Ringling Museum Will Stay Under Florida State University, for Now

Sarasota’s John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art will remain under the stewardship of Florida State University (FSU) for the upcoming fiscal year after state lawmakers dropped a highly contested Republican-led budget proposal that would have transferred control of the institution to the New College of Florida (NCF). 

The official state art museum of Florida, the Ringling was established in 1927 by circus entrepreneur John Ringling and his spouse Mable, and houses an art collection of more than 10,000 objects. It has been managed by FSU since 2000, making it one of the largest university-affiliated art museums in the United States.

In February, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis revealed a proposal in his preliminary spending plan for the 2025–2026 fiscal year that would have transferred ownership of the Ringling to the NCF, a school that has made headlines in recent years for undergoing a right-wing takeover spearheaded by DeSantis. The overhaul has seen conservatives appointed to the school’s board and a purge of LGBTQ+ books from its library, leading to a mass exodus of longtime faculty members and students. Critics have also raised concerns about NCF’s spending and fiscal and operational management. 

This week, Florida legislators dropped DeSantis’s proposal when they approved the state’s $115.1 billion budget plan. Sarasota residents, former Ringling board chairs, museum trustees, and donors who had formed a group named Citizens to Protect the Ringling celebrated the move. For months, the organization, which has accumulated more than 2,500 members, has been campaigning against the proposal by contacting and visiting legislators, holding public town hall meetings, and raising public awareness about the plan’s potential threats to the Ringling. 

Citizens to Protect the Ringling published an open letter in late February arguing that the transfer would be a waste of taxpayer money and would have negative consequences for the museum, FSU, and the local community.

“When the Governor attempted to sneak this transfer through the budget process, our citizens made sure Tallahassee knew we were watching and that we meant business,” the group’s president Nancy Parrish, a former Ringling board chair, said in a statement. 

Parrish commended the group’s efforts as “grassroots advocacy at its finest” and further thanked Republican Senator Jim Boyd for publicly opposing the proposal and helping block it from being included in the budget.

“This victory belongs to the citizens who refused to let a world-class cultural institution be put at risk through a backroom deal,” Parrish said. “They proved that when a community speaks with one voice, even the most powerful political forces have to listen.”

NCF trustees stated at their latest board meeting that they will no longer be pursuing taking over the Ringling, the Herald-Tribune reported. In addition to this failed transfer, another proposal that would have seen NCF absorb the University of South Florida’s Sarasota-Manatee 32-acre campus was also left out this legislative session. 

Hyperallergic has reached out to NCF and FSU for comment.