The Ringling takes great pride in providing one of the best museum experiences in the country and visitors are taking notice.
The travel website TripAdvisor recently recognized The Ringling as one of the 25 top museums in the 2014 Traveler’s Choice Awards. According to the Institute of Museum and Library Services there are more than 35,000 active museums in the United States, and the TripAdvisor ranking places The Ringling in the top 0.05 percent of museums nationally. More than 80 percent of the 1873 reviews of The Ringling on TripAdvisor ranked the museum as excellent. Operating in 45 countries, TripAdvisor is the world’s largest travel site and relies on more than 170 million reviews from travelers to compile its rankings.
“It is gratifying to see The Ringling compared to some of the largest and most recognizable museums in the nation,” said Steven High, executive director of The Ringling. “We are able to provide an exceptional experience for our visitors while operating with fewer resources outside a major urban location.”
The rankings also listed The Ringling as one of the top six art museums in the United States for visitor experience. The Art Institute of Chicago took the top spot for art museums and museums overall. The only other art museums ranked above The Ringling were the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., The Getty Center in Los Angeles, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Frick Museum in New York.
“The recognition is fantastic news for the museum,” said High. “We decided to make improving the visitor experience one focus of our strategic plan, and this award validates that these efforts are succeeding.”
The Ringling welcomed a record of 384,323 total visitors during its 2013-14 fiscal year, which ended on June 30.
In 2000, the Florida legislature placed the stewardship of The Ringling under Florida State University.FSU has a long tradition of excellence in the arts, and its College of Visual Arts, Theatre and Dance, contains some of the leading arts programs in the nation.The Ringling cultural campus is also home to the Sarasota Ballet, Asolo Repertory Theatre and FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training making it one of the largest college arts complexes in the country.