In her first solo museum exhibition, Lillian Blades presents an array of recent and new works, exploring themes of memory, connection, self-discovery, and cultural identity. An immersive labyrinth of mixed media “veils” anchors the exhibition, inviting visitors to step inside, wander through, and lose themselves within the dense layers of made and found materials. These radiant tapestries suspended from the ceiling shimmer with reflective surfaces, bouncing color and light throughout the space and imbuing the exhibition with dynamic energy.
Blades’ vivid color palette is inspired by her island upbringing in The Bahamas. Her artistic process of wiring eclectic materials into large-scale assemblages pays homage to the legacy of her late mother, a skilled seamstress who passed away as a result of the artist’s birth.
The result is a patchwork of objects, ideas, and identities, manifesting as an elaborate, suspended maze. The artist’s search for connection unfolds as a kaleidoscope of color, form, and texture—immersing visitors in a dynamic dialogue between past and present, their surroundings, and their own reflections.
Lillian Blades: Through the Veil is organized by Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling College of Art and Design and curated by Lacie Barbour, associate curator of exhibitions at Sarasota Art Museum.
This exhibition is made possible, in part, with generous support from:
Platinum Sponsors
Judy and Fred Fiala
Silver Sponsors
Marge and Leon Ellin
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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.
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.
Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling College of Art and Design (SAM) is pleased to present “Beautiful Ideas: The Prints of Sol LeWitt,” on view from May 17 through October 25, 2026. This exhibition explores the extensive printmaking career of Sol LeWitt (1928–2007), a leader of the American Minimalism and Conceptual art movements who famously declared that “the idea becomes a machine that makes the art.”
Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling College of Art and Design (SAM) announces its 2026-2027 season, featuring a lineup of seven exhibitions including works by some of the most beloved and influential photographers of the 20th-century, award-winning glass artists, a father and son artistic lineage, multiple Ringling College of Art and Design talents and more.
Fourth Tuesdays | 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm