Overture from Candide Music by Leonard Bernstein Craig Turley Orchestra Guest Conductor, Dr. Clark McAlister Concert Master, Stewart Kitts
Welcome Steven Caras, Arts & Entertainment District Event Producer and Director Jim Peppelman, Wealth Director, PNC Bank; Arts & Entertainment District Presenting Sponsor
“Votre Toast” from Carmen Music by Georges Bizet Jason Duika, Palm Beach Opera Young Artist, Baritone
Excerpt from legendary musical parody and winner of Special Tony Award, Forbidden Broadway Gerard Alessandrini, Creator, Writer and Director Gina Kreiezmar, star of Forbidden Broadway Accompanied by Craig D. Ames
Excerpt from Pas de Duke Choreography by Alvin Ailey, Music by Duke Ellington, “Old Man Blues” Jacquelin Harris and Kirven Douthit-Boyd, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
West Palm Beach Arts & Entertainment District Mission Declaration Howard Pincus, Board Chair, West Palm Beach Downtown Development Authority The Honorable Jeri Muoio, Mayor, City of West Palm Beach Rena Blades, President and Chief Executive Officer, Cultural Council of Palm Beach County Raphael Clemente, Executive Director, West Palm Beach Downtown Development Authority
Excerpt from Forbidden Broadway Gina Kreiezmar Accompanied by Craig D. Ames
Finale "Because" Music by John Lennon and Paul McCartney "Aquarius" and "Let the Sunshine In" Music by Galt MacDermot
Dreyfoos School of the Arts Theatre Department Palm Beach Atlantic University Concert Choir Young Singers of the Palm Beaches with Dreyfoos School of the Arts Dance Department Featuring Ryan Redmond, Rasta Thomas' Bad Boys of Dance company member, 2008 Dreyfoos graduate Choreography by Maria Konrad and Ryan Redmond
Performer Biographies and Headshots
Media Contact Only: Lauren Fifarek O’Donnell Agency O: 561-832-3231 C: 517-974-6293 [email protected]
Steven Caras (Arts & Entertainment District Event Producer and Director) Steven Caras’ life in the arts began as a dancer with the New York City Ballet. For fourteen years under the leadership of its founder, the legendary George Balanchine, he would dance worldwide in numerous masterpiece works choreographed by Balanchine in addition to being featured in many Jerome Robbins ballets.
During this inspirational time, Mr. Caras was also encouraged and mentored as a photographer by Mr. Balanchine whose support led him to a luminous second career as one of the most revered image makers of dance in history. His body of work–in access of 120,000 photographs–is considered today to be one of the most valuable and historically significant dance photography collections of all time.
In the early 1990's, Mr. Caras spent several years as ballet master and company photographer with Miami City Ballet prior to becoming their director of development for the organization's northern, tri-county operation. From 2008 through 2010, Mr. Caras returned to Palm Beach County where he served for two years as Palm Beach Dramaworks' first director of development.
Today, Mr. Caras is very active in his travels as a keynote speaker, emcee/interviewer, arts consultant and guest teacher, but he also plays a critical role in Palm Beach County philanthropy as a trustee on a private foundation along with his work as the founding chairman of two local charities, The Randolph A. Frank Prize for the Performing Arts and College Drive. He is the recipient of the 2014 Career Transition for Dancers "Heart & Soul" award, presented to him at the organization's annual Palm Beach fund raiser by Broadway legend Chita Rivera.
The PBS documentary, Steven Caras: See Them Dance, is a tribute to Caras' accomplishments with a special emphasis on the artistry and magnitude of his photographic collection. The film has aired on multiple PBS stations nationwide, garnering two major honors: a 2012 Emmy Award in the category of Arts and Entertainment and the Grand Remi Award for 'Best Television Film of 2012' at the 45th Annual Worldfest-Houston International Film Festival.
