Now in its second year, Very Special Arts is an after-school program for students with learning disabilities that helps them find their talent and their place among peers. The program is under the leadership of Sue McVeigh, a former Flagler County schools employee of the year.
Culture
Florida Lawmakers Reeling Up Billion-Dollar Tax Breaks For Film and TV Industries
Less than a week after a measure was introduced in the House to provide $1 billion in tax credit to film and television production efforts in Florida, the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee released a proposal that offers $300 million in tax credits.
Red Hot Chilli Pipers Rock the Bagpipes in Celtic Style at Flagler Auditorium Tuesday
The Red Hot Chilli Pipers were launched to fame on Britain’s “When Will I Be Famous” talent show in 2007. They’ve since played most continents with their massive band, and come to the Flagler Auditorium for one night only Tuesday, Feb. 25,
Clarence Thomas as a White Playwright: “Race” Inflames City Rep’s Stage, With Sequins
David Mamet’s “Race” turns the table on an old American convention: the white rapist of a black woman. This time getting away is not an option in a thrill-ride of a play that turns the tables on stereotypes and prejudices. No one is immune. It is the Palm Coast City Repertory Theatre’s big event of the year, under the direction of John Sbordone.
Ribs Over Flagler: Palm Coast and WNZF End Event Partnership as County Offers New Home
Palm Coast and WNZF have ended the partnership that produced the annual Rock ‘n Ribfest every spring and the Seafood Festival every fall in Town Center. The Ribfest will be reborn as part of a fly-in at the county airport called Rockin’ the Runways in late April. In an unrelated move, the Flagler County Chamber of Commerce is ending its annual Taste of Flagler and replacing it with Restaurant Week.
For Darlene Love, It’s Christmastime All Year Round as She Brings 6 Decades of Stardom to the Flagler Auditorium
At 72, the great jazz, pop, rock star and sometimes actress, who brings her show to the Flagler Auditorium, reminisces in a FlaglerLive interview about her journey from back-up singer for the greats such as Elvis and Tom Jones to stardom on her own.
New “I Am Art” Gallery Opens in the Hammock; Timothy Murphy and Joe Campanellie Featured at Ocean Books and Art
The I AM ART/Rachel & Friends studio and gallery, which premiers with “The Heart of Expression” on Feb. 14, opens in the Hammock on Valentine’s Day. Flagler Beach’s Ocean Books and Art features sculptor Timothy Murphy and photographer Joe Campanellie.
Art That Gives Garbage a Second Chance: Violet Skipp Haffner’s Lazarus Act at Hollingsworth
Violet Skipp Haffner’s art, now on display at Palm Coast’s Hollingsworth Gallery in her first solo show, creates illusions–and sculptures–out of objects that have been discarded or forgotten, and that evoke a darkness that lets you fill in the blanks.
Red-Light Cameras Meet Poetry Meet Visual Improv at Flagler County Art League
“Art that inspires Poetry and Poetry that Inspires Art,” the Flagler County Art League show opening Saturday, is an improvisational conversation between artists and poets, whose combined works will adorn the league’s walls through February.
Sweet Waters Smokehouse, With Grand Opening Saturday, Adds to Restaurant City in Flagler Beach
The Tuscan Grille restaurant owners were approached by the property owner of the former Hurricane Patty’s in Flagler Beach and asked to take over. They agreed. After Sweet Waters Smokehouse’s soft opening Oct. 1, the restaurant launches in earnest with a grand opening Saturday, Feb. 1, starting at 11 a.m.
Musical CPR: Bee Gees Tribute Band Brings ’70s Revival Act to Flagler Auditorium
Two of the three founding brothers of one of the most popular band of the 70s have died, but the Canadian Bee Gees tribute group Stayin’ Alive brings its 1970s memory-lane show to the Flagler Auditorium for one show only tonight (Friday), at 7:30.
From Buddy Holly to Dr. Seuss, the Jacksonville Symphony Goes Winter Dance Sneetching
It’s the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra as you’ve never heard it before in two end-of-month concerts, with a tribute to Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper on Jan. 24-25, and Dr. Seuss’s “The Sneetches” on Jan. 26.
