ART
34
Behind the art
Arts Council helps stimulate Martin County’s art scene
BY ALISHA McDARIS
A modern mobile
in the Robert
Morgade Library
in Port Salerno.
A whimsical
sculpture in Halpatiokee
Park. A portrait in oil at the
Cultural Center Gallery. An
actress acknowledged for her
performance at StarStruck
Performing Arts Center &
Theatre. A student realizing
his passion for art for the
very first time.
All beautiful vignettes
that might never have been
if not for the Arts Council of
Martin County, a nonprofit
organization dedicated to
instilling a passion for and
participation in the arts.
Nancy Turrell, the council’s
executive director,
knows that art speaks to people,
captures their attention
and draws them in. All one
has to do is open one’s eyes
to visitors and locals snapping
photos of the murals
downtown or the sculptures
scattered around the county
to know that people enjoy a
thing of beauty.
Dozens of galleries, a
handful of theaters and
performance spaces, stu- >>
ALISHA McDARIS PHOTOS
The arts council building on Ocean Boulevard in Stuart is a vision with its varying and colorful exterior lights.
John Townsend, left, tells an art lover a bit about one of his marine sculptures
at Arts Fest in Stuart this March.