The Arena Renovation Project

HELP US TO EXPAND OUR PROGRAMS AND TO CHANGE MORE KIDS’ LIVES

The need is great, the time is now!

We need your help! Be part of our future, the future of our students and the expansion of our Circus Arts programs.

We have raised $2.5 million of the $4 million needed to complete necessary repairs and updates to The Arena. But time is running out – we must raise the remaining $1.5 million by June 1, 2018 or forfeit a $1 million grant from the State of Florida.

YOU CAN MAKE THE DIFFERENCE…

There is great news! If you give now, your gift can have TWICE the impact! Thanks to the generosity of a very special CAC donor, the first $100,000 in donations made by December 31, 2017 will be matched!

The CAC currently adds over $6 million dollars to Southwest Florida’s economy each year. The 70 year old Sailor Circus Academy serves over 45,000 people annually through athletic, education and summer camp programs.

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Florida’s Circus Arts Conservatory (CAC) Co-Presents The 2017 Smithsonian Folklife Festival in DC. Partnership culminates 2 years of production for America’s largest tourist event

The 50th Anniversary Smithsonian Folklife Festival closed on July 9th, following 2 weeks run in DC. This year’s festival focused on the international world of Circus Arts. CAC presented 3 major performance programs and hosted circus troupes and performers from all over the world in the only Big Top on the National Mall and at daily demonstrations in the Arts and Industries Building and 20 venues across The Mall.
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Tales from the First of May: The Circus Goes to Washington!

Greetings, circus fans! It’s been a while since my last “First of May” post – so long, in fact, that I am no longer the “First of May” around here – but I wanted to share a few exciting happenings The CAC is currently experiencing…

First, welcome to our new website! We have relaunched CircusArts.org with a new design, new features and new media to showcase the best of the circus arts as we know it to be! Feel free to take a look around the new site, learn more about our Outreach Programs, explore ways to Get Involved with the organization and more! Read more

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CAC Goes To Washington DC

BY BILLY COX — HERALD TRIBUNE: Hundreds of thousands of Americans, maybe upwards of a million, are about to learn that reports of the circus’ death have been greatly exaggerated when they visit the National Mall in Washington, D.C., over the next few weeks. But local audiences can get a sneak preview at a fundraiser Tuesday night. That’s when the Circus Arts Conservatory and its versatile Sailor Circus students will stage their final dress rehearsal before joining the Smithsonian Center’s Folklife and Cultural Heritage Festival in the nation’s capitol from June 29-July 4 and July 6-9. MORE

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CAC at 2017 Florida Folk Festival

BY JESSIE R. BOX — SUWANNEE DEMOCRAT: The 65th annual Florida Folk Festival had around 10,000 people attend Memorial Day weekend. The 2017 Folklife Area celebrated the diverse cultures of Southwest Florida. Karen Bell and Robin Eurich, of the Sarasota’s Circus Arts Conservatory, demonstrated circus arts and clowning. Bell said growing up she always took the comedy route. She said she was drawn to clown college… MORE

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Dolly Jacobs Awarded Voice Of Sarasota

SRQ DAILY SATURDAY PERSPECTIVES: Co–founder of the Circus Arts Conservatory, Dolly Jacobs was honored with the Voice of Sarasota Award from Visit Sarasota County at the organization’s National Travel & Tourism Week Awards Luncheon last week. Upon learning she had been chosen for this award Jacobs expressed, “I was blown away, literally speechless. But the more I’ve gotten my arms around it, the more I’ve realized it’s not all about me, but about our industry and I accept it on behalf of all the greats before me that paved the way for the rest of us.”  MORE

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Ringling Circus Closes

BY JANELLE O’DEA — BRADENTON HERALD: On Sunday night in New York, the curtain will close for the final time on The Greatest Show on Earth and a way of life for residents of “the town without a zip code.” …Despite Feld’s decision to close the [Ringling] circus, [CAC co-founder and CEO] Pedro Reis and other local luminaries such as high-wire master Nik Wallenda say it’s far from the end of the circus.  MORE

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Continuing the Legacy of Circus Arts

BY KATHERINE PYNE — ABC 7 WWSB: Hundreds of people gathered under the big top on Tuesday [May 16, 2017] to help the Circus Arts continue here on the Suncoast. The Circus Arts Conservatory hosted La Cirque Appetit at Sailor Circus Arena in Sarasota. The annual fundraiser helps bring in money for the conservatory’s outreach programs. For CAC co-founder Pedro Reis, it’s a way to make sure the Circus Arts continue to be a part of our community.

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La Cirque Appetit Fundraiser 2017

BY NIKI KOTTMANN — OBSERVER MEDIA GROUP: All eyes were on them. High above the ground — 24 feet, to be exact — five teenagers prepared to cross a wire only 5/8 of an inch in diameter. The daredevils are members of Sailor Circus, the nation’s longest-running youth circus, whose roots date back to 1949 Sarasota when it began as a small high school gymnastics class. However, what’s grown to be called “The Greatest ‘Little’ Show on Earth” is just one of the many components of the Circus Arts Conservatory, which shared its mission with both old and new supporters alike at La Cirque Appetit on May 16 at Sailor Circus Arena.   MORE

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Ringling’s Impact Beyond the Circus

BY SCOTT DENNIS — ABC 7 WWSB: After 146 years, the Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus will end performances on Sunday for good. But here on the Suncoast, those involved with the circus arts say the “circus” is not closing, just the one named Ringling. Let’s not forget, Sarasota would not be what it is today without a man named Ringling.  MORE

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