Joe CapozziGrant dollars dispersed by Cultural Council for Palm Beach County offer vital boost as state arts allocations shrink.
Palm Beach County commissioners approved $7.5 million for 60 cultural organizations, with the bulk of the money coming from the county’s robust hotel tax.
At a time when state grants to arts groups have been sharply curtailed, the grants offer a vital boost for cultural programs that affect the community and attract tourists, said Dave Lawrence, president and CEO of the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County.
“We are very thankful to the county commissioners and the Tourist Development Council for this continued vote of confidence in the arts and cultural sector to play such a large role in cultural tourism,” he said.
Four of the county’s best-known art organizations received $300,000, the most given out in this round. They are the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, Norton Museum of Art, Cox Science Center and Aquarium and Loggerhead Marinelife Center.
Others getting money: Maltz Jupiter Theatre, Palm Beach Dramaworks, Busch Wildlife Sanctuary, Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens and the Lake Worth Playhouse.
As the county’s designated local arts agency, the Cultural Council administers the grants. Each allocation is matched by the receiving organization, leveraging public dollars for greater impact, Lawrence said.
“Arts and culture play an enormous role in attracting visitors to Palm Beach County. These grants are put to work at all of these organizations to reach out beyond our state borders, to welcome as many visitors as we can to the Palm Beaches,” he said.
How the grants break down
The grant dollars are divided into three categories, defined by the size of the receiving organization. The two largest categories — for cultural entities with annual operating revenues of at least $1.17 million and operating revenue ranging from $200,000 to $1.17 million — receive grant dollars from tourism tax revenue.
The third and smallest category — for emerging groups with operating revenue of at least $25,000 — get money from county property taxes.
As bed tax collections have ballooned, the available money has been rising. For instance, Category B grants totaled $3.7 million in 2022 but now are $5.5 million.
The $7.5 million total this year is up from $4.5 million four years ago.
The council played a major role in launching the county’s so-called “bed tax” in 1984, starting with the Category B fund. They later added two more types of cultural arts grants.
For the 2026 fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, 34 organizations received $7.13 million from bed tax revenue while 26 groups received $369,750 from county property tax revenue.
The county’s record tourism numbers are generating robust hotel-tax revenue, but the grant allocations to local arts and cultural groups have been especially vital in recent years, Lawrence said.
Many cultural groups suffered during the pandemic only to take another hit last year when Gov. Ron DeSantis slashed $32 million in arts grants across Florida, including $3.1 million in Palm Beach County.
“When the veto happened, when the reduction continued to happen this past year, that made these grants even more important to cultural organizations so that they could keep their doors open and lights on by using those other resources for their operations and really focus these dollars on marketing cultural tourism,” he said.
Which groups got the money
Here is a breakdown of who got what from the $7.5 million in county grant dollars for the 2026 fiscal year.
Category B
Largest groups, $5.5 million, 23 organizations:
Loxahatchee River Historical Society: $160,179
Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens: $222,590
Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society: $299,706
The Henry Morrison Flagler Museum: $280,643
Palm Beach Opera: $293,352
Busch Wildlife Sanctuary: $247,990
Adolph & Rose Levis Jewish Community Center: $120,854
Maltz Jupiter Theatre: $299,706
FAU Foundation/Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters: $190,626
Historical Society of Palm Beach County: $192,038
The Boca Raton Historical Society: $171,408
The Society of the Four Arts: $260,521
Palm Beach Dramaworks: $247,107
Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts: $300,000
Norton Museum of Art: $300,000
The Armory Art Center: $166,624
Palm Beach State College: $190,626
Boca Raton Museum of Art: $285,939
Cox Science Center and Aquarium: $300,000
Loggerhead Marinelife Center: $300,000
Creative City Collaborative of Delray Beach (Arts Garage): $199,804
Friends of Mounts Botanical Garden: $247,990
The Palm Beach Symphony: $247,990
Category C II
Middle size groups, $1.6 million, 11 organizations:
Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens: $148,332
Ballet Palm Beach: $144,049
Boca Ballet Theatre Company: $147,261
Centre for the Arts at Mizner Park (Schmidt Family Centre For The Arts): $147,261
Spady Cultural Heritage Museum: $148,333
Lighthouse ArtCenter: $146,191
Mandel Jewish Community Center of the Palm Beaches: $149,403
The Boca Raton Philharmonic Symphonia: $147,797
The Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach: $145,120
The Lake Worth Playhouse: $133,499
Young Singers of the Palm Beaches: $149,403
Category CI
Smallest groups, $369,750, 26 organizations:
Aequalis (The Core Ensemble): $24,611
Arts4All Florida: $24,782
Azul Fashion, Art, & Design: $11,079
BAM Festival: $7,229
Boynton Cultural Centre (Schoolhouse Children’s Museum & Learning Center): $23,585
CAPE Universal: $7,862
Caribbean-American for Community Involvement in Florida: $6,175
Dance Theater of Florida: $24,525
Delray Beach Arts: $24,525
Fiesta de Pueblo: $16,350
Juneteenth of PBC: $8,118
Milagro Foundation (Milagro Center): $24,782
New Wave Artist Residency: $23,585
The Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival: $8,346
Philippine American Society: $7,947
Resource Depot: $25,038
Rohi’s Liberation Station: $8,175
Soul Movement Creative Arts Space: $8,061
The Ebony Chorale of the Palm Beaches: $8,004
The Choral Society of the Palm Beaches: $8,261
The Elevar Foundation: $16,407
The Friends of Sandoway House Nature Center (Sandoway Discovery Center): $16,749
The Masterworks Chorus of the Palm Beaches: $8,460
The Taras Oceanographic Foundation: $6,089
West Third Street Dance Corp (Debra Weiss Dance Company): $4,883
Youth Orchestra of Palm Beach County: $16,122
Joe Capozzi is an award-winning reporter based in Lake Worth Beach. He spent more than 30 years writing for newspapers, mostly at The Palm Beach Post, where he wrote about the opioid scourge, invasive pythons, and Palm Beach County government. For 15 years, he covered the Miami Marlins baseball team. Joe left The Post in December 2020. He publishes the Lake Worth Beach Independent on Substack, covering the town where he lives.
