Art, design and organization at the Circus

Any serious exploration of the cultural side of Sarasota begins, in my opinion, at the Ringling Circus Museums. Today we participated in "family day", where I tried to learn to juggle three balls, and Jack declined to walk across a tightrope about one foot off the ground -- he said he wasn't wearing his tights! We made suitable comments about the display of circus miniatures to their designers, and listened to an excellent docent recount the history of the Ringling circus in Sarasota and explain the work of a group of volunteer wood carvers who restored the ornate circus wagons. I'd been toying with the idea of using the circus as one of my examples of the convergence of art, design, and organization in my graphic novel, and hearing again all that was involved in moving the several thousand people and animals by train between cities confirmed this idea. Now I need to design a clown costume for Troll!