Drawing of a sleeping child
Black and white drawing of youth lying on their side with the words "Some Glad morning" written in cursive beneath. Gold ceramic flowers surround the head of the figure.
Chris Friday. Future Venus II of Future Venus in Two Parts, 2025. Chalk on black archival paper, approx. 48 x 166 in.; and Age of Innocence, 2025. Hand-built, kiln-fired ceramic, glaze, solid gold luster. Installation view of Chris Friday: Where We Never Grow Old at Sarasota Art Museum, Sarasota, Florida, 2025. Photo: Ryan Gamma.
Drawing in black and white of a youth sleeping on their back with a charm bracelet in ceramic gold above them.
Chris Friday. Future Venus I of Future Venus in Two Parts, 2025. Chalk on black archival paper, approx. 48 x 154 in.; and Charmed Life, 2025. Hand-built, kiln-fired ceramic, glaze, solid gold luster. Installation view of Chris Friday: Where We Never Grow Old at Sarasota Art Museum, Sarasota, Florida, 2025. Photo: Ryan Gamma.
black and white drawing of senior black woman sitting and standing with the words where the shadows of the life have gone.
Chris Friday. Mother/Midas as liminal space, 2025. Chalk on black archival paper, approx. 40 x 96 in. each. Installation view of Chris Friday: Where We Never Grow Old at Sarasota Art Museum, Sarasota, Florida, 2025. Photo: Ryan Gamma.
Black and white drawing of a woman sitting in a chair with her back to the viewer surrounded by ceramic food items painted gold.
Chris Friday. Mother/Midas as liminal space, 2025. Chalk on black archival paper, approx. 24 x 24 in.; and “The only thing deviled round here is eggs,” "Fry that into a dome, slice it, take a spatula, smush fry it," “That lil ole scoop?” series, High on the hog, and more, 2025. Hand-built kiln-fired ceramic, glaze solid gold luster. Installation view of Chris Friday: Where We Never Grow Old at Sarasota Art Museum, Sarasota, Florida, 2025. Photo: Ryan Gamma.

Chris Friday: Where We Never Grow Old

May 4, 2025 – August 10, 2025

Multidisciplinary artist Chris Friday invites visitors into imagined sanctuaries in her first solo museum exhibition, Chris Friday: Where We Never Grow Old. Best known for her large-scale, yet intimate, figurative chalk drawings, Friday explores the literal and metaphorical safe havens we create for self-preservation in her new site-specific installation. Taking inspiration from themes of nostalgia, family, culture, and spirituality, Friday creates an alternate reality through her art—a world untouched by the hardships and injustices of real life. Tender depictions of Black figures resting peacefully and ceramics representing everyday items that conjure comfort for the artist make up this world, portrayed in a larger-than-life scale. Gold-embellishments adorn Friday’s ceramics, a meaningful reference to the age-old tradition of bronzing precious childhood keepsakes. Through this never-before-seen body of work, Friday invites viewers into her artistic haven where memory is sacred, imagination is incorruptible, the burdens of the outside world are lifted, and the soul never grows old.

This exhibition is organized by Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling College of Art and Design, curated by Rangsook Yoon, Ph.D., senior curator, Sarasota Art Museum.

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

Essay

Happenings

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

Sarasota Art Museum Announces New Site-Specific Outdoor Playscape, “Natural Curiosity,” is Open for Play

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.