Photo Credit: Jacek Gancarz
Estelle Parsons (Special Guest Speaker, Academy Award-winning Actor) Estelle Parsons, a theatre legend whose illustrious stage career spans six decades, was last seen on Broadway earlier this year as Alexandra in The Velocity of Autumn, for which she received her fifth Tony Award nomination. Although she has spent most of her professional life in the theatre, she is most widely known for her Academy Award-winning performance as Blanche Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde and her 10 years playing Beverly, mother of the title character in the hit sitcom Roseanne. In the theatre, she made an indelible impression as the tyrannical eighth-grade teacher in Roberto Athayde's classic about totalitarian power, Miss Margarida's Way, which she performed on Broadway, all over the United States, and in London, Dublin, Turkey, and Australia. She has appeared in plays by the great writers of our time, including Edward Albee, Tennessee Williams, Dario Fo, Arthur Miller, Samuel Beckett, Paul Zindel, and Horton Foote. Ms. Parsons starred in Tracy Letts' August: Osage County for a year on Broadway, followed by another year on the road. Other recent credits include Good People by David Lindsay-Abaire, and the George and Ira Gershwin musical Nice Work If You Can Get It, with Matthew Broderick and Kelli O'Hara. In 2012, she was directed by Neil LaBute in Marco Calvani's Things of the World. As a director, she created the New York Shakespeare Festival Players for Joseph Papp in the 1980s. For two seasons, they performed Shakespeare on Broadway for New York City school students and their families in an effort to develop a multicultural audience. She also directed Al Pacino in Oscar Wilde's Salome: The Reading on Broadway. She is a member of the Actors Studio and was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 2004. This winter, she will play a 92-year-old French matron in Palm Beach Dramaworks' production of My Old Lady by Israel Horovitz, which runs from Dec. 5, 2014 through Jan. 4, 2015 at the Don & Ann Brown Theatre.
Tim Altmeyer (Special Guest, Professional Actor) Tim Altmeyer was in the Broadway companies of High (2011) with Kathleen Turner; Looped (2010) with Valerie Harper, and Oscar Wilde’s Salome (2003) with Al Pacino, Marisa Tomei, Dianne Wiest, David Strathairn and directed by Estelle Parsons. In 2012, he appeared in the Broadway National Tour of High, also with Ms. Turner. His Off-Broadway credits include the New York premieres of Edward Albee’s Occupant and Horton Foote’s The Last of the Thorntons (with Estelle Parsons), both at the Signature Theatre. Altmeyer was also in the original Off-Broadway company of Edward Albee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Three Tall Women (with Marian Seldes). Other New York credits include St. Ann's Warehouse, HB Playwrights Foundation, Hypothetical Theatre Company, Voice & Vision and the Actors Studio. His regional theatre highlights include premieres of Naomi Iizuka’s Strike-Slip at The Humana Festival of New American Plays/Actors Theatre of Louisville and The Notebook of Trigorin by Tennessee Williams (starring Lynn Redgrave) at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. He has also worked at The O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Pioneer Theatre, Paper Mill Playhouse, PlayMakers Repertory Company, Hippodrome Theatre, Great Lakes Theatre Festival, Vermont Stage Company, and Clarence Brown Theatre. Most recently, Altmeyer played James in Time Stands Still at Hartford TheaterWorks in Hartford, CT. His feature film credits include Five Years, and his television credits include All My Children and Guiding Light. In addition, Altmeyer has appeared in several national network and cable commercials, industrial videos and print ads. His directing credits include Other Desert Cities (Hippodrome Theatre), Not Now Darling and All the Great Books (abridged) (Weathervane Theatre) and the European premiere of Alex Lewin’s Water Street at the 2010 Absolut Gay Theatre Festival in Dublin, Ireland, which was nominated for three Festival awards including Best Production. His directing credits at University of Florida (where he is an Associate Professor and teaches acting) include By the Way, Meet Vera Stark; Angels in America, Part Two: Perestroika; The Madwoman of Chaillot; Dark Play or Stories for Boys; and Glengarry Glen Ross. Altmeyer is currently in rehearsal for the Palm Beach Dramworks upcoming production of My Old Lady, which runs from Dec. 5, 2014 through Jan. 4, 2015 at the Don & Ann Brown Theatre.
