Florida Studio Theatre Awarded $200,000 from Jack and Priscilla Schlegel to Unite Community, Education, and Engaged Citizenship through Entertainment

SARASOTA, FL – Florida Studio Theatre (FST) has received a generous, year-end gift totaling more than $200,000 from local philanthropists Jack and Priscilla Schlegel to celebrate how local theater brings together community, promotes education, and engages citizens through the performing arts. Altogether, the support will buoy FST’s next year of performances and outreach to touch the lives of audience members from the mainstage to children’s programs.

“Theater is just as much about educating as it is entertaining,” said Jack Schlegel. “We invite others to join us in ensuring the experiences created at FST continue to build our community’s thoughtful arts reputation and top-level performances.”

“We are thankful for the support of Jack and Priscilla Schlegel ,” said Richard Hopkins, FST’s Producing Artistic Director. “They recognize the impact art has in our community, that art enhances life, that art is good for the soul. We are fervent in our goal to expand, grow, and magnify theatre art and the audience it serves. This level of support will enable us to do that and more, for this, we are truly grateful.”

A portion of this gift was designated from the couple's fund at the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, which has contributed nearly half a million dollars in grant support to area nonprofits since 2015. This is the largest grant that fund has provided to date.

“We’re proud to join our donors in recognizing how the arts – and FST specifically – unite children and adults around ideas that help us understand more about ourselves and how we come together as one community,” said Roxie Jerde, President and CEO at the Community Foundation. “We hope the Schlegels’ generosity will inspire others to join them in ensuring these experiences continue long after any curtain call."

Founded in 1973 as our region’s contemporary theatre, FST has grown to five theatres located in the heart of Downtown Sarasota and is the largest subscription theatre in the state of Florida and among the largest in the country. Each year, FST serves more than 230,000 live attendees across its diverse programs: Mainstage, Cabaret, Stage III, Children's Theatre, The FST School, New Play Development, and FST lmprov. Learn more at floridastudiotheatre.org.

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About the Community Foundation of Sarasota County: The Community Foundation of Sarasota County is a public charity founded in 1979 by the Southwest Florida Estate Planning Council as a resource for caring individuals and the causes they support, enabling them to make a charitable impact on the community. With assets of $520 million in more than 1,570 charitable funds, the Community Foundation awarded grants and scholarships totaling $27.5 million dollars last year in the areas of education, the arts, health and human services, civic engagement, animal welfare and the environment. Since its founding, the Community Foundation has been able to grant more than $350 million to area nonprofit organizations to our community thanks to the generosity of charitable individuals, families, and businesses. For more information, visit www.CFSarasota.org or call (941) 955-3000.