ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE
The Sarasota Performing Arts Foundation brings nationally recognized artists to our community through partnerships with local arts and social service organizations.
2025 RESIDENCY ARTISTS
Kevin Spencer
From April 21-26, 2025, magician Kevin Spencer will make his Sarasota debut as part of the Sarasota Performing Arts Foundation's Artist in Residence program. Kevin, an award-winning performing artist and academic, will partner with The Haven, Pinnacle School, Oak Park, and others to conduct his "Hocus Focus™" workshops, exploring how magic can support learning for individuals with disabilities.
April 21-26
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The Magic of Kevin Spencer is a performance for people of all ages and abilities. It features award-winning magician Kevin Spencer in a fun-filled show that combines storytelling, stage magic, and audience participation. This sensory-inclusive performance is designed to create an experience that is welcoming to all audiences including families with individuals with autism or other developmental or intellectual disabilities that create sensory sensitivities. This is a show the entire family will enjoy!
This sensory friendly performance will feature relaxed lighting and seating, A quite break space, and ASL Interpretation. If additional accommodations are requested, please contact: programs@performingartsfoundation.org.
PUBLIC SCHEDULE
Kevin Spencer, Ph.D. is an award-winning performing artist and academic. Spencer and his wife, Cindy, toured the world for more than 25 years, with one of the largest and most successful theatrical illusion productions in the U.S. They left behind a trail of accolades in their wake including 2009 International Illusionists of the Year and six-time recipients of Performing Arts Entertainer of the Year. They are also the recipients of the magic industry’s most prestigious award given by The Milbourne Christopher Foundation – the 2015 International Illusionists of the Year for notable contributions to the art of magic.
At the pinnacle of their career, Kevin stepped away from the big stage and into classrooms and hospitals around the globe. He is the leading international authority on the academic and therapeutic benefits of simple magic tricks in educational and clinical settings. His work focuses on using the art of magic to impact change in the lives of people with autism, developmental disabilities, intellectual challenges, emotional disturbance, and those who have histories of trauma.
Spencer has earned a Bachelor’s in Psychology, Master’s in Arts & Academic Interdisciplinary Education, and a Ph.D. in Special Education. He also holds a certification in Autism Studies and Trauma Support Specialist. He has published studies in peer-reviewed journals including the American Journal of Occupational Therapy (AJOT) and Journal of Learning Through the Arts (JLTA). His work was also featured in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the Washington Post, Taipei Times, Hong Kong Financial Times, Chicago Tribune, Dallas Morning News, and dozens of other national newspapers. He has appeared on the CBS Early Show, Fox & Friends, CNN Turk, Saba Tümer (Türkiye), and nationwide in the U.S. on network affiliate morning shows.
In a 2013 publication, Inside Autism, Spencer was hailed as The Kid Whisperer. During workshops with autistic children, Peggy Cockerell of the Allen County Board of Developmental Disabilities (OH) said, “He has an intuitive sense of who needs him the most and gravitates toward them. I saw kids with autism do things with their hands they wouldn’t normally do.”
Dr. Spencer is a 2024 Silver Anthem Award recipient for Nonprofit Leader of the Year in the category of Health. His therapeutic program – Magic Therapy™ - is a 2023 Gold recipient for “Best Innovation” in the category of Health. His education program – Hocus Focus™ – is a 2022 Silver recipient for “Best Innovation” and Spencer himself is a Gold recipient for “Leader of the Year” awarded by the Anthem Awards in May 2022, both in the category of Education, Art, and Culture. Spencer was also a 2022 finalist for the Zero Project Award which recognizes innovative persons, practices, and models that improve the daily lives of persons with disabilities.
Dr. Spencer is faculty with Harvard Medical Teaching Hospital and Boston Children's Hospital's "Pediatric Sedation Outside the Operating Room” conference; associate professor by special appointment in the School of Health Professions Department of Occupational Therapy at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and a research consultant in UAB’s Arts in Medicine program; faculty in the department of education at Carlow University in Pittsburgh; a Fulbright Specialist on arts integration for special populations for the U.S. Department of State; and an Approved Provider of Continuing Education for the American Occupational Therapy Association.
As both an academic and an artist, Dr. Spencer offers sensory inclusive performances to reach underserved communities and speaks at conferences and universities.
