"Keep the circus going inside you, keep it going, don't take anything too seriously, it'll all work out in the end." ~ David Niven

Finally - my last installment of our trip to the Ringling Museum in Sarasota! I mentioned in a previous post, that my friends and I completely missed the Tibbals Learning Center when they were visiting earlier - such a pity as I know that they would have been enchanted by it. I have a ton of pictures here, but I think that you will enjoy them.  Thanks for hanging in there!

Howard Tibbals

www.worthpoint.com

"The Tibbals  Learning Center houses the Howard Bros Circus model, the world's largest miniature circus, and a giant mural titled The Greatest Show on Earth. Hands-on inter-actives allow visitors of all ages to becomes center-ring stars, and a timeline on the second floor traces the circus history from antiquity to today."

Please read more about the incredible Howard Tibbals:

"Howard C. Tibbals is the artist and sculptor who created The Howard Bros. Circus, a 3/4-inch-to-one-foot scale replica of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The replica is now located on the Ringling Estate, in Sarasota, FL.

Tibbals was born in 1936. He saw his first circus at age 3. In 1943 he watched the circus unload from trains and began playing circus. For his 12th birthday, in 1948, he was given a lathe and jigsaw, which he used in his model building. Tibbals begin creating the circus's big top in 1956. He built his first circus wagon in 1959 (wagon #40). Most of the circus was completed in 1974, but it was not premiered until 1982, at the World's Fair in Knoxville, TN. As of 2004, the entire circus is on display at the Ringling Estate, in Sarasota, FL."

That's all folks!