Cultural Council's 2025-26 Season Announced

Old Lake Theater in lake Worth

(Press Release) September 18, 2025 (Lake Worth Beach, Fla.) — The Cultural Council for Palm Beach County is planning a dynamic season of exhibitions and events at its headquarters in The Palm Beaches, Florida’s Cultural Capital®.

Reflecting the Cultural Council’s mission to nurture, promote, and support a healthy, diverse, and inclusive cultural sector, the local arts agency’s 2025-2026 season will showcase diverse works by Palm Beach County-based creative professionals at its downtown Lake Worth Beach headquarters.

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“We look forward to yet another robust season of events and programs at the Council this year,” said Dave Lawrence, president and CEO. “I am especially looking forward to some brand-new events at the Council—including The Short List, our Artist Marketplace, and the Lake Theatre Revival Series. We invite the community to join us as we support the arts through these exhibitions and events that delight, inspire, and spark meaningful conversations.”

Fifteen exhibitions will be featured throughout the season in the Cultural Council’s Main Gallery, Gayle and Paul Gross Gallery (solo shows) and Donald M. Ephraim Family Gallery. Discussions and events with artists and community members alongside the Main Gallery exhibitions will also occur. Exhibitions and related programs are free and open to the public.

In addition to exhibitions, the Council is planning an exciting lineup of community programs, including the new Lake Theatre Revival Series featuring film screenings at the Council’s headquarters; An A-Muse-ing Evening, its signature fundraiser celebrating Palm Beach County’s vibrant cultural community; and Arts in My Backyard Family Saturdays, featuring free, interactive arts workshops for children and families.

Programming highlights include:

Main Gallery
Fiber Optics
November 7, 2025 – January 3, 2026
Opening Reception: November 6, 2025
A celebration of contemporary fiber art and the artists who use thread, textile, and technique as their primary medium. This exhibition brings together artists pushing the boundaries of fiber-based art—spinning bold ideas while highlighting the precision, patience, and expressive potential embedded in fiber practices.

The Short List
January 16 – 24, 2026
First Look: January 15, 2026
One week only! Curated for collecting, this exhibition of small works by Palm Beach County artists invites you to engage—whether as a supporter, collector, or curious newcomer. Discover artistic excellence in compact form and be part of a creative ecosystem where access, impact, and support converge.

The Cultural Council invites the community to First Look: The Short List on January 15, 2026 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. This exclusive night gives collectors, supporters, and art lovers the chance to purchase artwork from the exhibition before it opens to the public. Space is limited. Tickets are $50 per person and can be purchased at palmbeachculture.com/shortlist.

Being Well, Well Being
February 6 – April 4, 2026
Opening reception: February 5, 2026
Art can be a form of care—for the body, the spirit, and the collective. This exhibition brings together artists and writers whose work reflects the many dimensions of wellness: rest and resilience, healing and ritual, connection and care. Through poetry, painting, and mixed media, these works explore what it means to feel whole in a fractured world—and how creative practice itself can be an act of well-being.

Kinetic Energy: A Celebration of Sport in Palm Beach County
April 17 – June 12, 2026
Opening reception: April 16, 2026
This exhibition captures the movement, emotion, and spirit of sport through the eyes of visual artists. From moments of intense focus to bursts of action, Kinetic Energy honors athletic expression and its deep roots in Palm Beach County’s cultural landscape.

Artist Marketplace
June 26 – August 14, 2026
For the first time, the Council presents a salon-style showcase of Palm Beach County artists. Floor-to-ceiling displays invite collectors and art lovers to discover new talent, connect with creators, and acquire works they may not find elsewhere.

Gayle and Paul Gross Gallery
This gallery provides Palm Beach County-based emerging, mid-career, or experienced visual artists an opportunity for a solo exhibition—chosen through a non-paid, competitive selection process by a committee of visual arts professionals.

Joel Cohen
On the Bright Side
October 31 – December 13, 2025
Joel Cohen captures the world through bold colors, strong shapes, and striking shadows. Influenced by his background in graphic design, his photography highlights textures and angles that might otherwise go unseen. Each image reflects his trained eye for turning everyday moments into vivid and memorable works of art.

Mark Forman
Stimulating Thoughts
December 19, 2025 – January 31, 2026
Mark Forman’s work emerges from ideas long stewing in his subconscious, demanding visual form. Through painting, collage, and mixed media, he confronts lies, injustice, and misinterpretations alongside deeper concerns for humanity. His work challenges viewers to reflect, question, and engage in dialogue that sparks change.

Claudia Henao
El Dorado
February 6 – March 21, 2026
Claudia Henao’s series honors pre-Columbian cultures through contemporary glass. Using techniques like casting, fusing, pâte de verre, and sand casting, she reinterprets symbolic ancestral forms. Her work bridges ancient traditions with modern craft, celebrating identity, heritage, and the cultural dialogue between past and present.

Katherine Hofmann
Seams Between Land and Sky
March 27 – May 9, 2026
Katherine Hofmann’s work emerges from a process of burying, excavating, tangling, and detangling, unearthing memories through painting. Her large-scale works on paper, made with experimental watercolor, natural pigments, and handmade collage, trace water’s flow and stillness while weaving personal encounters into layered landscapes bound to place and time.

Asandra
Shekinah: The Inner Dwelling Place
May 15 – June 26, 2026
Asandra draws on sacred cultures to create vibrant paintings that blend pattern, symbol, geometry, and color. Working with acrylic on wood and large-scale stamps, her Shekinah series transforms panels into doorways, exploring the presence of the sacred and the balance between inner dwelling and engagement with the world.

