• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
MENUMENU
MENUMENU
  • Home
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • FlaglerLive Board of Directors
    • Comment Policy
    • Mission Statement
    • Our Values
    • Privacy Policy
  • Live Calendar
  • Submit Obituary
  • Submit an Event
  • Support FlaglerLive
  • Advertise on FlaglerLive (386) 503-3808
  • Search Results

FlaglerLive

No Bull, no Fluff, No Smudges

MENUMENU
  • Flagler
    • Flagler County Commission
    • Beverly Beach
    • Economic Development Council
    • Flagler History
    • Mondex/Daytona North
    • The Hammock
    • Tourist Development Council
  • Palm Coast
    • Palm Coast City Council
    • Palm Coast Crime
  • Bunnell
    • Bunnell City Commission
    • Bunnell Crime
  • Flagler Beach
    • Flagler Beach City Commission
    • Flagler Beach Crime
  • Cops/Courts
    • Circuit & County Court
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • Federal Courts
    • Flagler 911
    • Fire House
    • Flagler County Sheriff
    • Flagler Jail Bookings
    • Traffic Accidents
  • Rights & Liberties
    • Fourth Amendment
    • First Amendment
    • Privacy
    • Second Amendment
    • Seventh Amendment
    • Sixth Amendment
    • Sunshine Law
    • Third Amendment
    • Religion & Beliefs
    • Human Rights
    • Immigration
    • Labor Rights
    • 14th Amendment
    • Civil Rights
  • Schools
    • Adult Education
    • Belle Terre Elementary
    • Buddy Taylor Middle
    • Bunnell Elementary
    • Charter Schools
    • Daytona State College
    • Flagler County School Board
    • Flagler Palm Coast High School
    • Higher Education
    • Imagine School
    • Indian Trails Middle
    • Matanzas High School
    • Old Kings Elementary
    • Rymfire Elementary
    • Stetson University
    • Wadsworth Elementary
    • University of Florida/Florida State
  • Economy
    • Jobs & Unemployment
    • Business & Economy
    • Development & Sprawl
    • Leisure & Tourism
    • Local Business
    • Local Media
    • Real Estate & Development
    • Taxes
  • Commentary
    • The Conversation
    • Pierre Tristam
    • Diane Roberts
    • Guest Columns
    • Byblos
    • Editor's Blog
  • Culture
    • African American Cultural Society
    • Arts in Palm Coast & Flagler
    • Books
    • City Repertory Theatre
    • Flagler Auditorium
    • Flagler Playhouse
    • Flagler Youth Orchestra
    • Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra
    • Palm Coast Arts Foundation
    • Special Events
  • Elections 2024
    • Amendments and Referendums
    • Presidential Election
    • Campaign Finance
    • City Elections
    • Congressional
    • Constitutionals
    • Courts
    • Governor
    • Polls
    • Voting Rights
  • Florida
    • Federal Politics
    • Florida History
    • Florida Legislature
    • Florida Legislature
    • Ron DeSantis
  • Health & Society
    • Flagler County Health Department
    • Ask the Doctor Column
    • Health Care
    • Health Care Business
    • Covid-19
    • Children and Families
    • Medicaid and Medicare
    • Mental Health
    • Poverty
    • Violence
  • All Else
    • Daily Briefing
    • Americana
    • Obituaries
    • News Briefs
    • Weather and Climate
    • Wildlife

Art League’s “Priceless” Fund-Raiser Nets $11,500, Opening New Era–and Possibilities

April 11, 2015 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

Nathan and Brooklyn Warner, attending the Wittman event with their grandfather Bob Pearson of Palm Coast, got a sneak preview of Wittman's book in the Auditorium lobby. (Skip Westhall)
Nathan and Brooklyn Warner, attending the
Wittman event with their grandfather Bob Pearson of Palm Coast, got a sneak preview of Wittman’s book in the Auditorium lobby. (Skip Westhall)

For a while there Ann DeLucia and her Flagler County Art League colleagues were quite nervous. They’d booked the 1,000-seat Flagler Auditorium for a kind of event never attempted before in the county: basically, a lecture on art.


But Robert Wittman wasn’t your average lecturer Tuesday evening. The founder of the FBI’s art-crime division, he’d spent a career chasing after art thieves and recovering some of the world’s greatest art from the underground. He tells his tales in a best-selling book, “Priceless,” and tells them like a unique sort of raconteur in his lectures around the country. Still, that doesn’t mean he could command a big audience in Flagler County.

