It is located in Southwest Florida, the southern end of the Tampa Bay area, and north of Fort Myers and Punta Gorda.

The city limits expanded significantly with the real estate rush of the early twentieth century, reaching almost 70 square miles (180 km2).

The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway is the name given to the many natural deep water sections as well as humanmade channels, canals, and cuts that link the entire Sarasota Bay system.

Many aspects of the city are overseen by the county government ranging from the schools, the libraries, the bay, major waterways, county-designated roads, the airport, fire departments, property and ad valorem taxes, voting, the health department, extension services, stormwater control, mosquito control, the courts, and the jail.

[38] A. Everett "Chick" Austin, the museum's first director, arranged the purchase and reassembly of the theater for performances of plays and opera.

The auditorium, the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright's successor firm, Taliesin Associated Architects team under the direction of William Wesley Peters.

In 1989, Stuart Barger, a local architect, designed and oversaw the construction of another Asolo Theater, housed in the Florida State University Center for the Performing Arts.

It was built around a rococo, historic Scottish theater previously called the Dunfermline Opera House, which had been shipped to Florida.

The complex provides venues and facilities for students of Florida State University's MFA Acting program, the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training.

Founded in 1903, the Sarasota Woman's Club eventually set out to create a meeting place to house social events, activities, and forums.

During its predominantly vacant period in the 1940s, the theatre hosted a variety of roadshows and performers, including Tom Mix and his Wonder Horse and the All Girls' Orchestra.

[57] In 1952, Cecil B. DeMille filmed and premiered The Greatest Show on Earth (with James Stewart, Charlton Heston, Betty Hutton) in Sarasota.

Out of Time (2003), a crime drama starring Denzel Washington and Eva Mendes used the Blackburn Point Bridge, Boca Grande and Cortez.

In 2013, Taylor Hackford's action movie Parker, with Jason Statham, Jennifer Lopez, Nick Nolte had scenes filmed at Ca' d'Zan in Sarasota.

Founded in 2009 by Rebecca Hopkins, FST's annual Sarasota Improv Festival brings together improvisers from across the country and worldwide.

Other applications of street art such as murals and "cellograff graffiti" have become companion events also produced by Avenida de Colores, Inc.

It is currently the largest independent music festival in Sarasota[citation needed], with thousands of attendees throughout the free, public, multi-day event that also includes gallery showings, film, and other live performances.

The style developed as an adaptation to the area's sub-tropical climate and used newly emerging materials that were manufactured or implemented following World War II.

Remarkable preservation success occurred during the 1990s when the community exhibition hall, the Municipal Auditorium, designed by Thomas Reed Martin and Clarence A. Martin, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and meticulously restored to its depression recovery era, 1937 WPA community project, completion status, and its architectural glory—both inside and out.

This string of homes, built on large parcels of elevated land along the widest point of the bay, is anchored by the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art at its center.

The World Monuments Fund included the school on its 2008 Watch List of 100 Most Endangered Sites in the category Main Street Modern.

DirecTV and Dish Network direct broadcast satellite television including Tampa Bay Area local and national channels to Sarasota residents.

Sarasota made national headlines in July of 1974 when WWSB (then called WXLT) news anchor Christine Chubbuck shot herself live on-air.

This building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places because of its architecture and for providing the enormous range of community activities that are scheduled at it every week.

Many courses dot the area, including the one originally laid out for the hotel John Ringling planned on the southern tip of Longboat Key.

Tarpon was the biggest draw, but gigantic gar as well as many other species abounded to attract the notable Owen Burns and Powel Crosley.

[80] The Sarasota Sailing Squadron is a highly active facility that has hosted many nationally renowned regattas for both dinghies and larger vessels.

Dozens of professional brand ambassadors and distillers participate in the festival by engaging in panel discussions, leading classes, and tastings.

Present day, they perform weekly free water ski shows (seasonally) for the public on Ken Thompson Park.

The major roads in the area include: The U.S. sister city program began in 1956 when President Dwight D. Eisenhower proposed a people-to-people, citizen diplomacy initiative.