Arts in the Sunshine State: The Art Beat of Florida
- T Michele Walker
- Dec 7
- 8 min read
Florida really has it all. Sure, the beaches are glorious. Sunshine almost every day, weather that makes people pack up and move here, or at least visit for a week or two. And yes, the theme parks draw crowds from all over the world. But there’s so much more to this state than roller coasters and palm trees.
Art breathes here. It always has, from the moment the first people set foot on this peninsula. You see it in the traditions of Florida’s native cultures, in the words of Zora Neale Hurston, Ernest Hemingway, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Jack Kerouac. You see it in the bold colors of The Highwaymen’s paintings. The list keeps going. In Florida, art isn’t just something hanging on a wall; it’s woven into the sunlight, alive in the air.
People say you can judge a society by how it values the arts. If that’s true, Florida’s communities have set the bar high. They invest in the arts, nurture them, and make sure creativity grows right alongside the palm trees. The goal isn’t just to enjoy natural beauty, but to lift society with the finest art we can create.
That’s where Florida Experience Magazine comes in. Over the next several weeks, we’ll spotlight eight different communities, exploring their history and deep connection to the arts. First up: New Smyrna Beach.
Small Town, Big Art: The Creative Spirit of New Smyrna Beach, Florida
New Smyrna Beach has earned its spot as one of “America’s Top Small Cities for the Arts,” and you feel it everywhere you go.
The popular beach village isn’t just popular with locals—it even earned a spot in John Villani’s “100 Best Small Art Towns in America” back in 1998, ranked at number 48. That reputation didn’t come from nowhere.
At the Atlantic Center for the Arts (ACA), artists from all over come to work, teach workshops, and share their latest projects. Arts on Douglas stands out too, always buzzing with bold, contemporary pieces by regional artists. If you’re in the mood for a play, The Little Theatre never disappoints. It’s got everything from classic dramas to high-energy musicals. Every year, the IMAGES Festival turns the city into a giant gallery, drawing crowds for fine art, crafts, and plenty of live performances.
What really sets these events apart is their setting—think Riverside Park or the charming stretch of Canal Street. When the New Smyrna Beach Jazz Festival rolls around, the entire city feels electric, with music spilling out from every venue and street corner. Even on a regular night, you’ll catch local bands playing in cozy restaurants and cafes, making dinner feel like a celebration.
The Sculptor's Vision: How Doris Leeper Planted the Arts in New Smyrna Beach
About forty years back, Doris “Doc” Leeper looked at a sleepy beach town on Florida’s east coast and saw something nobody else did. She believed the arts could take root there, maybe even thrive.
Leeper wasn’t just a dreamer; she was a sculptor known far beyond New Smyrna Beach, and in 1977, she made her vision real. That year, she founded the Atlantic Center for the Arts and launched a festival aimed at turning New Smyrna into a magnet for artists and visitors from everywhere. The very first IMAGES: A Festival of the Arts brought people together like never before.
Fast-forward nearly four decades, and her idea’s still blooming. Art isn’t just a side note in New Smyrna Beach now; it’s woven into the city’s identity.
The 50th Annual IMAGES: A Festival of the Arts
This year, in 2026, the IMAGES Festival lands January 23-25, 2026, and it’ll be a big one.
The Atlantic Center for the Arts and the city are teaming up again, and they’re pulling out all the stops: hundreds of juried fine artists, live music, food trucks, and creative workshops. Riverside Park and Canal Street will turn into a giant, free, family-friendly art celebration. Whether you’re a longtime collector or just dragging your kids along for something new, you’ll find something to love.
The partnership between ACA and the city didn’t just give artists a stage; it’s made New Smyrna Beach a place where artists can actually make a living. Both the IMAGES festival and the ACA set the tone, and over the years, city leaders and local businesses have followed their lead. This isn’t just a once-a-year thing. New Smyrna Beach has become a city that actually cultivates, welcomes, and sustains art all year long.
The arts aren’t just changing the city’s vibe, either. They’re pumping money into the community. United Arts of Central Florida crunched the numbers: every dollar spent on the arts generates about $10 in extra revenue for local restaurants, hotels, shops, transportation, rental spaces, parking—the works. IMAGES alone brings in over $1 million to the area each year.
“The festival, IMAGES, probably more than anything has allowed the arts to gain a strong foothold in New Smyrna Beach,” says Vice President of the Canal Street Historic District, Richard England. “And ‘The Hub,’ where I was Executive Director for eight years, came along in 2012. But all of those things together have lifted New Smyrna Beach up and given it a reputation as an arts community.”
IMAGES and ACA continue to build an environment that genuinely supports artists. From the summer art camp at ACA, which brings in hundreds of young artists and showcases their work at IMAGES, to adult workshops and master artists in residence, the influence runs deep. Art installations and performances spill out into the wider community year-round.
President of the Canal Street Historic District, Liz Jones, enjoys the family-friendly environment, the events and sees the positive growth in the community.
