Mural at Haven Hospice/Rails-to-Trails by Argentinian Urban Muralist Elian, 352walls.org
This article is brought to you by VisitGainesville.com
When one thinks of art and culture in the state of Florida, they might automatically think about the famous Wynwood Art District of Miami or perhaps they think about Art Basel, a modern and contemporary art fair that is held every year in Miami.
What one may not know about the art scene in the Florida is that about 340 miles north of Miami is a thriving and active urban art and culture scene in the city of Gainesville.
Gainesville is known for having a number of places to go to attend live musical and theatrical performances in addition to having its own thriving public art scene.
Public Art
Mural at :08 Seconds Building by Italian Urban Muralist 2501, 352walls.org
As a person who has a deep appreciation for street art, I was excited to find out about Gainesville’s flourishing urban art scene, which is the only public mural or ‘street’ art display of its kind in the North Central Florida area.
Created by 11 local, regional, and international artists, the downtown section of Gainesville is home to the 352walls/ Gainesville Urban Art Initiative, a project where urban street artists have collaborated to create large-scale paintings on buildings around the city.
Some of the most interesting pieces of the 352walls initiative include the painting on the :08 Seconds Building by Italian urban muralist 2501, the mural on the Market Street Pub by Ukrainian artists Interesni Kazki, and the wrapped electrical boxes by Portuguese artist Fuel.
Theater & Dance
In addition to street art, Gainesville has a number of other activities related to arts and culture. One place where visitors to Gainesville can go to see Broadway, off-Broadway and regional shows is the Hippodrome Theatre, which hosts various musicals, comedies, dramas, and holiday productions throughout the year.
The Curtis M. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts is another place of cultural interest in Gainesville and has hosted shows including STOMP, the Bolshoi Ballet, and Riverdance. Additionally, the Curtis M. Phillips Center showcases performances from the Dance Alive National Ballet, which is a professional ballet company based in the city that has dancers from numerous countries around the world!
Visitors to Gainesville will also love the Gainesville Community Playhouse, which is Florida’s oldest community theater. The playhouse has been producing numerous high-quality plays and musicals since 1927, and is definitely a place that is not to be missed during a trip to the city!
Arts & Culture Festivals
A little boy enjoying art at the Arts Festival, VisitGainesville.com
Gainesville is also home to several art festivals including the annual three-day Fifth Avenue Arts Festival which takes place every spring, the Santa Fe Spring Arts Festival, which also occurs every the spring, and the Downtown Art Festival and Show which is held in the city every fall.
Gainesville is truly a wonderful place to experience art and culture in the United States. The next time that you find yourself in Florida, don’t pass up the opportunity to visit Gainesville!
For more information on what is going on in the art scene of Gainesville, make sure to check out their Facebook and Twitter pages.
I’ve never been to Gainesville but I do travel to Florida often (mostly to Disney World but I’ve also visited St. Pete, Tampa and Miami.) I’ll definelty have to check out Gainesville during my next trip to Florida, it looks lovely <3
I have actually never been to Gainesville and I never knew there was art culture to be experienced there.
I will definitely make plans to visit Gainesville when I visit Florida next. It sounds like a wonderful place!
It looks like a fabulous art festival. There would be so much to see! I would love to visit and check out all the art pieces!
It’s awesome that there is so much artistic talent in the city of Gainesville. Going for an art festival would be great.
Wow, I totally love these. I do love arts, paint everything that all about arts. This is pretty amazing.
To be honest, the only thing I knew about Gainesville was the Gators. I didn’t know there was such a love of art there.
It sounds great. I love stuff like this. I think its a great way to learn how to appreciate looking through a different lens.
Now that is a pretty serious art scene. Do you know if a lot of those events run year round, or if they only run in the summer?
Hey Mike! There are arts and cultural events in Gainesville year-round! 😀
This would definitely delight art lovers. This could really generate a lot of artistic ideas.
Gainesville is amazing but so many people miss out because they think Florida is Mickey Mouse only. People tell me they’ve been to Florida and I always say “no. You’ve been to Orlando”.
Haha, true! There is so much more to Florida than Disney World Tori 😀
Wow, what beautiful street art! I love towns that have such a strong artistic presence!
I would so love to explore this. I’ve never been to Gainesville before only to Fort Pierce but I love all your photos 🙂
Love how involved with the art is the community! It seems like a such a nice please to visit!
I have never visited Gainesville before. I love finding the arts district in cities because it’s usually so vibrant.
These are amazing paintings/murals! I love that art work by Argentinian Urban Muralist Elian..it caught my attention right away. Thanks for letting us know about how to have a great time in Gainesville.
Lady Soda
It sounds like a wonderful place! I will definitely make plans with friends to visit Gainesville next month!