The Memory Project

The 1926 M. Leo Elliott-designed former Sarasota Senior High School isn’t just a beautiful example of Collegiate neo-Gothic architecture, it is an important historical site that holds a century of Sarasota’s memories. As we embarked upon the transformation of the building into a new contemporary art museum, it was important for us to ensure those memories didn’t disappear. The building is a gravitational center and repository for a century of Sarasota’s rich history, and it’s thrilling to imagine we can add this dimension to the Museum’s mission, adding context and community to the Museum’s programming. Starting in 2015, we began using our historic, ethnographic and museological expertise to preserve, steward and interpret the history and public memory of the SHS site as we transformed the property into a new contemporary art museum.