Monday 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Tuesday 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Wednesday 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Thursday 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Friday 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Saturday - Sunday: Closed
Open by appointment only.
At this time we do not allow drop-ins.
Holidays: Closed January 20, February 11, and May 12, 2025.
Ringling College of Art + Design, 2nd floor of the Alfred R. Goldstein Library
2700 N. Tamiami Trail
Sarasota, FL 34234
Sign-up for a Special Collections
Research Consultation
or Viewing Appointment
Cheri Marks (she, her) MFA, MSI
Special Collections Librarian and Archivist
specialcollections@c.ringling.edu
Our educational mission is to introduce diverse voices and ideas that challenge traditional constructions of the canon and masterworks. The Center regularly juxtaposes the familiar and widely recognized with the lesser-known and underrepresented. Through our work, we hope to inspire the next generation of thinkers and creators to draw from a nuanced web of references.
Hands-On Object-Based Research
At the Special Collections Center, you can gather ideas for creative projects, engage in scholarly research, or discover something new. Gain hands-on experience using primary sources in our reading room, and explore our unique collections through an active exhibition program and campus events. From social justice activism to international folktales to the latest fabrication techniques, the material objects at the Center offer a great way to explore questions of conception, production, circulation, readership, and cultural history.
Collection Types
Our collections include artists’ books and photo-bookworks from the 1960s to the present; illustrated books and periodicals from the 1700s onward; historic and contemporary prints and printed matter from the 1450s onward; specialty archives and collections; and an institutional archive.
You'll find: broadsides, campus materials, democratic multiples, documentation of time-based and performance projects, engravings, exhibition publications, experimental writing, fine press books, flip books, handmade editions, historic facsimiles, parlor toys, photographs, pop-up books, prints, rare books, zines, and more. See our SC Collection Guide for highlights and more in-depth information.
Open to Everyone
The Center is open to students, staff, faculty, art and design practitioners, and the general public. It functions as a reading room, classroom, print study center, and gallery. To schedule an individual appointment, research consultation, class visit, or group tour, please contact our staff in advance.
Faculty Resources & Curricular Support
As a teaching resource for faculty, the Center can be utilized for class visits, critique sessions, performances, and extracurricular activities. For class visits, see How to Use the Center for a brief overview. Interested faculty/classes are also invited to collaborate with the Center on Exhibitions and Special Projects.
FORENSIC FACIAL APPROXIMATIONS
EXHIBITION
Curated by Special Collections Librarian and Archivist, Cheri Marks and Student Assistant, Muling Tzai.
On view March 15 through April 17, 2025*
Ringling College of Art and Design students, faculty, alum, and community members spent spring break learning the art of reconstruction as they brought skulls from active cold cases back to life. Guided by forensic artist Joe Mullins, the class recreated the faces of real victims, through a process called facial approximation. For this workshop, the artists began with 3D-printed skulls of 12 different victims, six from active cases. Many of the skulls came from the Medical Examiner's Office in Fort Myers, FL, Mariner's Marsh Park in State Island, NY, Ashland, Nebraska, and Orange County, CA.
In the Forensic Services Unit, Joe Mullins' work includes age-progressing long-term missing children, developing facial approximations from unknown juvenile skeletal remains, soft tissue facial reconstructions, and fugitive image updates to assist law enforcement.
Photo: Poster of exhibition information. Created by Special Collections Student Assistant, Muling Tzai
Open hours for the exhibition are every Wednesday, from 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm. To book an appointment outside of this time, please do so here: Book A Special Collections Appointment
*Please note the Alfred R. Goldstein Library is currently swipe-access only, accessible with a Ringling College ID. Members of the public can phone the front desk at 941-359-7587 to see the exhibition during library hours.
