The Art & History Museums Maitland is a premier Central Florida cultural destination and community gathering place. Discover something new every time you visit. From professional artists working in their studios to hands on 19th century woodworking, their museums offer unparalleled opportunities for enrichment and inspiration. Programming includes art classes and workshops, hands-on history programs, interactive exhibits, special events, and more. Their two campuses include a 1937 artists’ colony with Aztec and Mayan architectural influences, a Victorian house museum, a working antique tool museum, an interactive telephone museum, and a local history museum. There truly is something for everyone and each experience is well worth the trip.
Association to Preserve the Eatonville Community presents the original, award-winning, internationally recognized festival celebrating the life and legacy of Zora Neale Hurston. This annual event, the Zora! Festival, takes place the last week of January each year in Eatonville and throughout Orange County, Florida. This multi-day, multi-disciplinary event celebrates the life and work of 20th century writer, folklorist and anthropologist, Zora Neale Hurston; her hometown, Eatonville, the nation’s oldest incorporated African American municipality and the cultural contributions people of African ancestry have made to the United States and the world. Attracting thousands of locals and tourists, ZORA! Festival presents an impressive roster of arts, humanities and cultural programming. The event features museum exhibitions, public talks, panel discussions, workshops and concerts.
The Bach Festival Society of Winter Park has the distinction of being the third-oldest continuously operating Bach Festival in the United States, as well as being Central Florida’s oldest operating performing arts organization. The Bach Festival Society is well known internationally and has enjoyed a long tradition of bringing world-class talent to Central Florida. Since its inception in 1935, the Society has expanded its offerings to include the annual Winter Park Bach Festival, Visiting Artists Concert Series, Choral Masterworks Concert Series, Fred Rogers Family Series, and a variety of educational and community outreach programs to encourage youth participation in music at all levels.
Central Florida Ballet presents programs that offer the best in dance performance, instruction, and opportunities to Central Florida residents and to dance lovers world-wide.
Crealdé School of Art is a community arts center offering year-round curriculum of more than 80 affordable classes in painting, drawing, sculpture, photography and ceramics for adults and children. Its faculty is comprised of more than 40 professional working artists who teach beginning, intermediate and advanced classes. Facilities include a professional dark room, ceramics studio, foundry, two galleries and sculpture garden.
Enzian Theater is Central Florida’s only full-time alternative cinema and home of Eden Bar and the Florida Film Festival. Enzian is a single-screen cinema café offering mostly independent & foreign films with two unique dining options and a variety of special programming. At Enzian, you will experience a fusion of food and film.
Garden Theatre works to preserve local history and offers cultural theatric experiences unique to West Orange County and Winter Garden. The theatre restoration project, which began in 2003, showcases an atmospheric theatre in a Mediterranean Revival style venue. The former single screen movie theater hosts live theatre, dance and music, cinema viewings, various community events and educational programs.
Global Peace Film Festival is a multi-day event that presents films, panel discussions and special art and music events in multiple locations in Orange County bringing together local citizens and visitors alike to celebrate the art of film and the culture of peace. A street fair and Pet Parade round out the festivities.
Hannibal Square Heritage Center represents a first-of-a-kind experience in Central Florida where the history of a community is told by members of the community itself through The Heritage Collection: Photographs and Oral Histories of West Winter Park, The Hannibal Square Timeline, which chronicles significant local and national events in civil rights and African-American history, and public art installations and educational programs that explore the African-American experience, southern folklore and cultural preservation. The center also features a Visiting Exhibition Series. The exhibitions and programs held at the center weave the stories of this unique and proud neighborhood together with African-American history and experience in general.
Mad Cow Theatre, one of Orlando's most respected professional theatre companies, presents award-winning theatre for a wide range of audiences in downtown Orlando. In addition to offering quality theatre year-round, each spring they turn their intimate space into a lively cabaret nightspot for the Annual Orlando Cabaret Festival. The Festival is the largest annual event of its kind in the United States and features both celebrated local performers and award-winning guest artists, featuring the best of Jazz, Pop and Broadway Music.
The Mennello Museum of American Art features an outstanding permanent collection of paintings by Earl Cunningham, special exhibitions and programs celebrating outstanding traditional and contemporary American artists.
The Orange County Regional History Center offers three floors of dynamic permanent exhibits exploring 12,000 years of Central Florida history. Located in the heart of downtown Orlando, the smart, surprising fun continues with limited-run and nationally important exhibitions scheduled throughout the year.
Orlando Ballet is the professional resident ballet in the Greater Orlando area. The 35-year-old organization employs a full-time company of dancers from Brazil, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Virgin Islands, Romania, and the Ukraine as well as the United States. Orlando Ballet performs both full-length classical ballets and modern repertoire programs. Via its mission, Orlando Ballet seeks to entertain, educate and enrich the cultural growth of Florida through the highest quality of dance.
Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival is a 12-day-festival that is founded on the concept of offering 100% unjuried, 100% uncensored, 100% accessible theatre, music, dance, art and madness to all types and ages where 100% of the box office ticket sales go directly back to the artists within The Fringe. The Orlando Fringe is the longest running US Fringe festival.
Orlando Museum of Art (OMA) exists to enrich the cultural life of Florida by providing excellence in the visual arts. To meet this objective, the OMA has dedicated itself to collecting, preserving and interpreting notable works of art; to presenting exhibitions of local, regional, national and international significance; to developing first-rate educational programs; and to presenting creative and inclusive programs to reach every segment of a diverse community. Most visitors spend one to two hours viewing the exhibitions, but individual exhibitions can be viewed in less time.
Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra is the only professional orchestra in the region, presenting innovative programming and recognized guest artists. Under the leadership of Music Director Christopher Wilkins and Principal Pops Andrew Lane, the Orlando Philharmonic has built its reputation of providing not only the best of classical and pop music, but of innovations in programming and presentations.
Orlando Repertory Theatre provides quality family entertainment and educational programs to Central Floridians through its Main Stage productions, Youth Academy and adult classes.
Orlando Science Center offers four floors of hands-on exhibits, giant-screen films and stargazing in the observatory as you discover science’s impact on your life.
Orlando Shakespeare Theater is a year-round professional theater producing the finest quality Shakespearean plays, new plays, musicals and classics at the John & Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center in Loch Haven Park. Shakespeare and more - come see it for yourself!
Snap! Orlando is a 4-day photography celebration showcasing the work of renowned international and national photographers, as well as images from emerging local talent. The event and its programs are designed to inspire and galvanize a community of art enthusiasts, from novice to seasoned collector, around a shared passion for the photographic medium. Hosted in Downtown Orlando, Snap! includes large scale exhibits and projections; receptions and special events; educational seminars; student and community competitions; youth programs; and much more… This year the dates of the event are May 3-6, 2012.
The Winter Park Playhouse is the only professional musical theatre in Central Florida. They operate with the mission to preserve the true "American" art form by producing new, rarely seen and original musicals and cabarets that will entertain, inspire and lift the human spirit. They strive to make a positive difference in our community by touching as many lives as possible, no matter what age, race or income, through the joy and wonder of live musical theatre.