| Beaux Arts was founded
in the spring of 1952 by fifty members under the direction of Ann
Atkinson, the assistant Director of the newly built Joe and Emily
Lowe Art Gallery. The organization has grown to 100 active members
and over 200 active associate members.
The first Festival of Art (formerly “Clothesline Sale”)
was held in the spring of 1952 in order to give young artists a
chance to meet the buying public. The Festival became an annual
project and is now recognized as one of the leading art shows in
Florida. The 2003 Festival netted nearly $100,000, with over 250
artists from all over the country, drawing crowds in excess of 150,000.
In 1953, Beaux Arts built the Children’s Pavilion to provide
art classes for children. The facility was later enclosed, then
renovated and enlarged in 1994. Committee members organize, supervise,
and operate year-round classes, which offer opportunities for children
of various ages to study a variety of disciplines under local artists.
Today Beaux Arts provides scholarships enabling selected students
to attend the Museum art classes.
Other successful Beaux Arts programs have included the founding
of the Docent Committee, now the Docent Guild of the Lowe Art Museum.
In 1974, the Museum store was opened under the direction of Beaux
Arts and became financially successful in less than one year, with
the management of the store now turned over to the Docents of the
Lowe Art Museum. In 1974, Beaux Arts members produced its first
cookbook of regional recipes, Seasons in the Sun. Our latest cookbook,
Tropical Seasons, continues to provide additional program funding. |
