SARASOTA, Fla. — The Ringling hosts the history of the Circus Museum, an exhbit dedicated to memorilaizing the heyday of the circus industry. 

“This is a family favorite because everyone can give it a try," explained Jennifer Limmer Posey, the curator at the Circus Museum at The Ringling in Sarasota.

She’s standing in front of their interactive tight rope exhibit. But this one is just a tick off the ground.

“So, you are narrowing down from about 3 inches ultimately to three-quarters of an inch which is actually the width of the wire,” Posey explained.

To see the real high-fliers, you must get to the mini big top an intricate recreation on a massive scale.

The Howard Bros. Circus Model consists of more than 42,000 pieces and spans 3,800 square feet. It was created by philanthropist and circus lover Howard Tibbals.

“This model represents what the American circus was in the 20th century,” said Posey.

At its height, Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus traveled with 150 railroad cars and 1,300 people.

“And they would descend upon a town for one day, set up this canvas city, put on two shows,” said Posey. “And by the time you came out of the big top at night, the circus was all gone.”

The museum aims to preserve this part of American History through artifacts like an 1879 bandwagon.

“In the 1900s, it traveled to Europe. It’s visited more places around the globe then I will ever go to,” she said.

Posey knows the backstories to these pieces easily as she’s watched all of this come to life around her.

“I’ve been working at the Ringling Museum for 22 years, I actually started as an intern,” said Posey.

And the museum continues to grow, expanding to fill another floor here in the spring of 2024.

The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., every day of the week and is closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day.