Dominique Denis
Metamorphosis
July 3 – August 14, 2026
Dominique Denis is a mixed-media artist whose work explores art and architecture through nostalgia, identity, and transformation. Using fabric, hand-built ceramics, wood, and yarn, she creates immersive installations that reimagine domestic forms. Her practice investigates collective memory in the built environment, blurring past and present, interior and exterior.

Donald M. Ephraim Family Gallery
Woven
October 24, 2025 – January 3, 2026
Artists use paper to mirror and expand on techniques rooted in fiber, transforming the material through rhythm, pattern, and repetition into layered compositions that evoke strength, memory, and connection.

Estuary: Artwork that Celebrates Lake Worth Lagoon
January 9 – February 21, 2026
Where freshwater meets saltwater, life thrives. This exhibition brings together visual artists inspired by the unique landscapes, wildlife, and quiet complexity of Lake Worth Lagoon, honoring it as both a vital ecosystem and a place of reflection, connection, and natural wonder.

Aureate
February 27 – April 11, 2026
A collection of works that explore the use of gold as line, accent, and illumination. In each piece, gold draws the eye—highlighting form, tracing movement, and offering moments of quiet brilliance.

Asian American and Pacific Islander Artists of Palm Beach County
April 17 – June 26, 2026
This exhibition highlights the rich diversity and creative vitality of Asian American and Pacific Islander artists in Palm Beach County. Through various media and perspectives, these artists explore themes of identity, culture, and community, offering a powerful look at their experiences and contributions.

Lake Theatre Revival Series
In celebration of the 85th anniversary of the historic Lake Theatre (now the Robert M. Montgomery, Jr. Building, home to the Cultural Council), this film series will feature showings at the Council’s headquarters on select Friday nights:

Classic Premiere: His Girl Friday (1940)
October 24, 2025 (6-8:30 p.m.)
Celebrate the Lake Theatre’s 85th anniversary with a screening of His Girl Friday, released the same year the theater opened. Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell headline this screwball comedy classic, followed by a post-film discussion with Palm Beach County-based author Scott Eyman, who wrote Cary Grant: A Brilliant Disguise in 2020.

Subtropic Film Festival Winners: 2025 Showcase
December 12, 2025 (6-8:30 p.m.)
Experience the creativity and vision of emerging filmmakers with a showcase of award-winning shorts from Subtropic Film Festival 2025. This special screening brings the festival’s top selections to the historic Lake Theatre, offering a night of bold storytelling, fresh perspectives, and cinematic discovery from South Florida and beyond.

The Wiz: A FLAVAR Film Event
February 6, 2026 (6-8:30 p.m.)
Celebrate Black film and culture with a special screening of The Wiz, the 1978 musical classic. Curated in partnership with FLAVAR Co.—a Palm Beach County-based creative collective—this event spotlights music, magic, and the enduring impact of representation through community-driven storytelling and artistic collaboration.

Season Finale with Lake Worth Playhouse
April 3, 2026 (6-8:30 p.m.)
This season closes with a special screening of a beloved classic, presented in partnership with Lake Worth Playhouse. Once known as the Oakley, the historic Playhouse joins the Lake Theatre in honoring Lake Worth Beach’s cinematic legacy with a timeless film and a shared celebration of community and storytelling.

Arts In My Backyard (AIMBY) Family Programs
This season, the Cultural Council’s beloved Arts in My Backyard Family Saturdays will once again return. Presented by various Palm Beach County cultural organizations and artists, this free program invites families to discover the arts as they create memories and learn new skills through visual art, dance, nature, and more. 

The Fall Family Arts & Wellness Open House will kick off the season on November 15 (10 a.m.-12:30 p.m.) with special programming, refreshments, and tours of the Council’s galleries. Save the dates for special engagements on February 21, 2026, during the Lake Worth Beach Street Painting Festival and a spring family event on April 18, 2026. Public events take place in the outdoor Arts and Wellness Space on S. L Street, just south of the Council’s headquarters.

Professional Development
Local cultural organizations’ staff as well as creative professionals can take advantage of free monthly professional development opportunities through the Council’s Institute for Cultural Advancement (ICA). The ICA season kickstarts on October 23 with “Coffee and Culture.” Designed for new employees at arts organizations and creatives new to Palm Beach County, the event gives guests the chance to meet the Cultural Council team, learn about its mission and services, and network with professionals in the sector.

Other Events and Ways to Support the Council
Underscoring the Council’s mission, An A-Muse-ing Evening: Art on Stage will raise a glass to the many individuals and organizations that make Palm Beach County’s cultural sector so vibrant. This annual signature event takes place on March 5, 2026 at The Hangar in West Palm Beach. It will feature light bites and craft cocktails, alluring performances, immersive experiences, a silent auction, a presentation of special awards, and more. Tickets range from $100-$300 per person and can be purchased at palmbeachculture.com/muse.

Additional programs this season include Palm Beach County Open Studios (May 2 and 3, 2026) and the ninth annual MOSAIC (Month of Shows, Art, Ideas and Culture) celebration in May, featuring special offers and discounts on arts experiences throughout the region.

The Cultural Council’s entire 2025-2026 season of gallery exhibitions is generously sponsored by Florida Weekly. Additional exhibition sponsors for Being Well, Well Being include WLRN and Palm Beach Media Group; Fiber Optics includes WLRN; and Kinetic Energy includes Palm Beach Media Group. Sponsors for An A-Muse-ing Evening (at the time of publication) are The Angelwish Fund, Northern Trust, The Hangar, and Palm Beach Media Group.

All events take place at the Cultural Council’s Lake Worth Beach headquarters (601 Lake Ave., Lake Worth Beach, Fla., 33460) unless otherwise noted.

For more information on upcoming events or to become a member or sponsor of the Cultural Council and its programs, please visit palmbeachculture.com or call (561) 471-2901.