Posted 8/3/2005 12:16:03 PM by Webmaster
News from Ringling Museum of Art viewed 922 times
Wednesday, August 03, 2005 - Sarasota, FL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
"The Largest Miniature Circus in the World" to be on Permanent Display in the Circus Museum's New Tibbals Learning Center
Media Contact: Larry Kellogg
Public Relations, Tibbals Learning Center
Phone: 727.563.9922
Cell : 727.804.8932
Fax: 727.563.9922
Email: flapr@tampabay.rr.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Howard Bros. Circus Opens at The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in January 2006
"The Largest Miniature Circus in the World" to be on Permanent Display in the Circus Museum's New Tibbals Learning Center
SARASOTA, Fla. - "Ladies and Gentlemen . . . Step Right Up for the World Premiere of the Largest Miniature Circus in the World - the Howard Bros. Circus!"
For the first time ever, the entire Howard Bros. Circus, complete with eight main tents, 152 wagons, 1,500 circus performers and workers, more than 500 animals and a 55-car train, will make its world premiere in the Ringling Circus Museum's new Tibbals Learning Center at the The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in January, 2006. The Howard Bros. Circus is a 3/4-inch-to-the-foot scale replica of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus when the tented circus was at its largest (circa 1925-1938), occupying 3,800 square feet in the new 30,600 sq. ft. Tibbals Learning Center. The miniature itself is on display, built by circus model builder and philanthropist Howard C. Tibbals of Tennessee and Florida.
"Howard Tibbals is a master model builder, and his Howard Bros. Circus is the preeminent model of the American circus," said Dr. John Wetenhall, Executive Director of The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. "We are proud to become the permanent home of a world-renowned model that is so vast, yet authentic down to the smallest detail. The Howard Bros. Circus has to be seen to be believed."
Tibbals saw his first circus as a three-year-old. At the age of five, he watched a circus through a telescope from a neighbor of his grandparents' home as it set up on a nearby vacant lot. Fascinated, the impression stayed with him for life. A trained engineer and a skilled craftsman, Tibbals began building circus wagons and tents as a seven-year-old boy, but his pastime turned into a life-long passion for accuracy when he met noted circus model builder Harold Dunn in 1958. After picking up tips on model building from Dunn, Tibbals began to create the greatest model circus in the world - the Howard Bros. Circus. Today it consists of eight main tents, including a four-foot tall Big Top; 152 wagons; more than 200 hand-carved animals in its vast menagerie; 1,500 individual performers and workers and 7,000 folding chairs (that actually fold and stow in five circus wagons - just like the circus) to seat the circus patrons whose individual clothes represent all walks of life in the 1920s -1930s.
Tibbals, an avid circus memorabilia collector, has amassed nearly one million historical circus photographs for his personal archives and used them for accuracy in building his replica of the circus. He also visited circus back-lots and winter quarters for many years to take measurements of individual circus wagons and other equipment. The detail for each piece of circus equipment is as authentic as humanly possible, down to tent stakes, miles of cable, and dishes and tableware to serve 900. And, just like the real three-ring circus of the 1920s-1930s, the Howard Bros. Circus equipment loads into the wagons, and along with the vast menagerie, fits onto the 55-car train!
When the Howard Bros. Circus makes its world premiere in the Circus Museum's new Tibbals Learning Center in January, 2006, complemented by real-life circus acts and calliope music, it will mark the first time that the entire model has been assembled and open to the public. Portions of the Howard Bros. Circus have toured throughout the United States and have been seen by hundreds of thousands of people at the 1982 World's Fair and the Knoxville Museum of Art in Knoxville, Tennessee; the National Geographic's Explorers Hall in Washington, DC; the Rochester Museum and Science Center in Rochester, New York; the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan; the Circus World Museum in Baraboo, Wisconsin; and the Cincinnati Museum Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The Circus Museum's new Tibbals Learning Center is a state-of-the-art facility. It was funded by a $3 million donation by Howard C. Tibbals in 2000 for the construction of the new center, and, later, he established a $3.5 million endowment to support innovative programs and staff for the Circus Museum. Additional donations by Ringling Museum donors were matched by the state of Florida, bringing the impact of Tibbals' original gift to $16 million.
The Museum's exhibitions and programs are made possible in part through support by the Sarasota County Tourist Development Tax through the Board of County Commissioners, the Tourist Development Council and the Sarasota County Arts Council; the State of Florida, Florida Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, and the Florida Arts Council; and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a federal agency that fosters innovation, leadership, and a lifetime of learning. Related educational programs received additional support from The Cowles Charitable Trust and The New York Times Company Foundation on the recommendation of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Florida State University, is the state art museum of Florida. It preserves, develops, and enhances the legacy of John and Mable Ringling and engages and educates a large and diverse audience in a world-renowned collection of art, Ca d'Zan (the Ringlings' mansion) and its historic contents, collections documenting the circus and its history, the historic Asolo Theater, and the architecture, courtyard, gardens, and grounds overlooking Sarasota Bay.
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