Angelica Page (Special Guest, Professional Actor) Angelica Page who most recently starred on Broadway in the Tony nominated The Best Man, is currently developing Turning Page, a new play, documentary film and book of selected memoirs about her mother, the legendary Geraldine Page. Broadway credits include Anna Christie (Tony Award Best Revival), Side Man (Tony Award Best Play, Helen Hayes Award Best Actress). National Broadway Tour of Pulitzer Prize winning August: Osage County (Tony Award Best Play, Helen Hayes Nomination Best Actress). In Southern Florida she played Honey in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at Coconut Grove Playhouse (Carbonell nomination), EDGE as Sylvia Plath (New Times Award, Outer Critics Circle Nomination) and as Madam Curie in the world premiere of The Radiant. She has been in 18 films including Oscar nominated movies Nobody’s Fool, The Sixth Sense and The Contender. Has appeared on TV for CBS, NBC, ABC, TNT, Showtime and HBO and currently developing a new comedy with Sandra Bernhard for Fox TV. She is a board member of The Actors Studio where she has developed many new works. Page is currently in rehearsal for the Palm Beach Dramworks upcoming production of My Old Lady, which runs from Dec. 5, 2014 through Jan. 4, 2015 at the Don & Ann Brown Theatre.
Craig Turley (Craig Turley Orchestra) A classically trained trumpet player, soloist and music producer; Craig Turley has served as the Orchestra Contractor for the Kravis Center since 1995. Mr. Turley has performed across a wide variety of music genres and has had the privilege of performing with such notables as: The Irish Tenors, Marvin Hamlisch, Aretha Franklin, Bernadette Peters, Johnny Mathis, Kenny Rogers, Regis Philbin, Olivia Newton John, Maureen McGovern, Idina Menzel and Mannheim Steamroller. Mr. Turley was also the featured trumpet soloist on the national touring companies of CATS and Miss Saigon. Performances with other musicals include DREAMGIRLS, Chorus Line, Chicago, Hairspray, Legally Blonde, ANNIE, Five Guys Named Moe, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Peter Pan starring Cathy Rigby, Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Color Purple and SHREK. As the creator of the ”Florida Rock Symphony,” Mr. Turley produced and directed the premier performance of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in Florida at Ruth Eckerd Hall featuring the notable Rock Band, “Cheap Trick.” Mr. Turley maintains an active schedule as a performer and music coordinator of live entertainment, promoting classical works and music from our great American Songbook.
Dr. Clark McAlister (Guest Conductor) Dr. Clark McAlister is Vice President and Editor in Chief of Edwin F. Kalmus & Co. and Masters Music Publications, as well as the Artistic Director of Klavier Records. In addition, he is Music Director and Conductor of the Deerfield Beach Symphony Orchestra, the Sunrise Symphonic Pops Orchestra and Lyric Chamber Orchestra. Dr. McAlister has been Music Administrator and Assistant Conductor of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Florida (later known as the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra), Music Director and Conductor at Palm Beach County College and Instructor at Canford Summer School of Music in Canford, England. He has been composer-in-residence at the University of Montana at Missoula, and currently holds that position with Chamber Music Palm Beach. He is an active composer and arranger and his compositions and arrangements are played by orchestras and ensembles in the United States, Europe and Japan; and have been recorded by Telarc, Klavier, Deutsche Grammophon, Sony and Albany. Dr. McAlister received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Miami and is the recipient of a fellowship in composition from Florida Arts Council.
Jason Duika (Palm Beach Opera Young Artist, Baritone) Baritone Jason Duika is quickly making a name for himself in the classical music world. He has been praised by Oregon music news for having a “big, warm voice” and “spot-on comic timing.” This past April, he sang the famous tenor/baritone duet, Si pel ciel, from Verdi’s Otello opposite tenor Andrew Lunsford, and the aria, Di provenza from Verdi’s La Traviata at Carnegie Hall’s Isaac Stern auditorium. In April of 2013, Mr. Duika sang the baritone solos in Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana in Alma College’s spring 2013 masterworks concert. That same year, he joined Wichita Grand Opera to cover the roles of The Count, in Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” and the great villain Iago, in Verdi’s Otello. In the summer of 2012, Mr. Duika covered Metropolitan Opera baritone Kyle Pfortmiller, in the role of Valentine in Gounod’s Faust at Utah Festival Opera in Logan. While in graduate school at Portland State in the spring of 2009, Mr. Duika sang the role of Ford, in Verdi’s Falstaff opposite veteran Metropolitan Opera baritone Richard Zeller. Among Mr. Duika’s other performance credits are the title roles in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin at Portland State and Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi. Mr. Duika holds a Bachelor of Arts in voice from Alma College, a Masters of Music in voice performance from Portland State University, and a Performer Diploma in opera from the world renowned Indiana University Jacobs School of music, where he performed the title role of Dr. Falke in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus.
