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Daytona Beach offers plenty for culture vultures
MEADVILLE, Pa. — Looking for a diversion after playing long and hard on Daytona’s sunny beaches?
If “ya gotta have art,” there’s plenty of area attractions to tap into.
A good place to start is the Ormond Memorial Museum and Gardens, founded in 1946 in nearby Ormond Beach to commemorate World War II veterans. Originally, the museum served as an exhibition space for more than 50 spiritual paintings by artist Malcolm Fraser. Today, the exhibitions have gotten much more inclusive by showing the work of prominent Florida and international artists.
“The exhibitions, such as our current fiber and jewelry show, change every four to six weeks,” museum director Ann Burt said.
Outside, 4 acres of lush tropical gardens with plants like sago palm, bamboo, ferns, banana, pine, and flowering shrubs are made accessible via peaceful nature trails that wind past ponds, a gazebo, a waterfall, even a newly installed children’s garden.
Also in Ormond Beach, Casements was built in 1912 by the Rev. Harwood Huntington for his wife. However, its most famous resident turned out to be oil billionaire John D. Rockefeller, who bought the mansion in 1918 as a winter home and continued to live there until his death in1937.
Named for its plentitude of casement windows, the mansion now serves as a culture and civic center.
In Daytona Beach, the Southeast Museum of Photography is Florida’s only museum exclusively devoted to photography and one of only a dozen or so in the nation devoted exclusively to the photographic arts. Located on the campus of Daytona Beach Community College, the museum has both a permanent collection of more than 5,000 works.
Nearby, on the campus of Bethune-Cookman College, the home of Mary McLeod Bethune — civil rights leader, educator and advisor to presidents — is open for touring. The house, now with historic landmark status, holds all of her original furnishings.
For a look at Daytona Beach’s considerable history, the Halifax Historical Museum is housed in an old 1910 Merchants Bank, where much of its architectural features and decorative art has been preserved. On the walls, hand-painted murals recall significant regional scenes embellished with Beaux Arts style stained glass windows and lighting.
A small theater screens videos of the history of the area and displays of artifacts starting with indigenous Native America culture c. 5,000 B.C.. It then moves on through the Spanish and British colonial eras and early pioneer families to both waorld wars and modern day auto racing.
The Art League is Volusia County’s oldest art organization, founded in 1932. With a different exhibit of cutting-edge work every month, the league maintains two galleries.
For live entertainment, the new News-Journal Cente, located one block north of the International Speedway, opened in January 2006. The Center has two theaters and is home to the Seaside Music Theater, the only professional music theater in the region.
Seaside’s winter season runs from October through February and the upcoming 2007 summer season runs from June through August with shows like “South Pacific,” “Silver Screen Serenade,” “Nine,” “Snapshots” and “Peter Pan.”
Music and arts lovers also can enjoy everything from symphony orchestra and concert artist performances to ballet, dance and touring Broadway shows in the 2,535-seat Peabody Auditorium. Every other year, the London Symphony Orchestra makes a stop at the Peabody, which also served as the venue for several other international orchestras.
IF YOU’RE GOING: For more information on Daytona Beach and surroundings, call (800) 554-0415 or visit www.daytonabeach.com.
•For a place to eat, try La Crepe en Haute, 142 E. Granada Blvd., Ormond Beach. One of the area’s finest restaurants with an emphasis on upscale French dining. Call (386) 673-1999.
•Christina’s Beach Street Café, 246 S. Beach St., Daytona Beach. One of downtown’s most charming bistros. Call (386) 258-7112.
•The Cellar, 220 Magnolia Ave., Daytona Beach. Housed in a former winter residence of President Warren G. Harding, this beautiful eatery features some of the area’s best Italian dining. Call (386) 253-0011.
•The Dancing Avacado Kitchen, 110 S. Beach St., Daytona Beach. A local favorite. Call (386) 947-2022.
