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Partner Spotlights
Art Center Sarasota
What makes your business unique?
As Sarasota’s first visual arts organization, Art Center Sarasota is celebrating 100 years of creativity, connection, and community with a Centennial Season packed with powerful exhibitions, vibrant events, and expanded programs for all ages. The Art Center’s Centennial Season events feature the inaugural Authors & Illustrators Book Fair (Saturday, December 6, 2025 from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.), inspiring exhibitions, engaging classes, youth and family programs, and recurring, innovative art events like Art Actually, Second Fridays: Creative Happy Hour, and Saturday Night Sketch Club. The legendary Beaux Arts Ball—first launched in the 1940s—will be the crown jewel of the Centennial Season, dazzling Sarasota once again on March 21, 2026. The revival, located at the Sarasota Municipal Auditorium, will blend spectacle, costume, creativity, performance, and celebration–bringing a historic tradition roaring into the present.
What do you value most about your VSC partnership?
The kind employees, connections we make, learning about other incredible community partners, opportunities, and possibilities.
How long have you been in operation?
100 years!
What would visitors find interesting/intriguing about your business?
Art Center Sarasota is Sarasota's first visual arts organization, honoring a century of impact, creativity, and connectivity. Our Centennial Season is an invitation for the entire community to celebrate Sarasota’s remarkable arts legacy at Art Center Sarasota. We are admission free and serve as Sarasota's community art center. We have seven cycles of exhibitions this season which include fresh, bold artwork for patrons to enjoy. Our dynamic array of classes and workshops include oil painting, acrylics, photography editing, and more. Every Saturday, we offer Family Saturdays, free and open to the public from 12 - 3 p.m. where families can drop in and create art experiences together. Our Centennial Season programming offers a rich variety of opportunities for visitors to engage with the arts, find inspiration, and celebrate artistic expression.
Katy's Cat Cafe
What makes your business unique?
My business offers a unique way to adopt cats into their forever families. We are open to all guests, not just adopters, so we have a visibility and socialization not available at traditional adoption facilities. We offer a full cafe menu, complete with coffee, tea, mocktails, and pastries. Enjoy the best of both worlds at Katy's! Sarasota's only cat cafe!
What do you value most about your VSC partnership?
I value the outreach events for giving me the opportunity to meet more businesses and individuals in the community. I also value the marketing focus on tourists, considering that is my main demographic.
Do you offer specials and/or any special events?
Yes, we offer cat yoga, Qi Gong, art workshops, and more! Come for our Feline Friday Fifteen special to get 15% off admissions price every Friday.
If you could describe what you do in one sentence, what would it be?
Rescue cats and serve coffee!