Liz Young, executive director for the Florida Keys Council of the Arts, joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s going on in the art world.
Hemingway Days is in full swing.
Young said, “It just amazes me how many people this crazy weekend attracts. I just love it, and I think probably not having obviously known Ernest Hemingway, but I bet he’d really get a kick out of it. I do think it is just a hoot. My staff and I were invited to a lovely kickoff Monday night at the Hemingway House. I haven’t been to any weddings there recently, but I certainly see them on social media and that the house looked absolutely stunning. DJ Jimmy was there, wonderful food. And Mariel Hemingway and Miss Angela was there, and some Hemingway descendants and there’s no denying the genes. I mean, you could tell these gentlemen were Hemingway family members. It was great.”
There was a surprise grant from the state yesterday.
Young said, “If you are a cultural organization in the Florida Keys, who’s ever applied for a state of Florida cultural grant, we all got a little surprise in our inbox yesterday. The governor signed a million dollars to be set aside for projects for 2026 for Happy Birthday America, and you can apply for a grant. It’s got a very fast turnaround. August 6 is the deadline, and we’re going to post it today or tomorrow, but you can certainly just go to dosgrants and it’s a new opportunity. You can apply for a project having to do with America from a $10,000 minimum to $100,000 and they’re going to grant panel and score them and let you know if you got your grant, probably later this fall, early winter, for 2026. There’s a very short, brief eligibility criteria, and then you have to have a project that falls within three categories. So if anybody might be interested, give me a shout. I’d be happy to forward the information. My staff and I are going to dive into it a little bit today and see if we can and do something that would be great for the county.”
Next week kicks off a summer musical called Beehive.
Young said it’s “five gals, sort of doing a doo wop. It seems like a lot of fun. The Managing Director of the Fringe Theater, decided to do a little summer fun. I think it’s a wonderful idea. I think it’s five or six performances, Tuesday through Saturday, 7pm curtain and of course, their home is the armory building at the corner of White and Southern. It’s a great, great venue for small theater projects, so please support them. We also found out that tomorrow will be the southern stroll. So on Southern Street there’s several small businesses, including the Sacred Space Art Gallery at 520 southern Street, and then across the street Vignette, and also at the corner of Francis and Southern will be Soul House. So the three of them are getting together and having a Southern Street stroll 10 to 6 on Saturday. So that’s kind of fun and new. Also some terrific movies and a couple special events around Hemingway days at the Tropic Cinema. So we want to mention that they’re open in the summer, and it’s a great place if it’s rainy or too darn hot, go see a movie. Have some popcorn. And of course, at the Tropic, you can also get a glass of wine or coffee or anything fun. We really want to keep our independent film house running and successful. Of course, all the museums have wonderful opportunities up and down the Keys, and we’re starting to see a lot of shout outs from the arts and culture nonprofits for their new season, like Tennessee Williams just announced their season. We know the theater season at Waterfront Playhouse, and I suspect we’ll be hearing from the Red Barn and Marathon Community Theater in the coming weeks. All of our art galleries do need patrons during the summer months. It’s really important to support our artists creating art every single day, and so many musicians playing in the bars, it’s always great to give them some love and attention. The galleries really do feel like they need a little extra kiss in the summer. So if you need a birthday present or an anniversary present, or give guests a gift instead of getting a bottle of wine, go and stop at one of the galleries and get a gift. If you’re going to friends’ houses for dinner, I always think it’s nice and unique. I do know that the street fair tomorrow is being organized and does benefit literacy volunteers, another fantastic nonprofit organization. I was happy to see them do the street festival. I hope they do have good weather tomorrow for the running of the bulls and the big papa look alike. Tomorrow is a big day, morning until night for Hemingway Days.”
Membership in the Florida Keys Council of the Arts is also incredibly helpful.
Young said, “We sent out our very first email this week saying, hey, it’s our new fiscal year. Please join us. So we are definitely looking for support. We do give grants and we had a just a fabulous round and grant panels last week, and we have some amazing projects that we will need the community support to support these artists and their projects, which will benefit the cultural community. Our memberships do show our grassroots support locally. So when we do receive state funding, federal funding, or any matches from foundations, we do need to have a strong membership. So I would be very appreciative, as well as the artists and arts organizations in this community, if you would join us. Memberships start at $60 and go all the way on up. We’re sometimes a little humble in our ask. We don’t like to compete with the organizations that we support. So it is a soft sell always. Membership would be wonderful, and there’s lots of benefits. You received the Keys Arts quarterly, weekly e blast invitation to our Gather Round series, which happens in the January to May. We have a fabulous holiday party kicking off the season called Celebrate the Season, and we hope to do a member show. Stand by for that. I have not put a date to that because, as many people know, the monumental restoration work going on at the Gato building, which is where our office is, so we’re still hoping to be able to do our annual member show in November, but I may have to push it off a little bit, but we’ll let you know in the coming months. If you have an event that you have not sent in for our annual calendar, we are working on the big annual calendar that goes in the Culture Magazine, that goes in all the Chambers and hotels and venues around the Florida Keys is our big partnership with the TDC Tourist Development Council. So if you’ve got an event that starts in October and runs through next September, please send an email to [email protected]. We will post it on the website. It will go in the quarterly. It’ll go in the Culture Magazine. It will go on the new TDC website, which will be launched in early October, so please do send anything and everything to [email protected].”
For more information, click here: https://keysarts.com/