PAST ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE
Adrian Anantawan holds degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music, Yale University, and Harvard Graduate School of Education. As a violinist, he studied with Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman, and Anne-Sophie Mutter; his academic work in education was supervised by Howard Gardner. Memorable moments include performances at the White House, the Opening Ceremonies of the Athens and Vancouver Olympic Games, and the United Nations. He has played for the late Christopher Reeve, Pope John Paul II, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Adrian has performed extensively in Canada as a soloist with the Orchestras of Toronto, Nova Scotia, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Montreal, Edmonton, and Vancouver. He has also presented feature recitals at the Aspen Music Festival and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. He also represented Canada as a cultural ambassador in the 2006 Athens Olympics and was a featured performer at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremonies. Adrian helped to create the Virtual Chamber Music Initiative at the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehab Centre. The cross-collaborative project brings researchers, musicians, doctors, and educators together to develop adaptive musical instruments capable of being played by a young person with disabilities within a chamber music setting. He is also the founder of the Music Inclusion Program, aimed at having children with disabilities learn instrumental music with their typical peers.
From 2012-2016, he was the co-Director of Music at the Conservatory Lab Charter School, serving students from the Boston area, kindergarten through grade eight—his work was recognized by Mayor Marty Walsh as a ONEin3 Impact Award in 2015. Adrian is also a Juno Award nominee, a member of the Terry Fox Hall of Fame, and was awarded a Diamond Jubilee Medal from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for his contributions to the Commonwealth. He is the current Chair of Music at Milton Academy, the Artistic Director of Shelter Music Boston, and is on faculty at Boston University Tanglewood Institute during the summer. Throughout the year, Adrian continues to perform, speak and teach around the world as an advocate for disability and the arts.
Urban Bush Women
In May 2024, we welcomed Urban Bush Women for an inspiring residency in Sarasota. During their time with us, their dance facilitators explored themes of community alongside female artists and collaborated with local partner organizations. The residency concluded with a dynamic performance and workshop mashup, bringing together Urban Bush Women, local artists, and our audiences in a free public event. This memorable experience celebrated creativity, connection, and community engagement.
May 2024
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No Registration Required. For information please contact (941) 955-2122 — Intended for ages 50+, this movement jam/dance class embraces the ideas that each individual has a unique and powerful contribution to make, and that our bodies are a powerful source of agency. The goal is for "every body" to find their level of challenge and comfort and partake according to their abilities, and to appreciate the groups’ diversity as an attribute to their community. This is a movement class designed for the community so no prior dance experience is needed. Participants explore UBW's technique with close attention to the use of breath, weight, call and response and polyrhythm.
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This event requires pre-registration with Resilient Retreat which can be completed at resilientretreat.org/the-retreat/application or by calling (941) 343-0039 — In partnership with the Resilient Retreat, This participatory workshop will focus on self-care, rejuvenation, and (re-) constructing healthful images of ourselves and our communities. As we move, share stories, and discuss holism practices from food choices to daily stress relief, Urban Bush Women BOLD Facilitators offer simple tools for reinhabiting our bodies and reinforcing holism from the inside out. We will also bring out and affirm the wisdom that is already in the group, fostering resource exchange and building community. The goal is to bring ourselves to balance, thereby bringing our families and communities to balance as well. No dance or fitness experience is necessary...just a body and a willingness to exhale!
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This is a closed event where Urban Bush Women will be leading worksop for Booker High School students.
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This is a closed event where Urban Bush Women will be leading worksop for Sarasota Contemporary Dance.
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This is a closed event where Urban Bush Women will be leading worksop for Sarasota Contemporary Dance.
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Registration Requested: Register Here — Join 2024 artists in residence from Urban Bush Women (Jaimé Yawa Dzandu, Kentoria Earle, Love Muwwakkill, Mikaila Ware) as they perform an excerpt from Haint Blu followed by a collaborative performance developed with community artists from Sarasota Contemporary Dance, Create Latino, and more.
Haint Blu is an ensemble dance-theater work seeped in memory and magic. Known as the color that Southern families paint their front porches to ward off bad spirits, Haint Blu uses performance as a center and source of healing, taking us through movement into stillness and rest: remembering, reclaiming, releasing, and restoring. It is an embodied look into familial lines and the movements, histories and stories of our elders and ancestors. It reflects on what has been lost across generations and what can be recovered. Haint Blu takes us to the magical place where spirits share their legacies journey onward, and leave the thick residue of their knowing behind.
After the performance, stay for a special Dance for Every Body Workshop. This movement jam/dance class embraces the ideas that each individual has a unique and powerful contribution to make, and that our bodies are a powerful source of agency. The goal is for "every body" to find their level of challenge and comfort and partake according to their abilities, and to appreciate the groups’ diversity as an attribute to their community. This is a movement class designed for the community so no prior dance experience is needed. Participants explore UBW's technique with close attention to the use of breath, weight, call and response and polyrhythm.
