The West Palm Beach Arts & Entertainment District is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to engage, promote, and advance diverse arts, culture and entertainment opportunities for residents and visitors of West Palm Beach. larger. The A&E District enhances the appeal of West Palm Beach, drawing attention to its robust arts community that creates a distinct sense of place and contributes to the status of a vibrant city illuminated by its beauty, community economic success and range of creative expression.
Mission Statement
To engage, promote, and advance diverse arts, culture and entertainment opportunities for residents and visitors of West Palm Beach.
WHAT INSPIRES YOU
PERFORMANCE VENUES
Alive with nationally acclaimed venues, the A&E District offers exciting entertainment from intellectual and classical to breathlessly cutting-edge. From family favorites like The Nutcracker to provocative, experimental theater, A&E District venues deliver a wide range of cultural experiences that you’ll never forget. Wrapped in the luxury of champagne box seats or lounging on lawn chairs under the stars, West Palm Beach’s performance venues deliver programming that opens your eyes, melts your heart and inspires your soul.
LITERATURE
“Libraries offer our collective knowledge, and the immensity of human thought, laid out in rows of revealing inspiration,” said Manuel Lima, founder of VisualComplexity.com. The libraries in the District are precious community assets, drawing us together in shared intellectual exploration and learning experiences. With hundreds of thousands of books, periodicals, DVDs and CDs, our libraries are a window to the world. In addition, they offer an array of programming, classes and special events that are available to the public and their members.
MUSEUMS
Museums are managers of our consciousness, offering interesting interpretations of culture and history. Through them we view the world and locate ourselves within it. The A&E District is home to first class museums and historic architectural treasures designated by the National Register of Historic Places. Works from some of the world’s finest artists and millions of archived photographs, newspapers, architectural drawings, artifacts and ephemera from Palm Beach County’s rich history are available to the public in the A&E District. These are experiences that have the power and impact to change the lives of those who dare to dream.
GALLERIES
From our seasonal contemporary and fine art fairs to a constellation of galleries and pop-up exhibits, the A&E District offers a feast for the art aficionado. Paintings from Old Masters to Abstracts, hand-blown glass, bronzes, pottery, and mesmerizing kinetic sculptures will amaze. Exhibition opening nights and studio tours throughout the district keep patrons interested, engaged and evangelistic in their support of our visual arts community. The District is home to some of the best “ambient” canvases in South Florida: the sides of buildings and garage stairwells will surprise and delight!
PERFORMING ARTS ORGANIZATIONS
Inspiring, exhilarating and engaging are just a few words that describe the live performances central to the heart and soul of the A&E District. Modern and contemporary dance, pops and symphony orchestras, live theater, ballet and opera are the mediums for some of the most talented and acclaimed actors, directors, musicians, dancers, choreographers and performers in the nation. Right here, in the A&E District.
ART EDUCATION
Robust art education programs stimulate excellence in artistic endeavors, but research supports that they also accelerate academic achievement. The District prides itself on the outstanding arts-centered education offered at a half-dozen organizations and institutions. Students and adults alike can advance and enhance their skills and ability in communication arts, dance, music, theatre, digital media or visual arts. Enrollment is required for most classes, but many options are open to the public.
EXPLORE OUR DISTRICT
Addictive Arts House is West Palm Beach’s first street art gallery and includes works from world renowned artists, as well as top emerging artists from around the world. The gallery is owned and managed by Tim Lizardi.
Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts
Named in recognition of a 1997 donation of $1 million by philanthropist Alexander W. Dreyfoos, Jr., the Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts provides an outstanding arts-centered education, in concert with a strong academic program, for students with exceptional ability in communication arts, dance, music, theatre, or visual arts.
AMP Music Lab is a technology-focused music school on a mission to empower the local music community. Located in Downtown WPB, students receive top notch instruction from professional DJs, producers and engineers with over 20 years of experience in the music industry.
The Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens’ mission is to enrich lives with nature, art and history. This historic home, located at 253 Barcelona Road, features over 100 works by sculptor Ann Weaver Norton and a collection of 250 species of tropical palms.
Housed in a historic art deco building, the Armory Art Center’s mission is to inspire the creation and experience of art. The center provides nearly 100 art courses including ceramics, digital arts, drawing, jewelry, painting, printmaking, fibers, sculpture, welding, and wood turning.
The mission of the Henry Morrison Flagler Museum is to preserve, research, and interpret Whitehall – as well as collections and materials related to the life of Henry Morrison Flagler – as unique and important elements of Florida’s history and America’s Gilded Age.
HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF PALM BEACH COUNTY
The Historical Society of Palm Beach County is the world’s leading resource for Palm Beach County history, housing a permanent collection of millions of objects and images that span over 12,000 years of Palm Beach County and Florida history.
Located in the heart of Downtown West Palm Beach, the Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach proudly serves the community with books, performances, classes, research, entertainment, technology, music and more.
Founded in 1941 by Ralph Hubbard Norton and his wife, Elizabeth Calhoun Norton, the Norton Museum of Art features more than 8,200 works, with a concentration in European, American and Chinese art, as well a contemporary art and photography.
PALM BEACH ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY
Palm Beach Atlantic University is a private Christian university. The university’s nine colleges focus on the liberal arts with a select collection of professional studies. The university’s College of the Arts embraces a diverse group of disciplines that emphasize artistic expression, arts advocacy, redemptive storytelling, and transformational experiences.
Founded in 2000, Palm Beach Dramaworks is a professional nonprofit theatre company whose mission is to enhance the quality of life through the transformative power of live theatre.
The oldest performing arts organization in Palm Beach County, the Palm Beach Opera presents a variety of cultural programs from December - April each season, including performances at the Kravis Center, rigorous artist training programs for emerging opera singers, impactful community engagement programs, redemptive storytelling, and transformational experiences.
Founded in 1974, Palm Beach Symphony is South Florida’s premier orchestra known for its diverse repertoire and commitment to the community.
PALM BEACH PHOTOGRAPHIC CENTRE
The Palm Beach Photograph Centre offers a world-class museum and workshops with master photographers. The museum hosts national, international and local exhibits year-round while the Centre’s school provided instruction for every level of photographer.
Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts
The Kravis Center is a not-for-profit professional performing arts center in Downtown West Palm Beach. Since its opening in 1992, the goal of the Kravis Center has focused on the development of local arts.
One of Palm Beach’s oldest and most respected cultural destinations, the Four Arts offers a dynamic lineup of cultural programming, including art exhibitions, notable speakers, concerts, films, and educational programs.
PAST HAPPENINGS
FOTOvision - Photography from across the globe displayed in Downtown West Palm Beach during FOTOvision, part of FOTOfusion hosted by the Palm Beach Photographic Centre. Sponsored by the West Palm Beach Arts & Entertainment District (A&E District), West Palm Beach Downtown Development Authority and ZUMA Press. FOTOvision showcases photographic excellence in fine art, landscape, nature, photojournalism and sports.
Urban Short Stories - The two-day storytelling festival in Downtown West Palm Beach which invited families, friends, elders, teens and children to share stories of West Palm Beach – what was, what is and what could be. The inaugural event is presented by the West Palm Beach Arts & Entertainment District, Knight Foundation, and the Center for Urban and Environmental Solutions (CUES) at Florida Atlantic University.
Harmony - A free public outdoor performance created to engage a community of people who have never been exposed to the cultural offerings in and around Downtown West Palm Beach. The event has featured Palm Beach, School of the Arts Dance Department, Ballet Palm Beach at the Meyer Amphitheatre with a gathering of approximately 1000 attendees each year.
Harlem Quartet - The Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach, in conjunction with the West Palm Beach Arts & Entertainment District, presented the Grammy Award-winning Harlem Quartet for a special, 60-minute appearance at the new Brightline West Palm Beach Station. The free performance gave chamber music lovers an intimate opportunity to see and hear the foursome perform both classical and jazz standards.
Musical Swings - Residents and visitors in Downtown West Palm Beach were invited to make beautiful music together at this public art installation. This free, interactive installation and experience marked the first of several stops in the United States in 2016. Created by the award-winning French Canadian design group Daily tous les jours, the swings act as a musical instrument and play prerecorded sounds from a piano, harp, guitar or vibraphone. When more neighboring swings worked together, more melodies and harmonies began to form. During this installation, more than 34, 000 people visited The Swings. Presented by the West Palm Beach Downtown Development Authority, West Palm Beach Arts & Entertainment District, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, West Palm Beach Art in Public Places and others. The project is a 2015 winner of the Knight Cities Challenge, an initiative of Knight Foundation that seeks ideas to make cities more successful.
Tell Your Story Challenge - The West Palm Beach Downtown Development Authority and West Palm Beach Arts & Entertainment District, in partnership with The Cream Literary Alliance and the Dreyfoos School of the Arts Creative Writing Program, allowed the opportunity for local writers living in Palm Beach County to submit their family stories and traditions into the “Tell Your Story” Challenge for the opportunity to be published in the Short Story Dispensers and recognized as a published writer.