Thirty minutes from Miami, this canal-laced city has benefited from a decade of renovation and renewal. Upscale stores and restaurants have replaced fast-food stands and T-shirt shops and the gorgeous beaches, great swimming, and nearly year-round sunshine provide visitors with a place to relax. While shopping, dining and nightlife abound you can’t miss the vast array of cultural organisations that have found a home here. From the new King Tut exhibition at the Museum of Art, from Mirós to astronomy shows, Fort Lauderdale offers a treasure trove of fascinating things to.
Broward Center for the Performing Arts
This multi-theatre, waterfront complex, is home to Broadway in Fort Lauderdale touring shows, Florida Grand Opera, Florida Philharmonic, the Concert Association and Miami City Ballet and Gold Coast Jazz, a not-for-profit organisation that celebrates the creativity and artistry of jazz, the music of America. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera opens in September with some of the most lavish sets, costumes and special effects ever to have been created for the stage.
Cinema Paradiso opened officially in January 2001 as the year-round arthouse of the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival. The Cinema is opened seven days a week, featuring independent films from around the world most enjoying their US premiere. The intimate 210 seat (stadium seating) cinema features a cafe that serves wine, beer, champagne and snacks.
www.fliff.com/cinemaparadiso.html
Fort Lauderdale Historical Society
This enclave of historical houses dating back to the early 1900s is known as Old Fort Lauderdale. The Old Fort Lauderdale Museum of History and King Cromartie House showcase the Society’s permanent collections and changing exhibitions reflecting the history and heritage of the Fort Lauderdale community.
Museum of Art
This beautiful facility was designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes and is a must-see in its own right, featuring rotating exhibitions and a permanent collection that includes Masterworks from the Meyer and Golda Marks CoBrA Collection: Art Amaze. Permanent holdings include one of the most extensive collections by American impressionist William Glackens, and pieces by Northern European artists in the CoBrA movement (named for Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam). Special exhibitions include ‘Transitory Patterns: Florida Women Artists’ and bronze and burlap sculpture by Magdalena Abakanowicz (runs to 30 October). South Florida JAZZ performs the annual Hollywood Jazz Festival and ‘Jazz Impressions’, a six-concert monthly series in the auditorium. Catch ‘Tutankhamen and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs’, which runs from December 2005 through April 2006. The extensive exhibition of more than 130 artifacts dating back to between 3,300 and 3,500 years ago includes King Tut’s gold crown and coffinettes containing his mummified internal organs.
Museum of Discovery and Science / Blockbuster IMAX Theatre
This hands-on science museum, for children and adults, is South Florida’s premiere science museum, where 35,000 square feet of exhibit space reveal the wonders of science in this hands-on playground for the mind! The museum features South Florida’s only Blockbuster IMAX Theatre and eight exhibit areas: Florida EcoScapes, KidScience, Gizmo City, Space Base, Choose Health, Sound, No Place like Home and the Travelling Exhibit Hall, showcasing the best exhibits from across the US. Seven interactive exhibit areas. Powerful 3D IMAX® cinema puts you in the centre of the action.
Art and Culture Center of Hollywood
Art and Culture Center of Hollywood is a vibrant, regionally distinct, contemporary visual and performing arts organisation showcasing theatre, music and dance performances as well as visual art exhibitions. This fall, Guerra de la Paz, who makes sculptures and environments from second-hand clothes they accumulate in vast quantities, will create a site-specific installation for the Art and Culture Center of Hollywood entitled, ‘The Four Seasons’. They will use cast-off clothes to create a landscape that evokes a biblical paradise where all is new and unsullied.
Young at Art Children’s Museum
Young at Art Children’s Museum relates hands-on activities to exhibits in creative ways. Kids learn about recycling in ‘Earthworks’; explore differences and similarities among cultures in ‘Global Village’; and take a peek at the ‘Pop-Surrealistic’ world of Kenny Scharf via a psychedelic, Day-Glo environment in ‘Kenny’s Closet.’ Special exhibits: Kids get close to inhabitants of Birdwell Island in ‘Adventures with Clifford, the Big Red Dog’ (until 11 September); ‘Go Figure’ (from 24 September to 2 January, 2006); ‘Pattern Wizardry (from 9 January, 2006).
Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum
Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum, 60 miles west of Fort Lauderdale, is dedicated to sharing the culture, customs and language of Florida’s Seminole tribe. Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki means ‘to learn,’ and that’s what visitors do as they explore the reservation’s living village, re-created ceremonial grounds and 5,000-square-foot exhibit hall featuring artefacts relating to the tribe’s folklore, customs and spiritual beliefs – some on loan from the Smithsonian. The museum is on a 60-acre cypress dome with nature trails and signage identifying indigenous plants and their traditional uses in the Seminole culture.
Buehler Planetarium & Observatory
The Buehler Planetarium & Observatory is the place to take a gander at the wonders of the cosmos, with multimedia explorations of the skies in a state-of-the-art facility and special programmes for children and adults. Projects include: family-feature shows for all ages; monthly illustrated science programmes; laser light shows; public telescope viewing (weather permitting); and mobile astronomy programme school group shows.
Fort Lauderdale Antique Car Museum
The Fort Lauderdale Antique Car Museum is a must for auto enthusiasts, with 22 Packard cars from the 1900s to the 1940s, displayed in an 18,000-square-foot reproduction of a 1920s Packard showroom. Also on exhibit are vintage auto accessories and memorabilia, and a gallery dedicated to FDR.
Flamingo Gardens
Flamingo Gardens (Museum and Botanical Garden)
These lush gardens have a vast collection of tropical and subtropical plants. Projects include Everglades Wildlife Sanctuary; a half an acre free-flight aviary and in-aviary classroom; Bird of Prey; Everglades Nature Centre; adult education; children’s hands-on education; Plant Affair West; working citrus grove; a one and a half mile narrated tram tour and acclaimed Wray Botanical collection, gift shop, grill and a fresh fruit patio.
More cultural information sites:
Concert Association of South Florida
An internationally acclaimed organisation that has enriched the quality of life in South Florida while championing its cultural stature throughout the world, presenting an impressive array of stars from the classical music and dance world to South Florida audiences.
Broward County Cultural Affairs
A searchable database of cultural events in the greater Fort Lauderdale area, a directory of more than 450 cultural organisations, a public art tour, listings of cultural attractions and museums and much more.
Cultural Information Center (CIC)
Located on the first floor of the Broward County Main Library and operated by Broward County Commission’s Cultural Affairs Division, the CIC is a one-stop shop for quick and easy cultural information and tickets in South Florida. Includes gift shop, cultural concierge booth, online ticketing system and First Moon Cafe.
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