Arts

Jennifer Steele is a busy woman. Her role as the Executive Director of the Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County keeps her busy enough. On top of that, she’s a mother, a partner, and the lead in the upcoming one-woman play “Bad Dates” presented by the Emerald Coast Theatre Company.

After a ten-year hiatus from the stage she’s back. Granted she has been doing other things, like producing the massively successful 30A Songwriter’s Festival and deploying the nation’s first Underwater Museum of Art.

Justin Gaffrey is a sensitive, insightful, creative and successful SoWal artist. He also kills yellow flies with a blowtorch.

He burns them to crisps, their burnt bits blending with colorful layers of dried acrylics texturizing the floor. He sent one to oblivion right in front of me after the little bastard made the final mistake of biting me. Sweet revenge in the studio!

The Town of Seaside and street artist Andrew Pisacane (aka Gaia) are paying tribute to historian and educator of art and architecture Vincent Scully with a wall-sized mural on Seaside’s purple wall facing Scenic 30A.

This past year has flown by for most folks, but Nathanael Fisher has figured out how to capture time, even for a moment, with every production of the Emerald Coast Theatre Company.

Now into its 5th season, with Nathanael as the Producing Artistic Director, over 7,000 people have attended performances at the “560 Grand Boulevard, Upstairs” location. Seated alone in the curtained main stage area, Nathanael seems content and “at home” in the ECTC environs.

Art lovers and collectors of Joe Elmore’s art will be glad to know that his legacy will continue at Elmore’s Landing thanks to the efforts of Sam Douangdara and Mike Madriaga. 

Joe Elmore at Elmore's Landing in 2014

The Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County (CAA) in partnership with the South Walton Artificial Reef Association (SWARA) will join two of SoWal's most beloved attractions - the arts and the Gulf of Mexico - by creating The Underwater Museum of Art (UMA), North America's first underwater permanent sculpture exhibit. The project has support from the National Endowment For The Arts.

In our area, we are fortunate to have two premier beach destinations that merge almost seamlessly together. While they are neighbors, each offers a unique experience. The remarkable communities of which we speak are, of course, South Walton and Destin. 
 
South Walton is comprised of a varied collection of “towns” that nestle predominantly along Scenic Highway 30A. Each offers their own interpretation of a life well lived by the beach. 

Everyone likes to take a walk on the beach, but some of us have a real need to walk on the beach. We crave a connection with nature and feel the beach is a great place to do it. We don't just look at a dune and see a pretty sight. We see something that touches our souls. That's true of Russ Gilbert. He moved here over 20 years ago from nearby Chipley and hasn't regretted it for a second.