People in Sarasota know it as the place with the five big pink flamingos standing guard along Tamiami Trail.

Still, few are prepared for the uplifting art they find inside the Marietta Museum of Art and Whimsy.

Here's founder and curator Mary Lee.

I hope they discover a little piece of happiness within themselves.

I hope that they relate to the environment, and they just feel good looking at the paintings and looking at the sculptures, that it just gives them a good feeling.

That's all we're hoping for.

Lee's strategy is to find art that triggers a visceral response.

I'm not looking fo the technically perfect stuff.

I need something that really, really grabs you and what I call art from the heart.

Something that hits you emotionally.

I want the viewer to hav an experience with the artwork, with what they see.

I want them to get something fro it that they can understand it.

As the name suggests, much of the art inside the museum is lighthearted, whimsical, and even downright humorous by design.

It's a place where people can check their worries and concerns at the door, Lee said It's also a haven for overcoming loss.

As we get older, we lose.

I mean, we lose a parent.

We lose our child.

We lose our friends, we lose a pet.

And I think that gives us a little hole in our heart, and we go around trying to fill up that hole.

And I think tha the artwork says that it's okay.

It's okay to lose something, because something else will come in and fill that.

The walls inside burnis a treasure trove of surrealism, magical realis and rest of Florida landscapes, including a large collectio of Florida Highwaymen paintings.

So this is very, very sweet.

The outdoor courtyard behind th museum is Lee's pride and joy.

It treats visitors to cavalcade of colorful creatures.

This year, we'r featuring orchids and mosaics, and we've had, a couple of young painters in.

And they've been painting our benches.

Inside or out, every painting and sculpture has its own story.

Lee and her volunteer docents regale visitors during gallery talks.

And as they stroll the collection.

Sometimes people make up their own stories.

You know.

Even better.

When they see the artwork.

It it kicks off something in their brain.

And so that's what we're looking for.

While Disneyworld may be the happiest place on earth, the Marietta Museum of Ar and Whimsy is without question the happiest place in Sarasota.