Collaboration Nation

If repeat business is the surest sign of doing something right for clients, then a Ringling College of Art and Design department is about to get really busy.

That department is the Collaboratory.

A combination of collaboration and laboratory, the project is a partnership with The Patterson Foundation, a Sarasota-based organization that provided around $700,000 to fund the early stages. The Collaboratory, under the “monetize creativity” theme coined by circus pioneer and college founder John Ringling himself, is set up to provide a range of art and design services for businesses and organizations. In the process, Ringling students work on projects and get an experience that goes deeper than a coffee-fetching internship.