Can I get a little personal here? The first thing I did when I moved to Sarasota two dozen years ago was to visit the library. The second thing I did was volunteer to help at an historic site.
And both of those things have influenced how
I see and appreciate our county, which I love and treasure.
So imagine my delight when, upon renewing my stolid boring uninspired beige library card, I could select a design! This is the one I chose:
Is it not WONDERFUL? It’s by Asa Cassidy, an artist of about 100 years ago, who painted and lived in Sarasota and Tampa.I know the painting because I use it as an illustration in my presentation of Sarasota created for the Historical Society, but to be able to carry it in my wallet, as close to my heart as the library, any library, is? Sheer exuberation. I might even have to find a red maillot and a tarpon to ride. (I think it’s a tarpon. I’m sure I’ll stand corrected if it’s not.)
Asa Cassidy also painted the seaward side of the Powell Crosley Mansion in 1930, the year it was completed.
Read more about Asa Cassidy on Artists of Old Florida.
The Historical Society of Sarasota County 
Back in the very early 90s I was doing some research in the Ringling Museum archives, which at that time were located somewhere in the old Gallery of the Circus building (the building that now houses the Wisconsin along with other historic Circus treasures). I came across a very early drawing of the waterfront side of Ca d’Zan before it was built. The center stairs leading down to the dock were curved and branched in two different directions before coming back together at the dock instead of straight down as they actually are. And it seems like I recall something on the rear facade of the house itself…it’s been 30 years now but maybe the walkway that that overlooks the court on 3 sides actually continued on the back wall…or maybe it was on the exterior, like a long balcony stretching the length of the Bayside facade?? My point though is the drawing was credited to Asa Cassidy. I believe it said he was also an artist with the Saturday Evening Post. I always remembered the name. I’ve been a 50+ years fan of the famous show business family the Cassidys, and I always wondered if Asa might be a relative of theirs.