SARASOTA, FLA.- “Ba’al & Yizhaq,” a striking Bronze, Boulder and Bluestone sculpture created by world-acclaimed artist Boaz Vaadia was unveiled today as the newest addition to Sarasota’s public art program. The 4,000 lb. multi-layered sculpture depicts two men gazing straight-ahead, one standing with right leg resting on a large stone, the other sitting, both with arms crossed.

The project was made possible by the efforts and unique financial commitment by three entities; the City of Sarasota, developer Dr. Mark Kauffman and Alfstad& Contemporary art gallery to buy the $200,000 sculpture. The groups split the cost of the sculpture three ways. Kauffman also donated part of his Ringling Boulevard property to the city, and covered the cost of installing the statue on that land. The city now has full ownership of “Ba’al & Yazhaq.”

“Sarasota has a lot of art and they are all very enjoyable, but I could not ask for a better representation of world-class art than “Ba’al & Yizhaq” to be placed on the Plaza for all Sarasota residents and visitors to enjoy,” says Dr. Mark Kauffman, developer of the project.

The sculpture now has a permanent home on the intersection of Ringling Boulevard, Links Avenue and Golf Street, on the Sabal Palm Bank Plaza. Set in a triangular corner of the plaza, the area is an artscape from which tourists and residents can sit and enjoy Vaadia’s tableau. The artscape also makes a great place to contemplate a work of architecture that stands apart from the Mediterranean Revival and MidCentury Modernist-inspired architecture Sarasota’s known for.

“We want to get Sarasota known as a cultural center, an arts center,” says Alfstad. “Whether it’s coming from the public domain or private domain is kind of less important.”

Boaz Vaadia is the internationally known sculptor whose timeless, evocative, multi-layered stone figures set a tone of peace and serenity. His work is in many private collections, 40+ public art spaces and museums around the globe, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His recognizable, multi layered sculptures look ancient, as though centuries of wind or water had chiseled them out of the rocks. As major installations at prime buildings, parks and homes around the world, they set a tone of peace and serenity in our increasingly conflicted world.

Vaadia passed away in 2017.

“Without art, (true art, connected from the heart), the soul dies almost immediately. Art is intrinsic to our living as human beings." --Boaz Vaadia