Art Center Sarasota Welcomes Photographer Barbara Banks As A Board Member

Carolyn Benedict-Drew, chair of Art Center Sarasota's board of directors, recently announced that the organization has welcomed the celebrated photographer Barbara Banks to its board.

"Barbara has long been a vital part of Sarasota rich's arts and cultural tapestry," says Benedict-Drew. "Her commercial work appears regularly in area magazines and her fine art photography has shown both regionally and across the nation. We are thrilled to welcome this celebrated artist, business person and beloved member of Sarasota's arts world to our team."

Banks picked up her first camera as a child, documenting family activities and her world with black and white film. She was inspired by her parents, her high school art instructor and many artists, including photographers Arbus, Cartier-Bresson, and Steichen. Banks acts on curiosity about our world - minute, expansive, intimate, breathtaking, gritty, illusive, provocative, impermanent. She investigates our surroundings - human, natural, constructed. While her focus is editorial assignment work and environmental portraiture, Banks is also widely sought after for her beauty/fashion photography.

Banks operates a commercial photography business in downtown Sarasota and is commissioned by clientele in Florida and across the U.S. Her permanent installation, "WORKER," was commissioned by the Sarasota Art Museum and is a site-specific installation of portrait photographs of the individuals who lent their talents to remake the historic Sarasota High School building. The imagery celebrates a class of people who often remain invisible. "Worker" seeks to make visible the invisible, to put a face to the labor that resulted in the museum.

Filmmaker KT Curran has referred to Banks as a photographer with the "amazing and intuitive ability to enter the very essence of her subject to capture breathtaking photos of depth and vision. Her commercial and artistic work is unparalleled, and a Barbara Banks photograph will never cease to impress and astound."

Banks is currently represented by State of the Arts Gallery, Sarasota. For more information, visit www.barbarabanks.com.

"Barbara is an outstanding addition to our enterprise," says Kinsey Robb, ACS's executive director. "As a leader in the arts world, her invaluable perspective and commitment to the creative arts community will empower our forward movement and embolden our mission. We could not be more delighted."

Art Center Sarasota's board of directors includes Carolyn Benedict-Drew, Chair; Michael J. Shelton, Vice Chair; Phil Baker, Treasurer; Howard Davis, Secretary; and Barbara Banks, Ramsey Frangie, and Ned Norris.