Kerry James Marshall (American, born 1955). Untitled (Handsome Young Man), 2010. Hard ground etching with aquatint, 24.5 x 19 in. Courtesy of Paulson Fontaine Press, Berkeley, CA.
Installation of different colored basketballs with two prints on a blue wall in the background
David Huffman (American, born 1963). Installation view of Personal to Political: Celebrating the African American Artists of Paulson Fontaine Press at Sarasota Art Museum, Sarasota, Florida, 2025. Photo: Ryan Gamma.
Gallery with sculptures in the foreground and a print of a ship in the background.
Lonnie Holley (American, born 1950). Installation view of Personal to Political: Celebrating the African American Artists of Paulson Fontaine Press at Sarasota Art Museum, Sarasota, Florida, 2025. Photo: Ryan Gamma.
framed quilt like prints on a wall.
Radcliffe Bailey (American, 1968-2023). Installation view of Personal to Political: Celebrating the African American Artists of Paulson Fontaine Press at Sarasota Art Museum, Sarasota, Florida, 2025. Photo: Ryan Gamma.
Quilt made of rectangular shapes in a gallery on a wall.
Mary Lee Bendolph (American, born 1935). Strips and Strings, 2005. Quilted fabric, 88 x 83 in. Installation view of Personal to Political: Celebrating the African American Artists of Paulson Fontaine Press at Sarasota Art Museum, Sarasota, Florida, 2025. Photo: Ryan Gamma.
Gallery of quilts on white walls.
Mary Lee Bendolph (American, born 1935). Installation view of Personal to Political: Celebrating the African American Artists of Paulson Fontaine Press at Sarasota Art Museum, Sarasota, Florida, 2025. Photo: Ryan Gamma.
Blue and black quilt made of rectangular strips.
Mary Lee Bendolph (American, born 1935). Strip Quilt, 2008. Quilted fabric, 85 x 81 in. Installation view of Personal to Political: Celebrating the African American Artists of Paulson Fontaine Press at Sarasota Art Museum, Sarasota, Florida, 2025. Photo: Ryan Gamma.
White box gallery with sculptures and prints on walls
Installation view of Personal to Political: Celebrating the African American Artists of Paulson Fontaine Press at Sarasota Art Museum, Sarasota, Florida, 2025. Photo: Ryan Gamma.

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.

Bedford Gallery Logo
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

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.

Sol LeWitt (1928 - 2007) Loopy Doopy, Blue/Red, 2000 Oil-based woodcut 20 5/8 × 28 5/8 in. (52.3 × 72.6 cm) New Britain Museum of American Art, Gift of Sol LeWitt © Estate of Sol LeWitt 2025

Sarasota Art Museum to Present Major Survey of Prints by Conceptual Art Pioneer Sol LeWitt

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.”

Woman at a pool club posing with two men playing pool in the background

Sarasota Art Museum Announces its 2026-2027 Season Exhibition Schedule

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.