Gina Kreiezmar (Forbidden Broadway, Performer) Gina Kreiezmar has been a part of the Forbidden Broadway phenomenon since 1992, performing Forbidden Broadway and Forbidden Hollywood in Manhattan, throughout the 50 states, Singapore, Japan, South Africa and parts of South America! She has also had the honor performing several versions of Forbidden Broadway with orchestras and symphonies and can be heard in the DGR cast recording of Forbidden Broadway goes to Rehab. Other credits include Evita (Eva Peron), club dates at New York’s famed Rainbow Room in Rockefeller Center and numerous commercials and voiceovers. A Florida native, Ms. Kreiezmar graduated from the University of Miami School of Music and The Burt Reynolds Institute for Theater Training in Jupiter, Fla., where she worked with and was directed by such notables as Charles Nelson Reilly, Carol Burnett, Liza Minnelli and Burt Reynolds.
Craig D. Ames (Forbidden Broadway, Accompanist) Craig D. Ames is a composer, pianist and educator living in South Florida. He has studied piano at the University of Wisconsin with American pianist, Carroll Chilton and Russian pianist, Zhanna Dawson. After moving to Florida, he studied for five years with French pianist, Phillipe Drevet. Mr. Ames has studied and taught Advanced Placement U.S. History here in South Florida and is the recipient of a Guilder-Lehrman Fellowship for his continuing studies in Pre-Colonial American History at Yale University. Mr. Ames has served as musical director at several theatres across the U.S. and specifically in South Florida. He is the four-time recipient of the Carbonell Award for best musical direction, and the recipient of the Palm Beach Cultural Council’s Clyde Fyfe Award for his work in bringing music to the Palm Beach County community. He is very proud of his development of a classical keyboard lab at Lake Worth Middle School, which provides classical piano instruction to students of all national and socio-economic backgrounds. Mr. Ames currently serves on the board of the Randolph A. Frank Prize for the Performing Arts, and is a frequent lecturer on the relationships between American History and American Music. Mr. Ames’ arrangements of the works of Rodgers and Hart are published by the Rodgers and Hammerstein library under the title “Beguiled, Again.”
Kirven Douthit-Boyd (Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater) Kirven Douthit-Boyd (Boston, MA) began his formal dance training at the Boston Arts Academy and joined Boston Youth Moves in 1999 under the direction of Jim Viera and Jeannette Neill. He also trained on scholarship at the Boston Conservatory and as a scholarship student at The Ailey School. Mr. Douthit-Boyd has danced with Battleworks Dance Company, Parsons Dance Company, and Ailey II. He performed at the White House Dance Series in 2010. Mr. Douthit-Boyd joined the Company in 2004.
Jacquelin Harris (Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater) Jacquelin Harris (Charlotte, NC) began her dance training at Dance Productions Studios under the direction of Lori Long. In 2010, as a finalist for National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts, Ms. Harris received a silver ARTS award and was a semifinalist for the Presidential Scholar in the Arts. She attended summer programs at Jacob’s Pillow and Joffrey Ballet School and has performed works by Kate Skarpetowska, Daniel Catanach, Troy Powell, and Erika Pujic. She recently graduated with honors from the Ailey/Fordham B.F.A. Program in Dance. She was a member of Ailey II. Ms. Harris joined the Company in 2014.
Ryan Redmond (Finale, Co-Choreographer & Guest Dancer) Ryan Redmond grew up in Boynton Beach, Fla. and began his dance training at the age of 11 while attending the Bak Middle School in West Palm Beach. Not long after discovering his passion for the art form, he expanded his horizons, taking additional technique classes at the Demetrius Klein Dance Studio and Southern Dance Theatre which continued throughout his four years as a student at the Dreyfoos School of the Arts in West Palm Beach. Upon graduating from Dreyfoos, Mr. Redmond attended The Juilliard School in Manhattan where he had the privilege of studying under some of the world's leading dance educators, at the same time, performing works by José Limon, Jerome Robbins, Mark Morris, Ohad Naharin, and Alexander Ekman, among many other notable choreographers. After earning his B.F.A. in dance, he immediately relocated to Boise, Idaho, joining the Trey McIntyre Project before touring the country for two very exciting seasons. Mr. Redmond was among the mere handful of gifted dancers who remained until callback week during the 11th season of So You Think You Can Dance. Mr. Redmond has just been invited to join Rasta Thomas' Bad Boys of Dance which sets out on an international tour in early January, wowing audiences in Switzerland, Germany, Israel and China. Aside from performing, he has been exploring and developing his love for choreography and teaching.
