Our History
In 1972, five men and women who wanted art to not only survive but thrive in Lake Wales joined forces to incorporate the Lake Wales Arts Council.
It was the mission of the late Michael Crews, an attorney; Mary Combs and Marilyn Newell, community volunteers and arts patrons; Marie Kirch and Milford Myhre, carillonneur at Bok Tower Gardens, to provide a central organization for the sponsorship and encouragement of cultural and educational activities in the area. In its early years, the Council used the Lake Wales High School auditorium and sponsored one concert annually. Groups included the Florida Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Mummers and the Texas Boy Choir.
The Seventies
Also in 1972, Music at Pinewood, an annual chamber music series, was co-sponsored with Bok Tower Gardens. In-school programs were offered for the first time, using local artists and visiting performers.
In 1975, the Arts Council assumed the responsibility for the annual Lake Wales Sidewalk Art Show, which has grown into the Citizens Bank & Trust Lake Wales Arts Festival. Twenty artists exhibited to a crowd of 3,000.
In 1979, the Arts Council merged with the local Community Concert Association to provide a major artist series of two to three concerts per year, using the high school auditorium and various churches for concert venues. Artists included the Dallas Brass, National Opera Company, Atlanta Chamber Players, Austin on Tap, Eugene Istomin, the Imperial Symphony Orchestra, Dance Alive, American Balalaika Company, Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Chamber Brass and The Alexander String Quartet among many others. Community volunteers ran all activities.
1980’s: A Home for the Arts in Lake Wales
In 1989, the Arts Council joined with local preservationists to save the former Holy Spirit Catholic Church, which had outgrown its congregation. When the church became available for sale, Mrs. Frances Dollelan Updike, a parishioner, and Ann W. Norton, local artist and educator, spearheaded a group who vowed to raise the money to purchase and transform the mission-style church, which was built in 1927. They purchased the building with funds from the community and the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation. Renovations began to convert the church to an arts center with a performance hall in the old sanctuary and an art gallery and arts library in the lower level. A storage space was converted into an office for the first part-time executive director for the Arts Council.
Click here to find out more about our historic building.
The Nineties
In January 1991, the renovated Lake Wales Arts Center opened to the public with a black-tie gala, followed by a weeklong arts festival. A few months earlier the Arts Center had been named to the National Register of Historic Places. The executive director position became full time. In addition to performances in Updike Hall and Exhibitions in the Michael Crews Gallery, other programs were added, including ArtsCamp!, a music and art summer camp for children ages 6 – 12.
In 1992, the Lake Wales Art Show moved to the shores of Lake Wales and continues to grow. The student division of the Lake Wales Art Show has grown to include more than 600 pieces of art with every school in the area participating.
In 1996, the First Annual Children’s Interactive Exhibit: Let’s Go to Egypt took place, and it drew more than 1,000 children participants. In 1998, a capital campaign focused on the repair and restoration of the historic structure; the building of a new gallery and education wing and on increasing the endowment fund.
In 1999, a $194,000 Cultural Facilities Grant and a $33,000 Historic Preservation Grant were awarded. A total of $ 1.4 million was raised for the restoration and new wing. In the spring of 2000, restoration of the historic structure began and was completed by the fall. In March 2001, construction began on the new Michael Crews Education Wing and Gallery. The new gallery opened on November 2, 2001.
Polk State College Years
In late 2011, Polk State College and the Lake Wales Arts Council announced an innovative collaboration that involved the College accepting title to the Lake Wales Arts Center. In exchange for the 1920s building, which has been renamed the Polk State College Lake Wales Arts Center, the College agreed to renovate and maintain the facility.
In January 2012, Polk State’s first classes were offered at the PSC-LWAC campus. Classes included Design, Ceramics, Music Appreciation and Digital Photography.
In March 2013, the extensive structural renovation of Updike Hall was completed and the entire facility was in use for Polk State’s academic programming needs. Polk State College returned ownership of the Lake Wales Arts Center to the Lake Wales Arts Council in January 2018.
A New Era
In February 2021, the Ceramics Program expanded to include ten pottery wheels. It currently houses the most publicly accessible pottery wheels in Polk County, offering programming to adults and children and creating a micro-community of ceramics and pottery enthusiasts.
In October 2021, the Scutte (pronounced sckUH-tea) family donated their matriarch’s stained glass studio supplies and equipment and with the help of a Windgate Foundation grant award, the LWAC now has the only publicly accessible Stained Glass Program in Polk County.
Advancements in both visual and performing arts educational programming, as well as continued enthusiasm and appreciation for concert performances and gallery exhibitions help the LWAC to continue to meet its mission to promote, encourage and celebrate the arts for the enhancement of community life.
Founder’s Circle
Discuss Lake Wales Arts Council Origins
The 2019 Virginia Lassiter Leadership Luncheon featured a panel discussion with three local leaders in Lake Wales’ arts and culture community. Marilyn Newell, Jayne Crews-Linton and Robin Gibson discussed the early days of the development of a cultural arts program, and the founding of the Lake Wales Arts Council. Polk County’s Historic Preservation Manager, Myrtice Young served as the moderator at the April 6, 2019 event held at the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd.