palm beach institute of contemporary art

This great art deco theater, once housed an avant garde museum of contemporary art which closed years ago. If you go, do not expect to see contemporary art. After being closed, it reopened to house the Cultural Council and shows work of local artists. To see modern art, head to the Norton Museum in West Palm Beach or the Boca Raton Art Museum. Both have some galleries and exhbits devoted to contemporary art.

The Cultural Council is located in a restored 1940s art deco building. While it consists of a visitor center, exhibit/performance space, gift shop and artists’ workspace, I visited it to view a presentation of local plein air artists. The space is the equivalent of anything I've seen in Washington or New York. The high walls and unobtrusive lighting set off the art work beautifully. Most of the paintings were for sale and a number had already been snapped up.I had the opportunity during my visit to talk with Debby, the events director, whose wonderful enthusiasm for the Center and its projects made the visit all the more memorable.Parking in Lake Worth can be problematic, but there is a parking lot for the building just behind and to the left as well as considerable on street parking once one gets off of Lake Ave.