Located in Tequesta, Florida, the Lighthouse ArtCenter is northern Palm Beach and southern Martin counties’ oldest and largest visual arts organization. It is a two-building campus featuring a gallery and a school of art. The Lighthouse ArtCenter is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charitable organization that was founded in 1964 by Christopher Norton, the son of the founders of the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Florida.
The Lighthouse ArtCenter Gallery and School of Art has six galleries hosting more than 21,000 visitors each year for its six or seven major exhibitions, plus minor exhibitions and special events. In March, the Gallery hosts an annual Plein Air Festival, a four-day event where award-winning artists come from all over the world to paint in our beautiful area. As the largest Plein Air event in South Florida, it also attracts visitors, locals and art collectors who enjoy watching the painters and collecting their original paintings.
The ArtCenter also has an ArtReach program, that provides art instruction and materials free of charge to local community organizations who have limited opportunities to participate in the arts. We serve students with mental and/or physical disabilities as well as those who are economically disadvantaged or elderly.
The School of Art offers classes and workshops for children and adults, beginner through professional levels: ceramics, drawing, computer 2-D and 3-D paper engineering classes, jewelry making, painting (acrylics, oils, and watercolors), photography, Photoshop, portrait and figure instruction, sculpture and more. The ceramics department features four firing methods with electric, gas, soda and raku kilns.