Teddy Roosevelt Impersonator Joe Wiegan Will Be Featured Performer at Flagler Beach Rotary Jan. 30
Joe Wiegan has taken his Teddy Roosevelt one-man show all the way to the White House, where George W. Bush invited him to commemorate the 150th anniversary of one of the nation’s greatest, most exuberant and paradoxical presidents.
How Now, Wit: City Rep Theatre Makes Twitter of Shakespeare in 90-Minute “Complete Works”
John Sbordone’s City Repertory Theatre in Palm Coast opens 2014 with “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged,” a supersonic and hilarious run through the bard’s play with a strong dose of improv. From Jan. 17 to the 26th at CRT’s City Market Place theater.
Inaugural Flagler Film Festival Draws Mixed Crowds and Promise Over 3 Days in Palm Coast
The first Flagler Film festival was held at the Hilton Garden Inn from Friday through Sunday, packing dozens of screenings of films from around the world and ending with an award ceremony late Sunday evening, and the promise of a second festival next year.
Flagler Film Festival Featuring 4 Local Productions Among Dozens from Around the World
The inaugural Flagler Film Festival is scheduled for Jan. 10-12 at Palm Coast’s Hilton Garden Inn. Fourteen of the 46 submissions originated in Florida. Four from Flagler filmmakers were ultimately selected, including a horror flick filmed in Flagler Beach.
Sports Events Specialist Matt Dunn Is Named Tourism Director in Place of Georgia Turner
Matt Dunn, 39, named Vice President for tourism today–he’ll be in charge of a $900,000 budget controlling Flagler’s marketing–owned his own events company in St. Johns County, worked with Flagler’s tourism council previously, and was Executive Director of the Ocala/Marion County Visitors and Convention Bureau and the Ocala/Marion County Sports Commission.
A Flagler Farewell to 2013: The Local Year in Review
A tornado, plane crashes and mishaps, Flagler County going bonkers for clunkers, a spate of murders in Palm Coast, Flagler Beach’s firehouse follies, Bunnell’s reality show: 2013 is ending not a moment too soon. But first, a review.
Record-Breaking Skateboard Mile Among 3 Saturday Races in Flagler Beach and Palm Coast
The International Distance Skateboard Association is hosting a one-mile skateboard race down A1A for the Guiness record, along with a longboard half-marathon starting at Wadsworth Park and a kids and beginners challenge, all Saturday morning, Jan. 4.
Putting Bach Back in Christmas
Rather than cheat Christmas by limiting it to December 25, WKCR’s annual BachFest is a 240-hour celebration of the holiday through the music of Johan Sebastian Bach. It’s also a front seat at the Creation.
Sinbad the Comedian Brings His Different World to the Auditorium Tonight
Sinbad–the comedian who made his fame on “A Different World” and other stages but has had his shares of setbacks–appears at the Flagler Auditorium Thursday evening for one show only, at 7:30 p.m.
Flagler Youth Orchestra’s 300 Musicians Take Concert Stage Wednesday at Flagler Auditorium
The Flagler Youth Orchestra performs its first concert of the 2013-14 season on Wednesday, December 11, at 7 p.m. at the Flagler Auditorium in Palm Coast. Conductor Sue Cryan and fellow teachers of the FYO will lead five orchestras with more than 300 string musicians.
Two Years In, Tourism Director Georgia Turner Is Leaving Flagler For Native Alabama
Georgia Turner, the county’s radiant tourism director who oversaw Flagler’s and Palm Coast’s realignment as niche sports destinations, a steady rise in tourism-tax revenue and a first-ever working coalition of local arts groups, is leaving after just two years on the job. Personal, not political, reasons led her to the decision.
Dawn to Starlight: Palm Coast, Flagler Beach and the Hammock Warm Up Christmas Parades
Palm Coast’s annual Starlight parade is scheduled for Dec. 14. Flagler Beach’s Holiday at the Beach Parade is scheduled for Dec. 7 at 1 p.m., and businesses in the Hammock will be lighting up A1A with special events, lights and Christmas cheer for the first two week-ends of December.
Vagina Monologues Dressed Up: Nora Ephron’s “Love, Loss, and What I Wore” at Palm Coast’s City Repertory Theatre
Ever since god allegedly turned Adam’s rib into a companion of the opposite sex, men have struggled to understand women. You can’t blame them: men are not only the weaker sex. They’re also the dumber. In comes Nora Ephron’s “Love, Loss and What I wore” to help them out this weekend at Palm Coast’s City Repertory Theatre.
