Free Second Sundays
On a Sunday in Sarasota, the old schoolhouse gets a new kind of recess.
By Edit Sarasota Staff
On a Sunday in Sarasota, the old schoolhouse gets a new kind of recess. Families can wander through contemporary galleries, linger over a performance, and settle in for hands-on art-making without checking the admission price at the door. Free Second Sundays offers an inviting way to spend the day at Sarasota Art Museum—part cultural outing, part communal gathering, and entirely attuned to the idea that art belongs in everyday life.
Held on the second Sunday of each month, the program opens the museum to visitors at no cost and adds the kind of activity that can make a museum visit feel less formal and more familiar. Special performances bring an element of surprise to the galleries, while art-making opportunities give children and adults a chance to move from looking to making. It is an especially appealing format for families, but the museum’s broad mix of exhibitions and programming gives plenty of reason for curious grown-ups to come along, too.
The setting adds its own layer of history. Sarasota Art Museum occupies the restored Sarasota High School, a landmark building whose Mediterranean Revival architecture recalls the city’s early civic ambitions. Since opening as a contemporary art museum in 2019, it has become a vital part of Sarasota’s cultural landscape, placing ambitious exhibitions and public programs in a building that has long been woven into local memory. The result is a place where the past is not treated as a backdrop so much as a conversation partner for the art on view.
Free Second Sundays also reflects something important about Sarasota’s cultural life: access is not an afterthought. By removing the cost of admission and creating programming that welcomes different ages and levels of experience, the museum makes room for repeat visits, spontaneous discoveries, and families who may be encountering contemporary art together for the first time. A child absorbed in a project, a visitor pausing before an installation, and a performance unfolding nearby become part of the same lively Sunday rhythm.
The next Free Second Sundays takes place Sunday, September 13, 2026, at Sarasota Art Museum, 1001 South Tamiami Trail. Admission is free, with special performances and family art-making activities offered throughout the day.