A Forgotten Sarasota Art Legacy Returns Through an Unexpected Friendship

I thought I had met a new friend at a car show. I had no idea I had just met a living connection to Sarasota’s art history.

Rick Sanders and I started talking at a car show here in Sarasota. We stayed in touch, spent time together and, step by step, became very good friends.

Rick shared stories from his life. We restored an old cast-iron bench together. I helped him organize and care for things around the house. He showed me paintings, photographs and small pieces of a family history that I found fascinating, but I still couldn’t put the whole picture together. Then one day, Rick showed me a video interview with his father-in-law, Robert “Bob” Chase.

That was the moment everything changed. I suddenly understood that the artwork surrounding us was connected to one of the families that helped shape Sarasota’s early artistic community.

Bob Chase was a World War II veteran and aerial-reconnaissance photographer. He moved to Sarasota in 1947 to study at the Ringling School of Art through the GI Bill. He later taught at Ringling and opened the Chase School of Art. His students included Marie Selby. The woman whose love of nature gave Sarasota the extraordinary Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, and whose iconic banyan grove remains one of our community’s most beautiful landmarks, studied painting with Bob Chase.

In 1952, Marie Selby helped Bob purchase property near Sarasota Bay where he could establish his studio. Bob later became a regular Sunday volunteer at Selby Gardens.

Bob’s wife, Jean Adair Chase, was also an artist and teacher. Together, Bob and Jean operated the Chase School of Art and Gallery on Bay Road. Their home became a studio, school, gallery and gathering place where art was part of everyday family life. Jean had her own place in Sarasota’s cultural history. In 1948, before she became Jean Chase, she received honors for her costume at Sarasota’s famous Beaux Arts Ball.

Their daughter, Diana Chase Sanders, grew up surrounded by this creative world and also created art. After Diana passed away in 2021, Rick took on the personal responsibility of protecting the family’s artwork, photographs, memories and stories.

Now I understand why every room, painting and conversation felt as though it held something more. Rick and I began by restoring an old bench together. Today, we are working on another kind of restoration: bringing the Chase family’s Sarasota story back into public view.

I feel incredibly fortunate that Rick has trusted me to help care for this legacy and consider its future.

This year, selected works and historical pieces from the Chase family collection will be presented at Sarasota Art & Dance Night.

This will not simply be an art exhibition. It will be the continuation of a Sarasota story about art, nature, friendship, teaching and one family’s lasting influence on the community.

We are now inviting historians, journalists, cultural organizations, collectors and community partners to connect with us as we prepare the exhibition and continue documenting the family’s remarkable history.

The Chase Family Legacy Exhibition

Sarasota Art & Dance Night

Sunday, November 15, 2026

Art Ovation Hotel, Crescendo Ballroom

More of this story is coming soon.

Sometimes history is not found in an archive. Sometimes you meet it at a car show, become its friend and slowly realize that it has trusted you with its next chapter.

Susan Szantosi and Rick Sanders