Cultural Affairs History

The need for a central umbrella organization to represent the interests of a diverse art community in St. Lucie County was formally recognized by a number of interested and involved citizens in the early 1980's.

After some planning and discussion, the St. Lucie County Council of the Arts, Inc. was incorporated as a non-profit corporation on November 2, 1984. The Council was governed by a fifteen member Board of Directors. Colin Campbell, Jr. was elected the first Chairman but Elsie Grieger, Vice-Chairman, was listed as the acting Chairman on the October, 1985 roster. Akhtar Quaraishi served as Chair in 1986.

Developing a relationship with County government, the Council of the Arts was designated as the official local arts agency by the Board of County Commissioners on October 27, 1987 in Resolution 87-230. Following that resolution, the Council of the Arts was also recognized by the State of Florida as the official LAA. Pamela Stewart served as Chairman for 1987-8 and Herb Ellis took the helm in 1989.

The Council was reorganized as a ''public agency, corporate and politic'' by the Board of County Commissioners in Resolution 90-208 on July 25, 1990, and rechristened as the St. Lucie County Cultural Affairs Council. Membership on the Council remained at fifteen volunteers, each one appointed by the BOCC.

In July, 1994, a citizen's group formed a volunteer ''mural committee'' with the aim of creatively decorating vast blank walls in Ft. Pierce. Noting some similar goals, the ''Mural Society'' came under the umbrella of the Cultural Affairs Council in October, 1994. Herb Ellis was again Chair of the CAC for 1994-5. North Carolina artist Blue Sky's noteworthy ''Night Train'' mural was facilitated by this group in 1996, among other projects. The Mural Society splintered from the CAC that year. 1997 saw the CAC hosting the nationally-renowned ''Wind Symphony'', it's most ambitious project to date. Susie Cassens served as CAC's Chairperson in 1996-7 and Bob Russell led the organization for 1997-8.

The desire to establish a basis for a permanent public arts program in St. Lucie County was the main focus for the Cultural Affairs Council in 1999. The CAC provided the leadership to accomplish the goal of the passage of the Art in Public Places Ordinance 99-07 in St. Lucie County in October 1999, with the City of Ft. Pierce following up with a similar ordinance the following month. Jon Ward steered the CAC as Chairman in 1999.

2000 saw the addition of the CAC's new offices at the Ft. Pierce Community Center and part-time office manager Ginny Mehaffey, all part of the County's growing commitment to ''quality of life'' issues. Marti Reno chaired the Board for 2000 and Phil Steel was at the helm for 2001. St. Lucie County further underlined their cultural support in 2002 by agreeing to provide funding for the first full-time Executive Director in the 2003 budget.

2002's Chairman Sam Patterson led the search team which hired former Chairman Jon Ward as the inaugural E.D. Edgar Straeffer was selected Chair for 2003.

Alison Graham-Divan served as Chair for 2004 and Jack Connolly was elected for 2005.

In 2006-2007 Anita Prentice acted as Chair and Jack Connolly was re-elected Chair for 2008.