Personal to Political: Celebrating the African American Artists of Paulson Fontaine Press​

May 4, 2025 – August 10, 2025

Featuring works by 17 artists, this nationally traveling exhibition celebrates African American artists who are reshaping the contemporary art world. At the heart of this show is the legacy of a fine art print studio, Paulson Fontaine Press, which has supported an unparalleled roster of internationally celebrated artists over the past two decades, including Martin Puryear, Kerry James Marshall, and the Gee’s Bend Quilters. With 46 fine art prints, a selection of Gee’s Bend Quilts, four mixed media sculptures, and a large-scale basketball pyramid installation, this exhibition showcases a diverse array of artworks by both high-profile and underrepresented visual artists. Drawing from themes of history, identity, and spirituality, the artists included in this exhibition share complex stories of the African American experience through the artworks only they could create.

Personal to Political is a nationally traveling exhibition organized by Bedford Gallery and curated by Carrie Lederer, former Bedford Gallery curator.

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Paulson Fontaine Press Logo

This exhibition is made possible, in part, with generous support from:


Platinum Sponsors

Judy and Fred Fiala
Katherine and Frank Martucci


Gold Sponsors

Charlotte and John Suhler


Silver Sponsors

Marge and Leon Ellin

Artist Talk

Happenings

Large pink playscape on a green lawn with children playing in the foreground

Sarasota Art Museum Announces Installation of New Site-Specific Outdoor Playscape, “Natural Curiosity” 

Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling College of Art and Design (SAM) is pleased
to announce the addition of a new playscape located on the Museum’s Great Lawn. Titled “Natural Curiosity,” this piece will serve as part art installation, part outdoor classroom, inspiring creativity, social connection and well-being for locals, tourists and school students alike.
Designed by Brooklyn, New York-based, award-winning multidisciplinary design studio The
Urban Conga, this inviting, site-specific installation will create a dynamic outdoor respite for Museum visitors, sparking connection with nature and social activity through open-ended play.

Blue Star Museums Program

Sarasota Art Museum is a Blue Star Museum

Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling College of Art and Design (SAM) is pleased to participate in Blue Star Museums, a program that provides free admission to currently serving U.S. military personnel and their families during the summer. The 2026 program will begin on Armed Forces Day, Saturday, May 16, 2026, and end on Labor Day, Monday, September 7, 2026.

Skyway 2027 Logo

Call to Artists Announced for Tampa Bay Area Exhibition ‘Skyway 2027: A Contemporary Collaboration’​

Five regional art museums, the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg; The John and
Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota; Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling College of Art and Design, Sarasota;
the Tampa Museum of Art; and the University of South Florida Contemporary Art Museum, Tampa, are pleased to
announce a call to artists for “Skyway 2027: A Contemporary Collaboration”, the fourth iteration of the exhibition
celebrating the diversity and talent of artistic practices in the Tampa Bay area and beyond.