Jerzy Kędziora (Artist) Jerzy Kędziora (1947) is a sculptor, painter, designer and teacher from Częstochowa. He studied and got his qualifications from the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk, the University of Fine Arts in Poznań and LTP in Częstochowa as well as in a number of educational institutions both in Poland and abroad (Germany, Portugal, France). From the 1980s he created The Portrait of a Pole in the Times of Political Transformation and the Solidarity, comprising such series as “The Wavering,” “The Resuscitated,” “With Guy-ropes,” “Broken Voice,” “Hangers for” or “The Uniforms for the High Command.” Since the 1990s, he has been working on a series of the sculptures of balancing figures. As a university student in Gdańsk, he witnessed the beginning of the Solidarity movement, which ultimately led to the political transformation in Poland. This experience has made a lasting impression on his work, imbuing it with critical social and political aspects. “The Confession”, which grew out of this political and cultural climate, won the most important sculpture competition of that time in Poland: “The Cross in the Life of a Modern Person”, held under the patronage of the Pope. “The Balancing Sculptures” (The Grotesque of Transformation), the series of works infused with the same spirit, are the only statues in the world which, held in position only in one or two places, positioned, for instance, on a rope, a rod, a peak of the pyramid, still keep their balance defying gravity. The technicist rope in the first works of the series was a symbol of precariously thin boundaries between the extremes of our states, choices, situations. The more recent sculptures show solitary figures in the open space, who, to the rhythm of the movements of nature, perform mime monodramas displaying amazing acrobatic skills (“Walking Down the River Bank,” “The Little Gondolier,” “The Acrobat with the Chair”). Assembled into larger exhibition sets they form energizing spectacles acted out between the sky and the earth (Global Balances in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Above the Line of Sight in Berlin, On the Trail of the Mage in Orońsko, The Spectacle in the Sky in Lourdes). The sculptures have been awarded a number of prizes and honorable mentions on various exhibitions and competitions (LICC in London, Winter and Spring Salons in Warsaw, Representational Art in Madrid, A Sculpture for the City in Lakeland). The artist’s other achievements in fine arts include awards on exhibitions, creative grants (also funded by the government), ministerial, Speaker’s and presidential awards as well as a number of sculptures and urban planning solutions that won various competitions. He is also the author of several monuments as well as a number of projects combining fine arts with virtual elements (The Great Presidential Simultaneous Exhibition on two continents under the patronage of the Council of Europe). His works can be found in museums, galleries and governmental institutions, including the Presidential Palace in Warsaw and diplomatic posts in the United States, as well as in the public space, like the Avenue of Balancing Sculptures on the palace grounds in Olsztyn. Recently the artist was a special guest of such American events as Miami Art Week, NYart, Art San Diego, Art Palm Beach, where his works displayed at the entrance of the exhibition pavilions constituted informal secondary logos of the exhibitions.
West Palm Beach Arts & Entertainment District Fact Sheet
The West Palm Beach A&E District is a centralized collection of inspiring arts and entertainment venues; art and history museums; galleries; libraries; performing arts companies; and art education institutions. Situated in the heart of South Florida’s most progressive city, the District includes more than 20 distinct and distinguished cultural destinations that form a defining industry cluster. The A&E District enhances the appeal of West Palm Beach as a visitor destination, drawing attention to its status as a vibrant city illuminated by its beauty and range of creative expression. A free trolley dedicated to connecting partners makes getting around the District easy and enjoyable.
A&E District’s Mission
The formation of the A&E is intended as a means of focusing the concentration of the arts and cultural institutions and other assets in the Downtown West Palm Beach area as an industry cluster. This will allow for increased visibility in the marketplace for these institutions by introducing economies of scale in marketing and promotion, as well as through establishing strategic partnerships with cultural organizations, Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, Discover The Palm Beaches, City of West Palm Beach, and others.