Flagler Playhouse Pleasing Faithfuls With Mainstream Theater But Looks to Broaden Appeal Beyond Retirees
Aside from “Urinetown,” its last play of the current season, the Flagler Playhouse’s offerings hew to traditional crowd-pleasers, which keeps seats filled, though the community theater’s leaders are interested in experimenting beyond their comfort zone.
At Hollingsworth Gallery:
Christine Sullivan, Artist of the Year
The works of Christine Sullivan, the 2013 Gargiulo Art Foundation Artist of the Year, convey an intimate connections with a sense of place and memory while exploring the pleasures of solitude. Sullivan;s exhibit opens at Hollingsworth Gallery Nov. 9, running through Dec. 3.
A Little Less Stingy, a Lot More Conditional: Palm Coast Approves $25,000 in Culture Grants
Eleven cultural organizations applied and all 11 got cultural grants from Palm Coast government, but with many strings attached even though none of the grants exceeds $2,370, and the total awarded is still a far cry from the $40,000 budget of six years ago.
Always Up For Strange Cases, City Repertory Theatre Does Halloween With Jekyll and Hyde
With “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” which opens at 7:30 tonight for a two-weekend run, Palm Coast’s City Repertory Theatre at Hollingsworth Gallery is back to its dark delights with a scary, profound and edgy play of the Robert Louis Stevenson Classic.
Harsh Outlier: Florida’s Sentencing Laws Still Lock Up More Juveniles Than Any Other State
As state legislators have tried and failed to craft a juvenile-sentencing law that conforms to landmark U.S. Supreme Court rulings, a national advocacy group is calling Florida a “clear outlier” among states for its hard-line approach to trying juveniles as adults.
“Girl Rising”: Karen Barchowski’s Movie Event for Palm Coast, In Education’s Name
Karen Barchowski, the co-owner of Sally’s Ice Cream in Flagler Beach, succeeded through word of mouth and more than a little conviction in organizing one showing of “Girl Rising,” the groundbreaking documentary about the importance of girls’ education, at Epic Theater in Palm Coast on Oct. 13.
Runs, Flags and Shirts: Pink Armies Invading Flagler County for Breast Cancer Awareness
Highlights of this month’s Pink Army events in Palm Coast and Flagler include a 5K run or walk on Oct. 13, pink flag-raising ceremonies, and allowances, on Oct. 13, for school district students who participated in the run to wear their pink shirts instead of the required uniform.
Shutdown Hits Home: Castillo de San Marcos and Ft. Matanzas Among Parks Off Limits
Starting Tuesday, the National Park Service closed all 401 national parks, including Castillo de San Marcos and Fort Matanzas National Monuments in St. Augustine, affecting the local tourism economy. Potential foreign visitors’ visas are facing processing delays.
Palm Coast’s City Repertory Theatre Opens 3rd Season With Webber’s Amazing Technicolor
City Repertory Theatre in Palm Coast launches its third season–seven plays this year–with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” a musical very loosely based on the story of Joseph and his brothers from the Book of Genesis.
Florida Festivals and Events Association Hosting Workshop at Palm Coast’s Hilton Garden Inn
The Florida Festivals and Events Association (FFEA), the state’s primary professional organization for producers, vendors, and sponsors of festivals, fairs and special events, is hosting a workshop and seminar at the Hilton Garden Inn Palm Coast on Thursday, October 10, for all those interested either in learning the ropes or capitalizing on special events.
Flagler Celebrates Arts in Education Week as Congress Again Targets Cultural Funding
Flagler arts organizations have a line-up of events all week to celebrate Arts in Education Week, which Congress started three years ago. The same Congress a few weeks ago began debating a measure that would reduce funding to the National Endowment for the Arts to its lowest level since 1974.
Back From Budget Brink, Flagler Youth Orchestra Begins 9th Year on New and Record Note
The Flagler Youth Orchestra is back for its ninth year with a new artistic director–and what appears to be another record-setting enrollment–three months after the school board had considered eliminating the program altogether.
Loretta Lynn, Just Named Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient, at Peabody on Sept. 13
Last month President Obama named Loretta Lynn, alongside Gloria Steinem and Bill Clinton, among others, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient. The 81-year-old country star will be at Daytona Beach’s Peabody Auditorium for one show on Sept. 13 at 7:30 p.m.
