Quotable Talks

Get inspired. Be empowered. Become quotable.

Sarasota Art Museum presents an inspiring lineup of great writers with great stories to tell through its annual author series. Hear directly from authors, artists, and contemporary creatives who are sparking new ways of thinking about art, culture, and creative practices. For those who appreciate remarkable creativity, a pioneering spirit, or are in search of inspiration, we invite you to join us and become quotable.

$35 for Members

$40 for Not-Yet Members (includes Museum admission)

Quotable Talk with Jennifer Jones

Author of Becoming Spectacular: The Rhythm of Resilience from the First African American Rockette

Saturday, December 6, 2025

1-3 pm

Thomas McGuire Hall

Jennifer Jones is a Tony Award–winning dancer and activist known for becoming the first African American Rockette. Since 1987, she has advocated for equal rights in the arts, and her work has been celebrated by the Harlem School of the Arts, Radio City Music Hall, and Madison Square Garden. A survivor of colon cancer, she lives in New Jersey with her husband, Jeffrey.

Following the talk, Jones will sign copies of her book Becoming Spectacular: The Rhythm of Resilience from the First African American Rockette, available for purchase in the Museum’s SHOP.

About the Book

Becoming Spectacular brings to light a significant yet hidden chapter of American dance history, revealing the gritty reality behind the iconic, synchronized high kicks and megawatt smiles of the Radio City Rockettes. While the Rockettes have long been celebrated as an emblem of American culture, their history has not always reflected America’s diversity. A 63-year color barrier held until 1987 when Jennifer Jones, with a special blend of bravery and perseverance, shattered this restriction and revolutionized the world of dance. The memoir is an intimate portrait of Jones’ resilience and tenacity, as she navigated racism, prejudice, and fierce resistance to join the Rockette line-up – a journey as dazzling and challenging as the dance troupe itself. The narrative also exposes the speed bumps Jones encountered from her early days training to her final performances. Becoming Spectacular is not just a dance memoir but a triumphant tale of a trailblazer who refused to be sidelined and silenced. Jones’ memoir is laden with courage, failure, success, and the sheer will of a woman who dared to dream against the odds. Jones invites readers to step beyond the lush velvet curtains into the heart of the Rockettes and the world of dance – a world that she has strived to make more inclusive and equitable.

Quotable Talk with Jared Goss

Author of The Birth of Art Deco: Ruhlmann and the Hôtel du Collectionneur, 1925

Saturday, January 17, 2026

1-3 pm

Thomas McGuire Hall

Jared Goss is an independent scholar and former associate curator in the department of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Following the talk, Goss will sign copies of his book The Birth of Art Deco: Ruhlmann and the Hôtel du Collectionneur, 1925, available for purchase in the Museum’s SHOP.

About the Book

This book celebrates the 1925 Paris Exposition—at its centenary—a landmark event that shaped twentieth-century design and gave its name to Art Deco. The exposition dazzled over sixteen million visitors during its run, showcasing the pinnacle of French luxury goods and design innovation.

Renowned as the preeminent exponent of French Art Deco, Ruhlmann (1879–1933) was recognized for the aesthetic refinement, luxurious materials, and impeccable craftsmanship of his creations. Inspired by eighteenth-century pleasure pavilions, Ruhlmann’s pavilion, L’Hôtel du Collectionneur (The Town House of the Collector), was one of the most admired exhibits at the fair. Conceived as a modern-day Trianon, it was filled with his own sumptuous furnishings together with a meticulous selection of objets d’art by his contemporaries, including Edgar Brandt, Jean Dunand, and Jean Puiforcat.

Central to this publication is a facsimile of the original catalogue documenting the pavilion. The book offers a detailed examination of the pavilion’s architecture and interiors, revealing how Ruhlmann’s vision set standards for luxury and taste in the interwar period. Although the pavilion existed for only six months, it left a lasting legacy as one of the most refined examples of Art Deco, embodying both the opulence and the innovative spirit of the era.

Quotable Talk with Ellen Lupton

Author of Design is Storytelling

Saturday, February 21, 2026

1-3 pm

Thomas McGuire Hall

Ellen Lupton is a designer, writer, and educator. Her books include Thinking with Type, Design Is Storytelling, Health Design Thinking, and How Posters Work. She teaches in the Graphic Design MFA program at Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore (MICA), where she serves as the Betty Cooke and William O. Steinmetz Design Chair. She is Curator Emerita at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York City, where her exhibitions included Herbert Bayer: Bauhaus Master and The Senses: Design Beyond Vision. Her Type Mom persona on Instagram (@EllenLupton) has over 200K followers.

Following the talk, Lupton will sign copies of her book Design is Storytelling, available for purchase in the Museum’s SHOP.

About the Book

Design Is Storytelling by Ellen Lupton builds connections through action, point of view, and movement through time and space. Stories are the essence of novels, plays, and Netflix—but what about visual design? This playful book shows how people actively experience a graphic illustration, a digital app, or an architectural space. Concepts such as the narrative arc, the hero’s journey, and the rule of the threes encourage emotional and sensory responses.

Quotable Talk with Laurence Leamer

Author of Warhol's Muses: The Artists, Misfits, and Superstars Destroyed by the Factory Fame Machine

Saturday, March 7, 2026

1-3 pm

Thomas McGuire Hall

Laurence Leamer is a six-time New York Times bestseller author. He has used his career to explore all kinds of lives, from world leaders to coal miners, from movie stars to great artists. His book Capote’s Women was made into the eight-part series Capote vs. the Swans starring Diane Lane and Naomi Watts. His newest book, Warhol’s Muses, has been enthusiastically reviewed. “Leamer shows compassion when recounting the lives of these creative women,” the Washington Post wrote. “In accentuating the humanity of these women who were made — and unmade — by the Factory, Leamer reveals Warhol as a master manipulator who used so many to build his “most enduring creation: himself.” Leamer and his wife Vesna live in Palm Beach, Florida and Washington, D.C.

Following the talk, Leamer will sign copies of his book Warhol’s Muses: The Artists, Misfits, and Superstars Destroyed by the Factory Fame Machine, available for purchase in the Museum’s SHOP.

About the Book

In Warhol’s Muses, bestselling biographer Laurence Leamer shines a spotlight on the complex women who inspired and starred in Warhol’s underground films. Drawn by the siren call of Manhattan life in the sixties, they each left their protected enclaves and ventured to a new world, Warhol’s famed Factory, having no sense that they would never be able to return to their old homes and familiar ways again. Sex was casual, drugs were ubiquitous, parties were wild, and to Warhol, everyone was transient, temporary and replaceable. Warhol’s Muses is an intimate look into Warhol’s inner world.