The A&E District will foster economic benefits for a diverse group of stakeholders by leveraging the critical mass of attractions and associated uses such as retail shops and restaurants in the Downtown area. Ultimately, the formation of the A&E District will provide a unique brand identity for the Downtown West Palm Beach area by establishing it as an arts tourism destination, supporting and encouraging economic development, increased property values and enhanced quality of life for residents of the area.
A&E District Participating Cultural Partners
The A&E District is in the heart of South Florida’s most progressive city, and includes two cultural institutions in the Town of Palm Beach. This unprecedented alliance is made up of over 20 distinct and distinguished cultural partners, including the area’s most interesting art galleries, performance venues, art studios, museums, and performing arts groups introduces a new platform to both promote and experience the arts and entertainment destinations in the area.
Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts Palm Beach Atlantic University Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens Palm Beach Dramaworks Armory Art Center Palm Beach Opera Bruce Helander Studio Palm Beach Pops Eaton Fine Art Palm Beach Symphony Flagler Museum Palm Beach Photographic Centre Habatat Galleries Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts Historical Society of Palm Beach County Sunfest Legacy Fine Art Gallery Terebinth Studio & Gallery Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach The Society of the Four Arts Norton Museum of Art Uptown Art
A&E District Trolley All partners will be linked by a free trolley service that begins on Nov. 13, funded by the West Palm Beach DDA, City of West Palm Beach and PNC Bank. The A&E Trolley seats 30 passengers and are completely enclosed and air conditioned. The designated A&E Trolley will run its loop from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday.
A&E District’s Sponsors
PNC Bank West Palm Beach Downtown Development Authority City of West Palm Beach Art In Public Places City of West Palm Beach Florida Weekly Hyatt Place West Palm Beach/Downtown
For more information on the A&E District, please visit DowntownWPBArts.com or call 561.833.8873.
Media Contact Only: Lauren Fifarek, O’Donnell Agency O: 561-832-3231 C: 517-974-6293 [email protected]
For immediate release Contact: Lauren Fifarek O’DONNELL AGENCY O: (561) 832-3231 C: (517) 974-6293 [email protected]
DOWNTOWN WEST PALM BEACH LAUNCHES NEW ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (Nov. 13, 2014) – The much-anticipated West Palm Beach Arts & Entertainment District (A&E District) will officially launch today, Nov. 13, 2014 at 1:30 p.m. at the Downtown West Palm Beach Waterfront Pavilion, 101 S. Flagler Drive. The celebratory launch event features a spectacular live performance produced and directed by Steven Caras, starring performers affiliated with six of the member organizations, called ‘cultural partners.’ The newly formed Arts & Entertainment District is in the heart of South Florida’s most progressive city, and includes two cultural institutions in the Town of Palm Beach. It offers more than 20 distinct and distinguished cultural venues that together form an exciting destination with many layers of appeal for both local residents and visitors to enjoy. This unprecedented alliance of the area’s most interesting art galleries, performance venues, art studios, museums, and performing arts groups introduces a new platform to both promote and experience the arts and entertainment destinations in the area. Arts patrons and culture vultures will have access to every cultural opportunity through a single website, DowntownWPBArts.com, that will offer information on programming and visitor packages that may typically include admission tickets, dining and hotels at substantial savings. The website will be launched today as well. “Even before its official launch, the new A&E District is generating a great deal of interest and enthusiasm among our growing creative class, including artists, gallery owners, musicians, theater companies, and an array of other existing and start-up cultural institutions, so we expect the number of cultural partners to grow appreciably in the coming years,” said West Palm Beach Downtown Development Authority (DDA) Associate Director, Teneka James, who worked on the formation of the District. “The A&E District will foster local cultural development and generate real value by creating new economic opportunities. In addition to enhancing the impact of our arts and cultural assets, the District concept is a powerful economic development tool. Restaurants like to cluster around galleries and cultural destinations, and we expect inquires about available Downtown locations to surge once we achieve significant awareness for the district.” Howard Pincus, chair of the DDA board, noted that “ ...the DDA has been investing in and supporting art and culture for years, viewing it as an integral