[Images Courtesy The Boca Raton Museum of Art]

Celebrating 55 Years – The Boca Raton Museum of Art

Since its humble beginnings in the 1940s, the Boca Raton Museum of Art has played a key role in enhancing the cultural, educational and economic vitality of Boca Raton and surrounding communities. The museum has gained the reputation of being one of South Florida's leading cultural institutions, attracting more than 175,000 visitors annually to its galleries and programs. This year, the Boca Raton Museum of Art celebrates its 55th anniversary, and its 5th year in Mizner Park, the cultural heart of the city.

The Beginnings
Deeply rooted in the history of its city, the Boca Raton Museum of Art exemplifies the cultural impact and "ripple effect" of the arts in small towns across America. The Museum's roots extend to the late 1940s, when a group of socially active women came together to form the town's first organization, a civic club, with the goal to build a small library.

Two library board members, philanthropist Hildegarde Schine and socialite Roberta MacSpadden were appointed to organize the open house event. An estimated crowd of 1,000 attended the library's open house, which included an exhibition of paintings borrowed from friends and loaned by galleries from Palm Beach to Miami. In response to interest in the paintings, the library association formed the Art Guild of Boca Raton in1950. In 1962 the Art Guild dedicated its newly constructed building on Palmetto Park Road. That building, which the Museum occupied until January 2001, now houses the Boca Raton Museum Art School.

Within seven years, the building required an expansion, and three studio classrooms were added. In 1973 the Art Guild officially became a not-for-profit corporation, and in 1985 changed its name to the Boca Raton Museum of Art. In 1978 the Museum hired its first full-time Director, and began a program of collections acquisition and changing exhibitions. By the late 1980s the Board of Trustees began to address the need for future museum expansion to accommodate the growth of the Museum's collections. The Museum made a commitment to build its new facility in downtown Boca Raton's Mizner Park in late 1997. In just over three years, more than $13 million was raised for the new Museum - allowing it to open debt-free.

The Centre for the Arts at Mizner Park
On January 24, 2001, the new Boca Raton Museum of Art opened to the public at Mizner Park. The move was a natural evolution for the Museum, and an enhancement to the area, which through the years has become a significant tourist destination. The north end parcel of land at Mizner Park is the site of the Centre for the Arts at Mizner Park, a three phase project that includes the state-of-the-art Count de Hoernle Outdoor Amphitheater, accomodating 4,500 people, and the 44,000 square foot Boca Raton Museum of Art. The final phase of the Centre's development will be an 1,800 seat, acoustically superior indoor performing arts hall with administrative and educational facilities. Today, the Centre offers an extensive schedule of events and performances ranging from programs free to the public, such as the Summer Music series, taking place May 28 through August 25, as well as ticketed events featuring entertainers such as Willie Nelson and Harry Connick, Jr. Plans are underway to organize a Festival of Cultural Arts in March 2007 in cooperation with organizations such as the Boca Raton Museum of Art. The Centre for the Arts at Mizner Park is committed to fostering collaboration and cooperation between educational establishments, artists and cultural organizations. Partnerships developed through its Centre Kids program provide children in Palm Beach and northern Broward County with opportunities to learn about and experience the performing arts.