Address: 655 N Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL 34236
Haint Blu is an ensemble dance-theater work seeped in memory and magic. Known as the color that Southern families paint their front porches to ward off bad spirits, Haint Blu uses performance as a center and source of healing, taking us through movement into stillness and rest: remembering, reclaiming, releasing, and restoring. It is an embodied look into familial lines and the movements, histories and stories of our elders and ancestors. It reflects on what has been lost across generations and what can be recovered. Haint Blu takes us to the magical place where spirits share their legacies journey onward, and leave the thick residue of their knowing behind.
After the performance, stay for a special Dance for Every Body Workshop. This movement jam/dance class embraces the ideas that each individual has a unique and powerful contribution to make, and that our bodies are a powerful source of agency. The goal is for "every body" to find their level of challenge and comfort and partake according to their abilities, and to appreciate the groups’ diversity as an attribute to their community. This is a movement class designed for the community so no prior dance experience is needed. Participants explore UBW's technique with close attention to the use of breath, weight, call and response and polyrhythm.
Address: 655 N Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL 34236
SCHEDULE
Urban Bush Women (UBW) galvanizes artists, activists, audiences, and communities through performances, artist development, education, and community engagement. With the groundbreaking performance ensemble at its core, and ongoing programs including the Summer Leadership Institute (SLI), BOLD (Builders, Organizers & Leaders through Dance), and the Choreographic Center Initiative, UBW affects the overall ecology of the arts by promoting artistic legacies; projecting the voices of the under-heard and people of color; and bringing attention to and addressing issues of equity in the dance field and throughout the United States. UBW provides platforms and serves as a conduit for culturally and socially relevant experimental art makers.
Adrian Anantawan
In his second year as Artist in Residence, Adrian Anantawan returned to inspire and engage our community. A world-class violinist and educator, Anantawan was born without a right hand and has become a powerful advocate for people with disabilities, raising awareness about issues of access and equity in arts communities. His residency highlighted the importance of inclusion and representation in the arts.
March 2024
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Screening Process Required to Attend — In partnership with the Resilient Retreat, Adrian will present an interactive, therapeutic concert featuring violin classics from Mozart to Gershwin—pieces will be presented in a dialogue format, where Adrian will speak after each piece, encouraging audiences at the Resilient Retreat to explore their own relationship to music, self-expression and healing.
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Adrian will present a musical journey of his life in this family friendly concert! This event is interactive and will feature violin classics from Mozart to Gershwin, and a piece co-composed by YOU - the audience - live!
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Adrian will perform a FREE inspiring, family-friendly program with works by headlined Gershwin, Mozart and Kreisler as part of the Signature Artists of the Bay series. The performance will also include students with disabilities from The Haven and students from Booker High School, with a theme of overcoming adversity and adaptation through the power of music and community.
SCHEDULE
Adrian Anantawan
Adrian Anantawan returned to Sarasota to culminate his three-year residency. Following his previous seasons of exploring accessibility and barriers to the arts, Adrian focused that season on innovation in the arts and how it could increase opportunities. That year, Adrian partnered with The Haven, Easter Seals of Southwest Florida, Oak Park School, the University of Florida Innovation Lab, and more.
January 2025
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Mixing, Mingling, and Music. A special evening of reflection through music and the arts. Grab a glass of wine and engage with music in a whole new way.
Join Sarasota Performing Arts Foundation’s Artist in Residence, Adrian Anantawan for an intimate evening experience the power of music. Adrian will present an interactive, therapeutic concert featuring violin classics—pieces will be presented in a dialogue format, where Adrian will speak after each piece, encouraging the audience to explore their own relationship to music and self-expression. Art Supplies will be available for creative reflection during and after the concert.
707 N Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL 34236
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Adrian will present a musical journey of his life, growing up with a disability—this short concert is family-friendly, interactive, and will feature violin works ranging from classical, jazz and tango styles, and even piece co-composed by the audience live!
All families will receive a free book - “My Family Plays Music”
1331 1st St, Sarasota, FL 34236
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Adrian will perform a free outdoor Public Performance at The Bay Park as part of its Sundays at the Bay Series. Adrian will present an interactive, family friendly concert featuring violin works ranging from classical, jazz and tango styles—the program will feature Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess Suite and Piazzolla’s Four Seasons. The performance will include students from The Haven and other guests to be determined.
SCHEDULE
About our Artist in Residence Program
The Foundation’s artist-in-residence program started in 2021 with Kennedy Center Citizen Artist, Olmeca. The program brings distinguished artists to the Gulf Coast Region to engage in artistic exploration of a community need. In 2024, Artists in Residence will explore building community while continuing to explore barriers to arts accessibility.