Virginia Shearer Executive Director | Sarasota Art Museum
Virginia Shearer Executive Director | Sarasota Art Museum
Sarasota Art Museum, in collaboration with the American Federation of Arts and the Bata Shoe Museum, is set to host "Future Now: Virtual Sneakers to Cutting-Edge Kicks," an exhibition that explores innovative design and technology in footwear. The exhibit will feature over 70 pieces from Toronto's Bata Shoe Museum and other sources, showcasing shoes made from unconventional materials like mushroom leather and ocean plastics.
The exhibition will be on display at Sarasota Art Museum from February 9 through May 4, 2025. Virginia Shearer, Executive Director of Sarasota Art Museum, emphasized the universal appeal of shoes: "Shoes, themselves, are ubiquitous. Humans have been wearing them for at least 40,000 years. And yet, shoes can also be so very personal."
This exhibition follows a previous collaboration between AFA and Bata Shoe Museum called "Out of the Box: The Rise of Sneaker Culture." Pauline Forlenza of the American Federation of Arts noted that sneakers inspire storytelling about personal and societal narratives.
"Future Now" debuted at Portland Art Museum in March 2024 and is currently displayed at Newfields in Indianapolis. After Sarasota, it will travel to Figge Art Museum in Iowa and Mint Museum in North Carolina.
Support for this exhibition comes partly from Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation and Sarasota Magazine.
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