Why does Florida consistently attract the best landscape painters? Audubon arrived chasing native flora and fauna. Harriet Beecher Stowe came for the light. Winslow Homer kept coming back. Something about this place has been pulling painters south for three centuries. VBMA answers that question this Saturday at 1 p.m., kicking off its summer Florida Humanities lecture series with Picturing Paradise. UCF art historian Keri Watson analyzes this history, the undeniable allure of

Florida's history has never had its Yellowstone moment. The crackers, the cattle drives, the scrub, the lagoon and the slow gorgeous ruin of it all. This might be it! A Land Remembered has been Florida's cult novel for forty years. Published in 1984, Patrick D. Smith's book follows three generations of the MacIveys, Georgia migrants who arrive in the Florida scrub in 1858 with nothing and, by 1968, have helped pave over the wild place they once loved. It was nominated for the

Original concept art of Elsa for Disney's Frozen (2013) | Source Calling all families: Riverside Theatre for Kids is bringing Disney's Frozen for an immersive theatrical journey into Arendelle beginning Thursday, June 18 Unlike most Riverside productions which bring professional actors directly from Broadway, Frozen stars our talented local youth from the Riverside Theatre for Kids program -- costumes and props all designed in-house. Audiences will be seated family-style at l

Gallery 14's summer show is here! Titled Coastal Currents, the show begins this Thursday, with the opening First Friday Gallery Stroll reception this Friday, June 5, 5 to 8 p.m. Sarah Eden Houglum's paintings carry the imprint of everywhere she's lived: Hawaii, California, and now Vero Beach, each place absorbed and translated into imagery. Sandy Bachmann arrives with a different background: 23 years in graphic design, then a degree in art education, and a sculpting and ceram

Edward Moran (1829-1901), Summer Morning, New York Bay, 1873. Oil on canvas. Courtesy of the Thomas H. and Diane DeMell Jacobsen PhD Foundation. If you've been meaning to get to VBMA to see American Made, this weekend is your final window, and with America's 250th just weeks away, the timing couldn't be better. The exhibition, closing Sunday June 7, features more than 80 works spanning 250 years, from Hudson River landscapes to Sargent portraits to early modernist abstraction

It's that time of year again. McKee's ponds are in full bloom, and the 21st Annual Waterlily Celebration is just around the corner. For centuries, lilies have been symbols of purity, renewal, and enlightenment, cherished by civilizations from ancient Egypt to Asia. There is a reason they stop people in their tracks. On Saturday, June 13th, more than 100 varieties will be on display, 51 of which belong to McKee's Certified Collection of Excellence, a distinction held by only s

As of yesterday, the Vero Beach Museum of Art has officially transitioned to its summer schedule. Galleries are now closed Mondays and open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m. Complimentary docent-led tours continue daily at 2 p.m. And if you've been meaning to take a class, the time is now: summer registration is open, with the new term running June 1 through August 8. Before You Miss It You have two weeks left to catch American Made: Pain

Cyano-Collage 121, Chi-Tsung, Wu b.1981 -- from the permanent collection Mark your calendar for noon this Wednesday. The Vero Beach Museum of Art has over 1,000 works of American and international art in its permanent collection, and Every third Wednesday at noon, their docents take a group through the permanent collection with a deep dive on select artworks. Block the hour. Bring a friend. Stop in the gift shop after. The program is called Art Talk and it is one of the best

The cast of 9 to 5: The Musical took their final bow last Sunday, marking the close of the 2025/26 season. What comes next is Summer at Riverside Theatre: Vero's Gathering Place. At the center of it is Executive Chef Sue Torres, bringing cuisine inspired by cultures and traditions from around the world to The Loop Kitchen and Bar. Think live music under the oaks, cooking demos and tastings, summer craft cocktails, and a calendar of programming running through Labor Day with m

Paige Charbonneau and professional partner Edwin Rivera took home the Mirrorball at the 14th annual Dancing with Vero's Stars Saturday night at Riverside Theatre, scoring on both sides of the competition's split formula: half judge scores, half dollars raised. Paige Charbonneau and Edwin Rivera On the fundraising side, the evening brought in over $660,000 for the Indian River County Healthy Start Coalition, nearly three times last year's $230,000, which was itself a record at

This is your last week to catch Florigami in the Garden at McKee Botanical Garden. The monumental origami-inspired metal sculptures come down and the cranes fly away after Sunday, May 24. In its place, McKee invites you to experience the garden through The Jungle Experience: A Path to Stillness, beginning this Wednesday, May 20. Rooted in the Japanese practice of forest bathing, expect a slow, guided walk through McKee's historic canopy designed to engage the senses and quiet

Florigami in the Garden is wrapping up this month, and if you've been putting it off all season, now is the time to get going. But first, this week, only a few seats remain for McKee aquatics expert Nikki Wojtowicz' Wednesday, May 13 workshop, Oasis in a Pot, a hands-on session on building a Florida native aquatic container garden, essentially a miniature wetland designed as a rest stop for pollinators, dragonflies, and migrating Monarchs. It runs 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. and advanc

The tickets are gone, but the race is still very much on....

The George Balanchine Trust doesn't just hand out approvals to anybody that will perform his work. The choreographer who essentially shaped what American ballet looks like today left behind a legacy so closely guarded that companies must prove they deserve it before they're permitted to perform his work. Ballet Vero Beach has. As they close out their twelfth season this month, they're bringing the original 1953 Valse Fantaisie to the stage for the first time in company histor

With the season winding down, Vero’s "Cultural Trinity": McKee Botanical Garden, Vero Beach Museum of Art, and Riverside Theatre is entering that sweet spot: Fewer crowds, a full slate of events, and a run of weekends that practically plan themselves. Pick a day, pick a place, and go. McKee Botanical Garden: Florigami + Pirate & Fairy Festival Florigami in the Garden, McKee’s centennial exhibition, is in its final stretch and closes May 24. This is the time of year when

Erika Masterson has spent more than two decades making a living from photography, including portraits, commercial work, and the steady grind of a business she built herself in California and Florida. The conceptual work came later, showing a different side of her work entirely. Her solo exhibition, Between Worlds, opens tomorrow, April 18 and runs through May 22. Gallery 14 describes her work as "quiet and soulful." They've turned up on magazine pages, greeting cards, and boo

The tickets are gone, but the race is still very much on....

Tomorrow is Opening Night! Riverside Theatre closes out the season with Dolly Parton's 9 to 5: The Musical . Limited seats remain -- only by calling the box office at (772) 231-6990. Cocktail and hors d'oeuvres at 6:30, show begins at 7:30 followed by after-party with the cast. Based on the cult classic 1980 film, the show follows Violet, Judy, and Doralee as they reach their breaking point with their insufferable boss and concoct a brilliantly half-baked scheme to free

Vero Beach Museum of Art just landed an artist whose work you usually have to leave town to see: Yinka Shonibare

Tom Servinsky Lisa Macalaster Between the Roaring Twenties and the Swinging Sixties, America was coming of age and finding its rhythm. In the smoke of jazz clubs and the tinny buzz of Tin Pan Alley, and out of Broadway’s orchestra pits and Hollywood’s soundstages, composers like Cole Porter , George Gershwin , Irving Berlin , and Harold Arlen spun out melodies that captured the country’s swagger and longing. “Over the Rainbow.” “New York, New York.” “Fly Me to the Moon.”