part of the Downtown experience. The new District will help residents, regular patrons and out-of-market visitors better understand the scope and caliber of our cultural assets.” To date, the District’s cultural partners include Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts, Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens, Armory Art Center, Bruce Helander Studio, Eaton Fine Art, Flagler Museum, Habatat Galleries, Historical Society of Palm Beach County, Legacy Fine Art Gallery, Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach, Norton Museum of Art, Palm Beach Atlantic University, Palm Beach Dramaworks, Palm Beach Opera, Palm Beach Pops, Palm Beach Symphony, Palm Beach Photographic Centre, Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, Sunfest, Terebinth Studio & Gallery, Society of the Four Arts, and Uptown Art. Partners will be linked by a free trolley service that begins on Nov. 13, funded by the West Palm Beach DDA, City of West Palm Beach and PNC Bank. The “A&E Trolley” will run its loop from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. Today’s launch event will feature an art and entertainment extravaganza produced and directed specifically to reflect the spectrum of cultural experiences offered by the District and its partners, including excerpts from Forbidden Broadway featuring Gina Kreiezmar and Pas de Duke, choreographed by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. The launch is funded in part by a generous donation from the A&E District’s presenting sponsor, PNC Bank. The bank’s Palm Beach County headquarters are located on Datura Street, and it has earned a reputation for its generous community support of arts and cultural initiatives. “PNC takes great pride in our commitment to the communities we serve, so sponsoring the launch of the new Arts & Entertainment District in Downtown WPB is a natural fit,” said Jim Peppelman, Wealth Director at PNC Bank. “Downtown is home to so many art and cultural experiences, from exciting street performers to pop-up galleries at one end of the spectrum to the sophistication of Palm Beach Opera and the world class museum experience at the Norton Museum of Art. This vibrant District delivers on its brand promise to deliver an inspiring, original experience, and we want to foster that kind of thinking.” For more information on the A&E District, visit downtownwpbarts.com or call (561) 833-8873. Stay connected with the District by following on Twitter and Instagram, @WPBAEDistrict.
About the West Palm Beach Arts & Entertainment District The West Palm Beach A&E District is a centralized collection of inspiring arts and entertainment venues; art and history museums; galleries; libraries; performing arts companies; and art education institutions. Situated in the heart of South Florida’s most progressive city, the District includes more than 20 distinct and distinguished cultural destinations that form a defining industry cluster. The A&E District enhances the appeal of West Palm Beach as a visitor destination, drawing attention to its status as a vibrant city illuminated by its beauty and range of creative expression. A free trolley dedicated to connecting partners makes getting around the District easy and enjoyable.
About the Downtown Development Authority The West Palm Beach DDA is an independent taxing district created in 1967 by a special act of the Florida Legislature. Its mission is to promote and enhance a safe, vibrant Downtown for our residents, businesses and visitors through the strategic development of economic, social and cultural opportunities.
PNC Bank PNC Bank, National Association, is a member of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC). PNC (www.pnc.com) is one of the United States' largest diversified financial services organizations providing retail and business banking; residential mortgage banking; specialized services for corporations and government entities, including corporate banking, real estate finance and asset-based lending; wealth management and asset management. Follow @PNCNews on Twitter for breaking news, updates and announcements from PNC.
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CALENDAR LISTING
UPCOMING EVENTS OFFERED IN THE NEW WEST PALM BEACH A&E DISTRICT
WHAT: With the launch of the much-anticipated West Palm Beach Arts & Entertainment District (A&E District), it will officially bridge the West Palm Beach and Palm Beach cultural attractions together. The newly formed District is in the heart of South Florida’s most progressive city, and includes two cultural institutions in the Town of Palm Beach. It offers more than 20 distinct and distinguished cultural venues that together form an exciting destination with many layers of appeal for both local residents and visitors to enjoy. The coming months are already shaping up to offer a promising display of cultural events that any arts patrons and culture vulture will appreciate! For more information about the A&E District and future events, please visit DowtownWPBArts.com.
