Sarasota Art Museum

The Sarasota Art Museum on the Ringling College Museum Campus (SAM) officially opened to the public on December 14, 2019. Its location is the Old Sarasota High School building.

Built in 1927, the Late Gothic Revival, brick and terra cotta structure was once the city's main high school. It was designed by architect M. Leo Elliott in 1926 with the intention of setting itself apart from every other architectural feat in the city. Its exterior features brick pier buttresses and glazed terra cotta cluster columns while the interior includes Gothic Revival motifs: coats of arms, quatrefoils, and arched ceilings. The school was completed in 1927 and the first senior class graduated in 1928. The building was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

An addition to the school was added in 1960 by local architect Paul Rudolph. Rudolph was a well-known member of the Sarasota School of Architecture.

After closing to students in 1996, the building (by then known locally as the Elliott building) was shuttered for many years and left neglected. There were rumors of toxic asbestos and public uproar always followed any attempt to demolish the building. In 2003, plans began to repurpose the Elliott and Randolph buildings for use as an art museum.