CULTURE & COCKTAILS Kicks Off 15th Season With Local Cultural Leaders

Dave Lawrence, President & CEO of the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County today announced that the 15th season of the popular series CULTURE & COCKTAILS had a sold-out kick-off on November 4 with 180 friends and supporters attending the first of five fascinating conversations at The Colony Hotel Coral Ballroom in Palm Beach.

The topic of the first event was New Faces, Favorite Places: A Conversation with Cultural Executives

+ Elliot Bostwick Davis, Director & CEO of the Norton Museum of Art. She joined the Norton in March after spending the past 18 years as chair of the Art of the Americas department at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

+ Erin Manning, Executive Director of the Henry Morrison Flagler Museum. She came to the Whitehall mansion in 2016 from the Historical Society of Princeton in New Jersey, where she served nine years as executive director.

+ Dr. Philip Rylands, President & CEO of the Society of the Four Arts. He assumed this position in September after serving as a founding director and, most recently, as Director Emeritus of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, Italy.

They were interviewed by Dave Lawrence, President & CEO of the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, and each of the speakers shared the roads they took to their current positions in the Palm Beaches, and touted upcoming exhibitions.

Coming up next:

Hey, Madam Producer

A Conversation with Theatrical Impresarios

January 13

+ Marcie Gorman, Executive Producer & Artistic Director of MNM Theatre Company, which presents musicals at the Kravis Center's Rinker Playhouse, including upcoming productions of Man of La Mancha and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.

+ Vicki Halmos, Founder/Producer of Entr'Acte Theatrix, which stages musicals at Old School Square's Crest Theatre, including the recent productions of The Addams Family and Monty Python's Spamalot.

+ Jan McArt, Producer & Director of Theatre Arts Program Development at Lynn University, where she oversees three popular theatrical series: Libby Dodson's Live at Lynn Theatre Series, Jan McArt's New Play Readings, and the Mabel Mercer Foundation's Cabaret at Lincoln Center Comes to Live at Lynn.

+ Marilynn Wick, Executive Managing Producer of The Wick Theater & Costume Museum, which this season will be presenting major productions of The Music Man, Evita, A Chorus Line and more.

Interviewed by Suzanne L. Niedland, award-winning filmmaker, actor, and Broadway Producer

CULTURE & COCKTAILS is generously sponsored by The Roe Green Foundation, Roe Green, Founder; The Donald M. Ephraim Family Foundation; The Gardens Mall; Clo & Charles S. Cohen; The Fine Arts Conservancy; First Republic Bank; Scott Teich, Teich Wealth Management of Raymond James; Woolems Luxury Home Builders; and The International Society of Palm Beach. With additional support from Legends Radio 100.3 FM, The Palm Beach Daily News, and PR-BS, a Boca-based public relations firm.

Please Note:

Admission to each CULTURE & COCKTAILS event is $75 per person in advance; $85 at the door, $125 for VIP Seating, and FREE for Supporter, Contributor, Patron and Business Arts Partner level members of the Cultural Council. All proceeds go to support the nonprofit Cultural Council of Palm Beach County. For membership information, please contact Debbie Calabria at 561.472.3330.

Each event will run from 5 to 7 pm, with registration and cocktails from 5 to 5:45 pm, and the "Conversation" from 5:45 to 7 pm, including audience Q&A. The Colony will serve complimentary beverages and an array of specially prepared hors d'oeuvres before each CULTURE & COCKTAILS conversation.

People interested in attending CULTURE & COCKTAILS can RSVP before each event by calling the Cultural Council at (561) 472-3330.

Also:

Topics and speakers are subject to change depending upon the availability of scheduled participants.

About the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County:

The Cultural Council of Palm Beach County is the official support agency for arts and culture in The Palm Beaches, Florida's Cultural Capital. The Council provides grants to cultural organizations and professional artists, advocates for art and cultural funding, enhances local arts education, offers support services to foster growth of the sector and promotes cultural tourism.

The Cultural Council also serves as a venue for exhibitions and performances featuring artists who live or work in Palm Beach County, and provides additional programming at its headquarters in the historic Robert M. Montgomery, Jr. Building in Downtown Lake Worth Beach. Also on the property are the Roe Green Uniquely Palm Beach Store featuring hand-crafted items by local artists; the Jean S. and Frederic A. Sharf Visitor Information Center, a VISIT FLORIDA-designated Florida Certified Tourism Information Center; and the Project Space, for live music and large-scale sculpture.

The Cultural Council is open to the public from 10 am - 5 pm, Tuesday through Saturday. For more information, including a complete calendar of cultural activities in The Palm Beaches, visit palmbeachculture.com.