The Ringling Museum and the new Florida college are not the right match

Twenty-five years ago, the John & Mablelingling Museum, the official state museum in Florida and one of the finest art institutions on the Suncoast, was literally floating by trash cans that collect rainwater from leaking roofs. The precious masterpiece and plastic ring containers were inexplicable pairings that were born out of economic despair.

The way Ringling got there was no mystery. Line items in Florida’s annual budget, their financial trajectory, reflected the state’s political fate. Whether it was a feast or a hunger, there was one constant left. Inadequate funding threatened the long-term viability of the state museum, just as the rain had made its irreplaceable collection.

To ensure a more stable financial future for Ringling, state leaders moved governance to Florida State University in 2000. This change marked a turning point and provided the institution with the resources needed to prosper. Over the next 25 years, Ringling flourished under FSU’s stewardship and was recognized nationally as one of the top six museums for the visitor’s experience. At the same time, sound financial management led to a consistent annual budget surplus, ensuring the museum’s sustainability and future growth.

This symbiotic relationship has promoted other ultimate benefits, such as the nearly $200 million raised by local Ringling-FSU supporters over the past decade to fund donations and mission-critical costs. Florida taxpayers’ victory is a consistent decline in state budgets over the year.

Meanwhile, across the street, Florida’s Little New College, where long-term viability is permanently at risk, remains at the intersection of state auditors and the Florida Governor’s Committee.

Simultaneous attempts to correct flaws in its underlying property ownership and advance the agenda to transform into an athletics-centric institution were hampered by both the Federal Aviation Administration and Manatee County. This did not solve the question of how to replace the chunks of campus built on land leased from Sarasota Bredenton International Airport, where they return to the airport in 20 years and find more land to build sports and other facilities.

The 2025 legislative meeting was queued and amendments were made. Buried in the governor’s proposed annual budget is a provision that repeals the law that gifts Ringling to a new university and creates a publicly accountable governance structure for Ringling, along with legal protections for the museum’s campuses and collections.

Despite being physically close to Ringling, New College has been a contributing to the museum for 25 years with the organization’s capabilities, financial stability, specialized expertise and management infrastructure FSU. FSU even came to rescue New College after the 2024 Tropical Weather Trial. So I’m interested in the financially hawk administration, which has a well-known plan to dig deeper into all aspects of university operations and spending, is likely to promote transfers that are likely to result in a systematic dismantling of resilience, impose a considerable new tax burden on Floridians, and pose a risk of spelling for museums.

The back room for passing Ringling to New College was a shameless misappropriation of donor generosity and FSU’s quarter-century investment, which helped transform the museum into a critical part of the Tampa Bay area arts and culture scene. Protecting Ringling’s key partnership with FSU is a must for anyone who commits to eliminating government waste.

Nancy Parrish is the civic president who protects Ringling and former board chairs of the John and Mable Ringling Museum Foundation.