Flagler County, Palm Coast, Habitat for Humanity and Stetson Line Up 9/11 Events
Several local organizations and local governments, including Flagler County, Palm Coast, Habitat for Humanity, Stetson University and others are commemorating the 12th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Palm Coast Food and Wine Festival Returns, This Time With Wine, and Free Admission
The Palm Coast Food and Wine Festival at Town Center’s Central Park is scheduled for noon to 8 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 31, with no gate admission, a dozen wines and more than a dozen food vendors from several countries, along with cultural and other entertainments.
Equality Florida Calls on Cities to Suspend Ties With Russian Sister Cities Over Gay Bashing
Palm Coast, Bunnell and Flagler Beach are in the clear, but Equality Florida, the gay-rights organization, is asking the more than half a dozen Florida cities with sister cities in Russia to suspend those mostly symbolic ties for now, in protest against rising anti-gay violence and the enactment of strict anti-gay legislation.
Art For Shock’s Sake: The Business and Aesthetic of Rejection
Peter Cerreta, the Palm Coast artist who had a work of his own rejected at the “Monsters of Bigotry” show at Hollingsworth Gallery, adds his perspective to the debate about art that belongs (or doesn’t) in galleries and museums, concluding that “not every piece that shocks for shock’s sake” does.
The Painting You Will Not See in Hollingsworth Gallery’s ‘Monster of Bigotry’ Show, and Why
Constance Payne’s “Will You Take Me Seriously Now” was top be part of the new “Monster of Bigotry” show at Palm Coast’s Hollingsworth Gallery, but only if Payne agreed to have it draped, because of its explicit content. She refused, calling it censorship. Gallery owner JJ Graham defends the decision on several grounds.
Bikers’ Annual 9/11 Memorial Ride and Ceremony Set for Sept. 8 Starting in Bunnell
The annual and free 9/11 Memorial Motorcycle Ride and Ceremony, marking the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, will begin with registration at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 9 at the Government Services Building in Bunnell.
Palm Coast’s Bike and Poetry Shows Slam Their Way Back On Gargiulo Foundation’s Wheels
The second and ongoing annual “Art of the Bicycle” livening up Palm Coast’s City Marketplace this month is all spokes: the Gargiulo Art Foundation, the Flagler County Art League, Hollingsworth Gallery and City Repertory Theatre are all in on it, minus last year’s training wheels, and adding momentum to the evolving cohesiveness of the small town art scene.
“The Serpent” Reinvents Adam, Eve, JFK’s Assassination and Theater at Palm Coast’s City Rep
Joseph Chaikin’s ‘The Serpent,” a signature of the 1960s’ Open Theater, is a daring recreation of seductions and apple bites from Genesis to the John Kennedy assassination, and it comes to Palm Coast’s City Repertory Theatre under the direction for John Sbordone for three performances this weekend.
6-Mile Tour de Palm Coast Highlights New Sculptures and Trail Riches
A cycling tour, a discovery of the four new ‘Flight of Life’ sculptures of herons at Waterfront Park, and interactivity with the city’s new QR codes along its Waterfront trail highlight the annual Tour de Palm Coast Saturday from 8 to 11 a.m.
Independence Day Weekend Ruffles Tricolor Blasts From Palm Coast to Flagler Beach
Palm Coast celebrated July 4 with a complete reading of the Declaration of Independence at Heroes Park before Flagler Beach let loose with its parade, its booze, food and fights, though only one person ended up incarcerated against his will, and mostly for his benefit.
Flagler Film Festival Broadens Palm Coast’s Cultural Frame–and Seeks Local Filmmakers
The first annual Flagler Film Festival will be held Jan. 10-12 at Palm Coast’s Hilton Garden Inn, and will include shorts and feature films, totaling about 24 hours worth of reels, from filmmakers around the world and the States, but organizers are pressing for Flagler County entrants.
Juneteenth Celebration at Palm Coast’s African American Cultural Center Saturday
The African American Cultural Society Inc., will again host an observance of Juneteenth on Saturday, June 15, starting at 1 p.m. at the AACS on U.S. 1. All are welcome to join this free cultural event, the only national holiday commemoration the abolition of slavery.