“We're about to have an event, our Canal Street Nights in October,” says Jones. “And because it's October, of course, it’s our famous Halloween.”
“And Octoberfest, too,” adds England.
“You wouldn’t believe the children that come out,” Jones says with a smile. “They love it!”
“The businesses give out candy,” says England. “We do trick-or-treating. We encourage them, even though it's two weeks before the actual Halloween. Kids don't mind having a second trick-or-treating.”
“And we have our First Saturdays,” says Jones. “Every first Saturday there’s an arts stroll gallery walk, and that's well attended.”
This continued commitment to the arts has elevated and redefined the New Smyrna Beach community.
“If you’ve got to have a reputation for something, an arts community is probably better than the ‘Shark Bite Capital of the World’,” laughs England.
The festival doesn’t just boost the arts—it fuels local business. Merchants along Canal Street and Flagler Avenue have seen the difference. IMAGES draws tourists who fill up restaurants, shops, and hotels. A survey of 500 festival visitors found that 32% spent at least one night in a hotel. And in 2015, artists dropped $50,000 on lodging, food, and shopping during the three-day event.
The festival’s ripple effect is easy to spot on Canal Street. The Hub on Canal (132 Canal Street) opened in March 2012 and quickly turned into a lively home for artists, with 26 working studios and programs for all ages. Former mayor Sally Mackay, along with Susan Stern and Susan Ellis, launched The Hub as a nonprofit, with help from the city and Volusia County redevelopment funds.
Today, Canal Street is alive with galleries, antique shops, boutiques, and more restaurants. The city even updated its zoning map to carve out more space for artists to make it easier for artists to buy old houses or buildings and turn them into studios.
Building on this success is something New Smyrna Beach takes to heart. Establishing an official Arts District has been a labor of love.
According to England, “We pulled together a group, leaders from all four nonprofit arts organizations in town, a few concerned residents, and a couple of others. Maybe ten of us, give or take. We started meeting, trying to figure out how to actually create a real Arts District. The idea was to give the Visitors Bureau something concrete to promote, something that would bring people here specifically for art.”
After a few false starts, the team eventually landed on Canal Street, north and south, and in 2010, they set up what they called the Arts Overlay District. “Honestly, it was really about economic redevelopment after the recession hit,” explains England. “The city tried to boost activity by tweaking the rules, less parking required for new buildings, zero setbacks allowed on empty lots inside the boundary. All of it aimed at breathing some life back into the area, turning it into something you could, at least technically, call an Arts Overlay.”
Since this time, Jones, England and others on the Canal Street Historic District have been working closely with the city for years.
When visitors and residents stroll the sidewalks of New Smyrna Beach, they can now see colorful logos and banners on the light poles, along with delightful art displays and murals on buildings and the crosswalks.
Jones and England say the city could not be more cooperative.
“I was approached by a small group of artists who asked, ‘Can we paint the fire hydrants?’ And so I said, ‘I'll ask.’ And the city gave me an answer back in one day, which is not typical.”
The Community Redevelopment Act (CRA)
In 2015, New Smyrna Beach’s community redevelopment focused on transitioning to revitalizing blighted areas like the “NSB Waterfront Loop” to attract businesses and residents. Key projects included streetscape improvements and strategic partnerships with city planning for broader redevelopment.
“The process would be to identify a certain area where, for the next x number of years, there are low-interest loans or grants or things like that are available to help develop businesses,” explains England. “And they could be not-for-profits; they could be for-profits. So, there will be financial incentives available for development. Other places, too. And we're hopeful that the Arts and Education Center that The Hub is going to build will also be a bit of a magnet to that area because that's right smack dab in the middle of that space.”
Jones and England explain they’re in the early days of what they hope the Arts District will be. “But the community has embraced it,” says England. “We got a lot of new things, plans, a brand-new website that we just launched. We are pretty excited about the possibilities.”
New Smyrna Beach is a prime example of what a community can achieve when it works together to build something important for the entire community. That’s what art does; it takes something small and turns it into something much bigger.
The IMAGES Festival 2026
Here’s what you need to know for 2026:
Dates: Friday, January 23 through Sunday, January 25.
Where: Downtown New Smyrna Beach—Riverside Park and historic Canal Street.
Hours: Friday from 1 to 5 PM, Saturday 9 to 5, Sunday 10 to 4.
Cost: Nothing. It’s free.
What’s in store?
– Over 250 juried artists working in every medium you can imagine.
– Live music on the Christmas Park stage.
– Creative Education Tent packed with hands-on activities, student art, and a spirit garden for the grown-ups.
– Food trucks ready when you need a break.
– The Patron Program: VIP perks and access at the Brannon Civic Center for those who support the arts.
Artists interested in joining usually apply through ZAPP—details for the 2026 show will pop up there. If you’re just getting started, the Emerging Artists program offers booth support and workshops to help you get your feet under you.
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