October is generally the month when the giants of South Florida arts and culture emerge from their summer slumber, stretch their legs, and begin their sprint from now until May. This applies to presenting theaters such as the Kravis, Broward, and Arsht centers; producing professional theaters, such as The Wick Theatre, Theatre Lab, and Palm Beach Dramaworks; and resident arts organizations such as Palm Beach Opera, Florida Grand Opera, and Miami City Ballet, all of which will be launching their 2026-2027 seasons soon. Even our art museums, which had been operating all summer, tend to save their blockbuster shows for the fall, winter, and spring seasons.
So it’s only fitting that October has been designated National Arts and Humanities Month, an annual initiative launched by the National Endowment for the Arts and Americans for the Arts in 1985.
Locally, the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County is taking the lead in celebrating National Arts and Humanities Month. At its own art galleries, located in its headquarters in downtown Lake Worth Beach, the Council will open two exhibitions this month: “Molded and Mannered,” featuring sculpture from the Ceramic League of the Palm Beaches (Oct. 16-Dec. 12); and a solo showcase for Ukrainian American contemporary abstract and landscape painter Bogdan Kravchenko (Oct. 23-Dec. 5).
Outside of the Council’s own programming, of course, the cultural options are myriad across this busy month. To help readers navigate the many opportunities, the Council has selected 31 Ways to Celebrate Arts & Humanities Month—one for every day of October. We’ve spotlighted the Boca Raton events below, but click here to view the entire list.
Saturday and Sunday: Philharmonia No. 1 at Lynn University. Lynn’s prized ensemble will present Schubert’s Symphony No. 8 in B Minor, Kenneth Amis’ Concerto for Tuba and Orchestra, and Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations. Amis himself will perform on the tuba, under the baton of Guillermo Figueroa.
Through Oct. 11: If you still haven’t caught the Boca Raton Museum of Art’s sensational summer exhibition on the idiosyncratic Miami artist TYPOE GRAN, the clock is ticking.
Oct. 26: “ABBA: A Global Phenomenon” at Barry and Florence Friedberg Auditorium at FAU. Part of FAU’s lifelong learning programming, this 90-minute course explores Sweden’s dominant pop foursome from its victory in the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest through its worldwide fame in dance and pop music, through its various members’ contributions to Broadway and their late-career resurgence in popularity.
Oct. 31-Nov. 1: Philharmonia No. 2 at Lynn University. We’re gifted with two Philharmonia performances in the span of a month; the second program features Night on a Bald Mountain by Modest Mussorgsky, Dance Macabre, Op. 40 by Camille Saint-Saëns, and Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14 by Hector Berlioz.
For more of Boca magazine’s arts and entertainment coverage, click here.
