Cultural Council’s “Year of Extraordinary Support” Continues with Grants and Programs for Cultural Organizations and Creative Professionals Across all Disciplines
Posted by: Linnea Bailey
November 4, 2024
Even with recent cuts at the state level, significant arts funding is still flowing in Palm Beach County
LAKE WORTH BEACH, FL — Nearly a year into the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County’s $13.5 million Year of Extraordinary Support, or YES!, investments in the county’s arts and cultural organizations and youth programming are going strong.
Due to the Council’s advocacy efforts and record-high tourism in the county since the pandemic, organizations who receive Category B and CII (funded by hotel bed tax through the Tourist Development Council) and CI grant funding (funded by ad valorem tax) have all received funds from pools that have recently increased to more than $7.34 million.
“We are so proud of the ongoing work we’re doing to support the arts and cultural sector in The Palm Beaches,” said Dave Lawrence, president and CEO of the Cultural Council. “Despite Florida’s veto of all arts and cultural grants from the state budget earlier this year, investing in arts and culture remains a top priority here in Palm Beach County. We are grateful to all of our funding partners for making these programs possible.”
Cultural tourism grant recipients are as follows:
Category B: Armory Art Center, Arts Garage, Adolph & Rose Levis Jewish Community Center, Boca Raton Museum of Art, Busch Wildlife Sanctuary, Cox Science Center and Aquarium, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters at Florida Atlantic University, Henry Morrison Flagler Museum, Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse and Museum, Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens, Loggerhead MarineLife Center, Maltz Jupiter Theatre, Miami City Ballet, Mounts Botanical Garden, Norton Museum of Art, Palm Beach Dramaworks, Palm Beach Opera, Palm Beach State College, Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, SunFest, The Schmidt Boca Raton History Museum, The Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society and Palm Beach Symphony.
Category CII: Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens, Ballet Palm Beach, Boca Ballet Theatre Company, Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach, Schmidt Family Centre For The Arts, Spady Cultural Heritage Museum, Historical Society of Palm Beach County, Lake Worth Playhouse, Lighthouse ArtCenter, Mandel Jewish Community Center of the Palm Beaches, The Symphonia and Young Singers of the Palm Beaches.
Category CI: Arts4All Florida, aZul Fashion, Art & Design, BAM Festival, Benzaiten Center for Creative Arts, Caribbean American for Community Involvement in Florida, Core Ensemble, Delray Beach Arts, Schola Cantorum of Florida, Elevar Foundation, Fiesta De Pueblo, Lake Worth Cultural Renaissance Foundation, Masterworks Chorus of the Palm Beaches, Milagro Center, Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival, Philippine American Society, Resource Depot, Schoolhouse Children’s Museum, Shakespeare Troupe Incorporated, The Choral Society of the Palm Beaches, Sandoway Discovery Center, The Taras Oceanographic Foundation, Veterans Memorial & Multicultural Histories, Debra Weiss Dance Company and Youth Orchestra of Palm Beach County.
Recipients have also been announced for the first round of the Cultural Council Arts & Cultural Education Fund, funded through a new partnership with the Frederick A. DeLuca Foundation and meant to benefit youth education and enrichment programs in The Palm Beaches. With awards ranging from $20,000 to $200,000 over a two-year period, funds will support organizations and programs offering arts integration and enrichment, opportunities for students to learn or improve skills in the arts, field trips, classes, and residencies in conjunction with arts and cultural organizations.
Estimated to impact 105,000 county students and lifelong learners, recipients are as follows: Milagro Center, HabCenter Boca Raton, Young Singers of the Palm Beaches, Cox Science Center and Aquarium, Spady Cultural Heritage Museum, Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, the Center for Creative Education, Lighthouse ArtCenter, Palm Beach Dramaworks, Boca Raton Museum of Art, the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters at Florida Atlantic University, Digital Vibez, Palm Beach Opera, Palm Beach Symphony, Resource Depot, Middle School of the Arts Foundation, the Norton Museum of Art, The Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach, the Historical Society of Palm Beach County, Loxahatchee River Historical Society, School of the Arts Foundation, Benzaiten Center for Creative Arts, Loggerhead Marinelife Center, Arts4All Florida, Gulfstream Goodwill Industries, Dance Theater of Florida, The Boca Raton Philharmonic Symphonia, the Armory Art Center, Fiesta De Pueblo, Arts Garage, the Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens and the Schoolhouse Children’s Museum.
The Cultural Council also partnered with Palm Beach County to introduce a new $3.84 million Capital Grant Program utilizing American Rescue Plan funds, with nine organizations ultimately chosen to receive grant dollars for infrastructure, capital improvements, and other construction projects through the Palm Beach County Cultural Capital Fund. Recipients are the Cox Science Center and Aquarium, Boca Raton Museum of Art, Busch Wildlife Sanctuary, Maltz Jupiter Theatre, Ann Norton Sculpture Garden, Sandoway Discovery Center, FAU’s Kurt and Marilyn Wallach Holocaust and Jewish Studies Building, the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts and The Boca Raton Center for Arts & Innovation.
The Year of Extraordinary Support was launched by the Cultural Council in November 2023 as a celebration of the record funding for Palm Beach County’s arts and cultural sector, the largest in the Cultural Council’s 47-year history.
New Cultural Council programs include an Arts Administrator of Color Fellowship program, a new Emerging Artist Prize in collaboration with the Norton Museum of Art and a third round of the Council’s popular Artist Innovation Fellowship program.
For those who would like to help the Cultural Council’s work go even further, donations to the YES! Fund directly support many of the Cultural Council’s initiatives. Details can be found on the Council’s website at palmbeachculture.com.
About the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County
The Cultural Council for Palm Beach County is the official support agency for arts and culture in The Palm Beaches, Florida’s Cultural Capital®. Headquartered in the historic Robert M. Montgomery, Jr. building in Downtown Lake Worth Beach, the Council presents exciting year-round exhibitions and performances featuring artists who live or work in Palm Beach County. The Council features spectacular work by Palm Beach County-based professional artisans in its Roe Green Uniquely Palm Beach Store and offers complimentary resources for visitors in its Jean S. and Frederic A. Sharf Visitor Information Center. The Council is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. For more information and a comprehensive calendar of cultural events in The Palm Beaches, visit palmbeachculture.com.
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Media Contact:
Linnea Bailey (561) 713-0673
[email protected]