"The origins of the city's cultural identity can be traced to the arrival of circus impresario John Ringling, railroad executive Ralph Caples, and socialite Bertha Palmer, who all showcased impressive art collections in their homes. With the establishment of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art and the Ringling School of Art, the city became known as a center of visual arts, and a cadre of professional artists who appreciated Sarasota's magnificent tropical light and landscape set up studios and stayed. Art openings and beaux arts charity balls provided much of the town's early magic, and the flourishing creative community soon included illustrators, cartoonists, and writers. The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Winter Quarters attracted thousands of visitors, including Ernest Hemingway, Bette Davis, Cecil B. DeMille, and Prince Rainier. In the 1960s, Alfred Barr, former director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, inspired a Fine Arts Institute at New College with Philip Guston, Larry Rivers, and Conrad Marca-Relli among the instructors."--BOOK JACKET.