Perhaps one of the most popular attractions surrounding St. Armands Circle in Sarasota, the Ringling Museum is an incredible site to enjoy gorgeous architecture and historical antiquities from the days of the circus. This beautiful museum has been around since 1927 to remember the legacy of Mable and John Ringling and their incredible history and the history of the famous Ringling family.
The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art (The Ringling) is pleased to present the exhibition Conjuring the Spirit World: Art, Magic, and Mediums, opening March 15, 2025, in the Ulla R. and Arthur F. Searing Wing of the Museum of Art.
The exhibition was curated by George Schwartz, Curator-at-Large, Peabody Essex Museum—the oldest continuously operating and collecting museum in the United States (founded in 1799). At The Ringling Museum of Art, it was coordinated by Christopher Jones, Stanton B. and Nancy W. Kaplan Curator of Photography and Media Arts; and Jennifer Lemmer Posey, Tibbals Curator of Circus.
Photo Credit: The Ringling
This multisensory exhibition is the first to explore the integral role that art and material culture played for mediums and magicians “conjuring” or “proving” the existence of spirits, better known as the spiritualist movement, that took root across the United States and Europe in the second half of the nineteenth century and continues today.
“The question of whether the dead are still among us lies at the heart of the Spiritualist movement,” says Jones. “We see this through the stories of believers and skeptics, mystics and magicians, and the public that hoped for answers.”
Handbills, commercial spirit photographs, and performance props help to trace the development and influence of the Spiritualist movement that ignited related popular entertainment. Those items are juxtaposed with contemporary art including paintings, sculptures, and mixed media pieces that reflect the continuing fascination with the spirit world.
Additionally, the exhibition includes interactive experiences featuring illusions, magic tricks, and other wonders that captivated nineteenth-century audiences.
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“Bringing light to developments in science and entertainment that influenced the Spiritualist movement, the exhibition explores the blurry space between fact and faith through a neuroscientific understanding of the brain and belief,” says Lemmer Posey.
Organized thematically, the exhibition’s sections include Materializing the Dead; Communing with the Departed; Magicians Among the Spirits; and Belief, Perception and Identity. Subsections and thematic throughlines in the show will highlight Spiritualism’s influence on religious, scientific, and social thought in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; the role of mediums and magicians as agents of empowerment and reinvention for a diverse group of people; as well as the contributions of international figures such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, and illusionist and escape artist Harry Houdini, both of whom played instrumental roles on opposite sides of the supernatural spectrum.
The Ringling 5401 Bay Shore Rd, Sarasota FL 34243 Exhibit Open: March 15 – July 13, 2025
Hours:
Monday
10 AM – 5 PM
Tuesday
10 AM – 5 PM
Wednesday
10 AM – 5 PM
Thursday*
10 AM – 8 PM*
Friday
10 AM – 5 PM
Saturday
10 AM – 5 PM
Sunday
10 AM – 5 PM
*Thursdays: after 5:00 PM only the Museum of Art and Bayfront Gardens are open.
About The Ringling
As the State Art Museum of Florida and part of Florida State University, The Ringling is Florida’s center for the arts, history, and learning. Bringing the past and contemporary culture to life through extraordinary visitor experiences, The Ringling is a place of exploration, discovery, and respite. The Ringling’s campus in Sarasota, Florida—which includes the Museum of Art, the Circus Museum, a historic mansion, an 18th-century theater, a Glass Arts Pavilion, and Bayfront Gardens—is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.