WHEN AND WHERE: Nov. 5- March 1 Natural Balance: The Sculptures of Jerzy Kedziora Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens 2051 S. Flagler Drive Exhibition will run from now through March 1, 2015 with a lecture and artist reception Wednesday, Nov. 12, from 6-8 p.m. This astounding exhibition adds to the “surprise around every corner” aspect of the Sculpture Gardens with life-sized kinetic sculptures suspended throughout the lush tropical environment and changing throughout the run of the exhibition. General Admissions Apply. For more information, please visit www.ansg.org.
Nov. 7-28 Counter Culture Glass Exhibition Habatat Galleries 513 Clematis Street Habatat Galleries, located at 513 Clematis Street, has supported the contemporary glass movement as it became the recognized art medium it is today and now recognizes the creativity and talent coming from this new breed of glass artist, which is showcased in this first-time-ever exhibition featuring some of the best pipe-making artists from this “Underground Glass Movement.” The exhibition will be on display until Friday, Nov. 28. For more information, please call 561-469-8587 or visit www.CCGlassOnline.com.
Nov. 13-Jan. 9 Seeing Double: The Best of DOUBLEtruck Magazine Exhibition Palm Beach Photographic Centre 415 Clematis Street Seeing Double offers a chance to view a selection of over 60 of the best photographs featured in the first five years of the award-winning quarterly magazine DOUBLEtruck. The exhibition will be held at Palm Beach Photographic Centre, located at 415 Clematis St., and is a virtual time capsule of some of the most memorable moments in recent history captured by world-renowned photojournalists. For more information, visit www.workshop.org or call 561-253-2600.
Nov. 14-Dec. 17 Serge Strosberg with Edwina Sandys Art Gallery Paul Fisher Downtown Gallery 218 Clematis Street Starting Nov. 14, 218 Clematis in Downtown West Palm Beach will be home to Paul Fisher Downtown Gallery, which will host a series of shows and exhibitions over the next few months. The first exhibition will run from Nov. 14- Dec. 17 and will feature Serge Strosberg with Edwina Sandys.
Noted Manhattan painter, Serge Strosberg, will showcase his works from his recent series titled “Agalmatophilia (Love of the Statue). All are welcomed to the opening night with the artist on Nov. 14.
Celebrated artist Edwina Sandys makes a Florida debut with her 32 x 12’ piece “Breakthrough.” Edwina Sandys solo show opens with a reception for the artist Nov. 28.
Gallery hours starting Nov. 14 will be Tuesday through Wednesday, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Thursday through Saturday, 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. For more information, please call 561-832-5255.
Nov. 15 Paint By Numbers 400 Block of Clematis Time to put teambuilding, arts and FUN together for a day of creativity. Eight local artists have sketched out their interpretation of West Palm Beach on large canvas for the community to come together and paint; bringing that reflection to life. Wait until you see the final outcome! This event is sponsored by the City of West Palm Beach Art In Public Places and the West Palm Beach Arts & Entertainment District (A&E District) and will be held on the 400 block of Clematis Street on Nov. 15 from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, please call (561) 833-8873.
Nov. 19 Dave Mason’s Traffic Jam Kravis Center 701 Okeechobee Boulevard Take a journey back to the greatest days of rock with Dave Mason’s sight and sound experience, Traffic Jam. Join Dave Mason, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and co-founder of the legendary band Traffic, for an unforgettable evening of music history as he retraces the earliest days of his career with Traffic and the works that defined an era. You can expect to hear such classics as “Feelin’ Alright,” “Hole In My Shoe” and “Dear Mr. Fantasy,” along with hits from Dave’s solo days. This is one Traffic Jam you won’t want to miss. Show starts at 8 p.m., and for more information please visit www.kravis.org/davemason.
Only Orchestra and Grand Tier sections available.
Dec. 13 Opera @ the Waterfront Meyer Amphitheatre 104 Datura Street More than 100 musicians will come together to present an afternoon of live opera in a free concert at the Meyer Amphitheatre on the beautiful Intracoastal Waterway.
Bring a blanket and picnic basket and enjoy opera’s most recognizable arias and ensembles performed by the combined forces of international opera singers James Valenti and Michael Chioldi, the Palm Beach Opera Young Artists, Orchestra, and Chorus for an unforgettable afternoon of music. For more information, please visit www.pbopera.org.
MEDIA CONTACT ONLY: Lauren Fifarek O’DONNELL AGENCY Office: (561) 832-3231 Cell: (517) 974-6293 [email protected]