College – that school where Richard Corcoran promised “top tier housing” then used state funds to buy Black Diamond trailers not tested in Florida for dormitories… which are now, a semester later, rendered uninhabitable due to mold? It’s one thing to recruit more baseball players than play on UF’s squad, but then to house them in moldy trailers?
The unreplaceable Renaissance artworks in the Ringling – the legacy of centuries of Western culture – might find better custodians elsewhere in Sarasota. I hear the Classic Car Museum is looking for a new building….
Dwayne Mahony
February 5, 2025 at 8:52 pm
These modular dormitory buildings do not have the mandatory state of Florida approval. The FSU building department which was the AHJ for New College rejected the permit approval for these units. Unethical private provider inspectors approved the installation after the two FSU inspectors were pushed to retire.
Chris Williamd
February 3, 2025 at 11:25 pm
The transition of the Ringling’s operations is not as simple as making New College in charge. This involves a massive personal change and separates the museum from the Museum Studies pipeline at FSU. Nobody wants this Governor. We want storm preparation, home insurance assistance, power and telecommunications investment.
Trublu
February 4, 2025 at 2:10 pm
Clearly NCF needs funds for the failing sports program….
Michael K
February 4, 2025 at 3:46 pm
My concern is that both institutions are prime real e$tate – and after seeing academic freedom and New College maliciously destroyed by political hacks, I shudder to think of the horrors that await. Please, no more solutions in search of problems.
Florida History
February 7, 2025 at 1:11 pm
The Ringling Museum has a statue of Michaelangelo’s David and other classical sculptures and paintings. Republicans freak out in horror over that stuff.
Kelly
February 9, 2025 at 10:38 am
As an artist, I am horrified that The Ringling could fall to the New College incompetents who have taken a free thinking institution and turned it into shambles. I fear for what they will do to The Ringling and with the art and culture that it embraces. We are looking at a future of the silencing of free expression and a censoring of creativity. Are we going to stand for this or are we going to push back?
Edward Freeman
February 10, 2025 at 1:32 am
Richard Corcoran is so veracity-challenged. He has only succeeded in creating a grift mill on Sarasota Bay. Far from “making Florida’s State University System the nation’s premier public higher education system,” Coco and Gov DiSaster have destroyed that system. School rankings are in free fall. Prime leadership positions, such as university president are handed out as payback to political allies who are as unqualified as they are crooked. No bid contracts and 6 figure coaching jobs are handed out to friends and gardeners. Top professors and students are leaving in droves and the state’s top high schoolers don’t even bother to apply. University Presidents dine on $30,000 lunches and waste millions of dollars on vanity projects and narrow Christian nationalist agendas. Then hit the eject button and escape the state in less than 2 years. DeSaster’s own Lieutenant Governor will resign this week to take over as President of FIU. These clowns started in Jefferson County, in north Florida, where they tested their template by destroying the state’s poorest school district while enriching themselves and their cronies. They got away with their crimes. So, they have since extended their agenda of destroying all public education statewide. After all, the ignorant are much easier to fool (see 2024 election).
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