A Day Trip to Sarasota Part II: Marietta Museum of Art and Whimsy

Bushnell, FL – Events of Thursday, March 5, 2015

As we wrote in our last post, we headed to Sarasota last Thursday to have breakfast at Der Dutchman Restaurant and to do some sightseeing. After breakfast, we did a little shopping, visited the Sarasota Garden Club display garden, then headed to the Marietta Museum of Art and Whimsy.

The Marietta Museum is only open from the end of October through the end of May. The hours are 1:00 to 4:00 on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Admission to the museum is free, although there is a suggested donation of $5 per person.

We discovered the museum last year and really liked it. Since much of the artwork on display changes every year, we wanted to go back again this year and see what was new.

Marietta Museum of Art and Whimsy

The Marietta Museum of Art and Whimsy was opened in Florida in 2009 by Marietta Lee. Ms. Lee, who was an ER nurse and EMT, discovered art could lift her spirits from the tragedies she sometimes witnessed as a nurse.

In addition to being an RN, Ms. Lee also has art degrees from Eastern Kentucky University and from the Ringling College of Art and Design. Her museum features colorful, uplifting, sometimes humorous artwork mostly by Florida artists.

A sculpture outside the front door that caught Paul’s eye was a porpoise playfully frolicking through the waves. The highly polished granite makes the porpoise look like it’s wet.

Granite porpoise outside museum

Right inside the door were several delicate clay sculptures of orchids in miniature by Liu Wen Mei. One of them is shown below. The sculpture is only a few inches tall and has incredible detail.

Clay sculpture of an orchid