Page 42 - DreamScapes Magazine | Winter 2022-2023

COASTAL ARTS FEATURE
INSIDER TIP
SFou
Download a free app and take a self-guided tour of Martin County’s Arts and Culture Trail. discovermartin.com/ martin-county-arts-culture-trail. For more cultural dis- coveries, check out the annual downtown Stuart Art
42 DREAMSCAPES WINTER 2022/2023
Festival, February 25–26, 2023.
theast
lorida
A Tropical Arts Oasis
TEXT AND PHOTOS BY JIM BAMBOULIS
For decades, I was led to believe that Florida’s dra- matic Atlantic coastline, between charming Stuart on the Treasure Coast and energetic Miami on the Gold Coast, was solely about fun, sun and Art Deco. To my surprise, I discovered on a recent trip that beyond the epi- centre of South Beach notoriety, the spectrum of artistic inspiration is far broader, with creative energies gener- ating a new wave of worldwide attention.
If you thought Art Deco was the “be all, and end all” of artistic expression here, look again because Art Deco has company.
America’s Happiest Seaside Town
Start along Florida’s fabled Treasure Coast. In 2016, Stuart, Florida beat out 300 other destinations for “Happiest Seaside Town” status by Coastal Living magazine. Quite the reward for an Old Florida-style treasure, that’s not known for fanfare.
Locals are all too happy to share centuries-old stories of gold buried at sea by shipwrecked Spanish explorers. As much as these stories intrigue me, I’m more interested in exploring the town’s here and now.
Sunny Stuart’s charm lies in the details, with distinctly Floridian-coloured buildings and seaside cottages. See structures built in the Beaux Arts, colonial revival, and Spanish Mediterranean styles. There’s the Old Colorado Inn, Stuart’s first brick building built in 1914; and the revamped Lyric Theatre, a silent movie house built in 1925, home to Vaudeville acts, and at one time, the largest building in Martin County. Along Osceola Street stroll to the historic Post Office Arcade, a grand fixture of archways and a hidden breezeway that once coveted the title, “the most modern grand post office in America.” Now home to Café Martier, this vintage chic venue is replete with a wine garden, a piano bar, and even a revived speakeasy bar, which still serves Prohibition-era cocktails.
There are vibrant murals scattered downtown, including the quilt-like “Pineapple Pickers” mural on Osceola Street that illustrates Stuart’s pineapple planta- tion heritage. Nearby an art restoration shop’s entire wall