But he did. Advance sales had totaled about 250 tickets (the selling price was $20 for a regular ticket, $65 for a ticket that included the VIP reception). But as Wittman’s 7 p.m. presentation approached, people started streaming in, and the show had to be delayed a few minutes as they kept coming in, with some 400 people filling a majority of seats in the lower section of the auditorium.

By then the event’s costs, including Wittman’s speaking fee, had been covered through a $5,000 gift from Realtor David Alfin and a combined $5,500 in grants from Palm Coast and county government. So ticket receipts could go straight into the art league’s fund-raising budget.

The event netted about $11,500, DeLucia said, making it the art league’s largest and most successful fund-raiser in the non-profit organization’s 36-year history.

“Well, the community is ready for somebody like this, for a program like that. We were pretty bold to put it into such a large space,” DeLucia said. “There’s just a lot of need for the community to be served with the arts. Wee really need to think five, 10 years where we could be.”

The evening wasn’t without competition: it took place as the school board and the Palm Coast City Council were meeting, and just as polls were closing in a special election for two seats at the Legislature.

Citing the multi-billion dollar value of the business of art — including commercial and fine art — in the United States, as a league news release described the event, Wittman impressed his audience with the importance of protecting the world’s cultural heritage and recovering those pieces which have been lost or stolen. Earlier in the day, the Flagler County Art League sponsored a special presentation to the students of Palm Coast High School, focusing on career opportunities in this multi-billion dollar business.

“The kids were very, very engaged. When they were leaving there was a lot of, ‘boy, this is the most interesting thing we’ve heard all year,'” DeLucia said.

The question, of course, is what’s next for the league. “We did this whole thing with six people,” DeLucia said. There’ll be a little recovery time, then the idea mill will get going again. “We’re thinking other stuff, but who knows.”

Support FlaglerLive's End of Year Fundraiser
Thank you readers for getting us to--and past--our year-end fund-raising goal yet again. It’s a bracing way to mark our 15th year at FlaglerLive. Our donors are just a fraction of the 25,000 readers who seek us out for the best-reported, most timely, trustworthy, and independent local news site anywhere, without paywall. FlaglerLive is free. Fighting misinformation and keeping democracy in the sunshine 365/7/24 isn’t free. Take a brief moment, become a champion of fearless, enlightening journalism. Any amount helps. We’re a 501(c)(3) non-profit news organization. Donations are tax deductible.  
You may donate openly or anonymously.
We like Zeffy (no fees), but if you prefer to use PayPal, click here.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Conner Bosch law attorneys lawyers offices palm coast flagler county
  • grand living realty
  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents

Primary Sidebar

  • grand living realty
  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents

Recent Comments

  • Ray W, on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, May 10, 2025
  • JimboXYZ on Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris Thinks the FBI or CIA Is Bugging His Phone
  • The Villa Beach Walker on Flagler Beach Will Consider Selling Ocean Palm Golf Club to Leaseholder, With Conditional Milestones
  • Sherry on The African Penguin May Be Extinct by 2035
  • Sherry on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, May 10, 2025
  • Ken on Flagler Beach Will Consider Selling Ocean Palm Golf Club to Leaseholder, With Conditional Milestones
  • Jake from state farm on NOAA Cuts Are Putting Our Coastal Communities At Risk
  • Skibum on Young Boy in Cardiac Arrest Saved by Flagler County 911 Team, Deputies and Paramedics
  • BillC on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, May 9, 2025
  • Larry on Without a Single Question, Bunnell Board Approves Rezoning of Nearly 1,900 Acres to Industrial, Outraging Residents
  • Jim on $2.8 Billion Tax Cut Deal Collapses as Senate President Calls It Unsustainable in Light of Coming Budget Shortfalls
  • The dude on $2.8 Billion Tax Cut Deal Collapses as Senate President Calls It Unsustainable in Light of Coming Budget Shortfalls
  • don miller on Flagler Beach Will Consider Selling Ocean Palm Golf Club to Leaseholder, With Conditional Milestones
  • M.M. on Mayor Mike Norris’s Lawsuit Against Palm Coast Has Merit. And Limits.
  • Fun Outdoors on Flagler Beach Will Consider Selling Ocean Palm Golf Club to Leaseholder, With Conditional Milestones
  • Doug on Without a Single Question, Bunnell Board Approves Rezoning of Nearly 1,900 Acres to Industrial, Outraging Residents

Log in