Joanne Sisco

Doors As Art

I was going to park this post in respect for the message written today by Norm Frampton on Thursday Doors … until I got to the end.  So, as requested, this post is intended to highlight a little more of the beauty in the world rather than its ugliness.

Please go read Norm’s message today.

We’re surrounded by doors in our environment – exterior doors, inner doors, office doors, doors everywhere – but they’re often ignored by us as functional objects that simply provide privacy, security, or comfort from the elements.

That pretty well sums up my reaction to the doors I saw on my short trip to Florida … functional, not particularly note-worthy.  Sorry Florida, it’s nothing personal.

At least that was my opinion until we visited the vast John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota.

The history behind this museum is rocky … a private collection left to the State of Florida in 1936, a long legal battle with creditors of the Estate, neglect and mismanagement, and finally put under the stewardship of the Florida State University in 2000.

It is now the State Art Museum of Florida.

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John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art – photo from ringling.org

Not only is this museum massive in size and impressive in presentation, but I discovered it is an extraordinary place to visit if you love doors.

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We had time to visit only a small part of the building and it seemed that every door I saw was wonderfully different from all the others.

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Doesn’t this door look oddly sized for the space it occupies?

So. Many. Doors!

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… and given the chance, I would return to this museum in a heartbeat to see what other door treasures were in the rest of building I didn’t get to see.

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Thursday Doors is a weekly photo feature hosted by our Supreme Door Master, Norm Frampton at Norm 2.0.

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89 comments

  3. I was wondering if this is the same place my grandparents took us from Clearwater to see the Ringling Brothers “estate?” I mentioned on the more recent post that there was plenty of art and beautiful memorabilia where we toured, including a huge black and white checked palazzo. I am not sure if we took many photos. . .
    I loved the fancy, elaborate doors! The one you asked about seems ill-fitted to the space, as if it is cut off at the top. Your postcould have filled a month of doors! 🙂 ❤

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    • I’m guessing this is the same place you visited. It was an estate and there were 2 additional parts – one of which I didn’t even get to see – that I haven’t written a post about.

      So many doors! You’re right, I could have done door posts for a long while … I still have several I didn’t include.

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  6. Thanks to Lynn, I read Norm’s post earlier today. What a(nother) heartbreaking tragedy.
    Made worse by the POTUS.
    Thank you for sharing.
    This is my first visit to WP in a couple weeks. It’s been a nice distraction from the activism.

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  14. I’m not much of a museum person when I travel, but, I have to admit, when I do convince myself to go, I am seldom disappointed. That looks like an amazing museum – based on the doors alone! 1/2 of one floor, and you didn’t see any of the art? You definitely need to get back. Thank you for sharing these beautiful doors!

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  19. Never mind the doors (beautiful though they are) I’m in love with that pink plaster and I am not even a pink person! Just thinking how pretty it would look in my conservatory… and yes I did read Norm’s post. So many dreadful events in this cocked-up world of ours

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      • I guess everyone is tired of the rich getting obscenely richer whilst everyone else pays for it. Hopefully the next generation work things out – at the moment though I find it quite bleak. So much hatred and intolerance in the world. How did it come to that? We need another hippy revolution – Peace Man! John Lennon had it right with Imagine.

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  21. Thank you for responding to Norm’s very powerful and heartfelt post by sharing these amazing doors. There is beauty all around us.., sometimes we just need to persevere and not lose our focus.

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    • I’ve said it before, but I’m not a museum person … even as an adult. I just find it hard to get excited by static displays. I’m happier to stand back and look at the bigger picture … which usually means the building and how the displays are set up.

      I saw such a small part of this particular museum though. I hope I get a chance to return someday.

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  24. First of all: holy crap that place is ginormous! You probably need a golf cart to cover the whole thing in one day.
    As for the doors: Yes! Thanks for sharing these beauties, this was exactly what I needed 🙂

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    • What was really interesting to me was that every door was different … and not necessarily in a small way. A lot of thought and attention went into each.

      My personal taste runs to minimalistic. My home, my decorating, my style is quite devoid of ’embellishments’ … but I do appreciate them in other settings 🙂

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      • Why am I not surprised. My style is minimalism with dramatic accents. 🙂

        This week I saw a picture of a kitchen and I knew instantly that this would be my dream kitchen, in case we ever win the lottery or inherit a lot of money, from relatives we didn’t know we had.

        I showed it to my husband and he was surprised at first. It doesn’t seem to be me but then he saw what I saw, it has Bridget written all over. That, or he is just a sweetheart who loves to see me happy. 🙂

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  28. Fabulous doors. I think I am spoilt for choice here in France, so many doors, interior and exterior, in our house we have so many different doors, for anyone who likes things to match and everything to be perfect it would be a disaster, every one is different, some shut perfectly, others can be a little temperamental, but there is so much history in every one!

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  31. I love walking through museums. We don’t normally pay much attention to the doors, well we didn’t before Norm. The are beautiful. I also really like the iron gate at the end.

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  32. I particularly like your first photo, Joanne, and am already looking forward to your future piece, ‘photography, nose bleeds and jet packing’. 🙂

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  35. Considering how large that building is, I am sure you could take enough door pictures to last a year of Thursdays. Those doors would be stunning in my house. They would not match the decor, but I would be willing to have them.

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    • I’ve run into that dilemma more than a few times … doors that I covet, but I would need a new house for them 😉

      My sister tells me there are 4 floors to this museum … and we visited 1/2 of one floor. If this is an indicator of what I could find in the remaining sections, I’m thinking your estimate of doors for a year is probably not far off 🙂

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  38. Thanks for Norm’s rant…I share his sentiment.

    You are right, Florida, in general has very unimpressive doors. Loved the ones you share. St. Augustine has some pretty nice ones as well.

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