February Arts Events

I’m sure I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: there is no shortage of arts events to experience in Polk County. Stuff’s happening. Things can be seen, heard, and experienced. Once again, I was browsing the calendar in Art-i-Facts magazine, and I counted 34 arts events — just in February. 34! That’s more events than there are days in the month!

I’m not going to list them all here. You can grab a copy of Art-i-Facts if you want to see them all, but I do want to mention few of the highlights of the month:

Concerts:

Bok Tower Gardens hosts concerts regularly, and this month is no exception. They’re kicking off the month (and dare I mention, Super Bowl Sunday?) with an 80th Anniversary Dedication Day Carillon Concert. Two of them, in fact! The first one is at 1pm, and the other is at 3pm. But don’t stop there! They’ll also be hosting a piano concert by Judith Alstadter that day at 4:30pm.

Classic music abounds! Enjoy the Munich Symphony with Phillipe Entremont at Florida Southern College’s Branscomb Auditorium on February 6 at 7:30pm. Tea & Symphony: Youth in Concert with Imperial Symphony Orchestra at The Lakeland Center on February 10 at 5:45pm. Florida Southern College’s Symphony Orchestra at Branscomb Auditorium on the 26th at 7:30pm. And a Southeastern University Chamber Concert in the Campus’s Bush Chapel on the 27th at 7:30pm.

Theater

Parade in the Buckner Theater at Florida Southern College. Performances will be held the 12th -15th and the 19th-22nd at 7:30pm (2:30pm on Sundays).

Gaslight at Haines City Community Theater, February 13 -22. Shows will be held at 8:00pm on Friday and Saturday, and 2:30pm on Sunday.

Arsenic & Old Lace at Southeastern University’s Bush Chapel, Febrayar 20 -22, with performances at 7:30pm (2:30pm on Sunday).

King Lear at Harrison School of the Arts, February 26 – March 1.

Dance:

I’m going to be a little biased here and say that I REALLY like dance concerts. I can’t seem to sit still through a music concert (and I don’t care what kind of music it is), but a good dance concert will entrance me.  There are only a couple this month, and darn it! I have to miss one of them because of an event at work…

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago will be at Florida Southern College’s Branscomb Auditorium at 7:30pm on February 21. I saw this group perform last year at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, and they are outstanding.

But my favorite Central Florida dance troup is Polk County’s own Florida Dance Theatre, and they’ll be performing A Night of Dance at All Saint’s Academy on the 28th at 7pm.

Visual Art:

McAllister, Bond, Fields at PCC Fine Arts Gallery in Winter Haven, February 2 – 21.

Stan Gregory – Recent Work at Florida Southern College’s Melvin Gallery, the  13th through March 19.

And three exhibitions are closing out this month at Polk Museum of Art. Radcliffe Bailey: Between Two Worlds, Miroslav Antic: Family Album, and A Moment in Time: Works from the Permanent Collection all close on February 25 so the Museum can prepare for its annual Gala.

Just for Kids:

Explorations V, Polk County’s only children’s museum, will host International Day on February 16, 10:30am – 1:00pm, with food, music, and hands-on activities from around the world.

Most of these events, performances, and exhibitions have an admission fee or ticket price, so check with the organization for that information.

I left several great, smaller performances out of this list. That’s because I want you to read Art-i-Facts! But I hope that this will pique your interest enough to check out more of what’s going on in Polk County’s art scene.