Art and culture is alive and well in Manatee County, thanks in great part to the deep-seated support of the Manatee County Cultural Alliance, an organization dedicated to promoting the county’s many cultural resources. Yet another group providing residents and visitors with access to several galleries, classroom space and a wealth exhibition and learning opportunities in the area of the visual arts is the Art League of Manatee County. By providing opportunities for amateur and professional artists to exhibit together and coordinating instructional programs for artists of every skill level, this arts society is helping to further the enjoyment of the visual arts in the communities that comprise Manatee County. A host of privately owned galleries and independent groups operating on both the mainland and its neighboring islands round out the county’s cultural calendar with exhibition dates, courses and special events. The Village of the Arts is being developed by an inspired group of artists. Their vision is a community where artists may live and work while enhancing the quality of life. This vision has become their mission as they strive for the betterment of the community and create a safe environment for our children. The Village of the Arts invites you to join in the renaissance.

While the visual arts play a vital role in the county’s cultural make-up, the performing arts hold an equally important position. The county features regular performances by the renowned Manatee Players, based out of the Riverfront Theatre. On nearby Anna Maria Island, live productions have filled the stages of the Island Playhouse for the past 40 years. The Manatee Ballet also enjoys a loyal following, providing fans with a regular source of cultural entertainment.

From chamber music to rock concerts, Manatee County and its neighboring communities offer a wealth of opportunities for residents and visitors to enjoy music. The Florida West Coast Symphony, backed by a 50-year tradition of entertainment, fills the calendar from September through June with symphonies, chamber concerts and even a six-concert Masterworks Series held in the Neel Auditorium at Manatee Community College. Its dedication to promoting the musical arts was recently highlighted when the Florida Arts Council recognized it as the state’s premier musical organization. The Sarasota Pops Orchestra, a 90-member group that performs at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in Sarasota as well as at other nearby venues, offers music lovers the opportunity to enjoy four concerts each year.

Manatee County is blessed with a number of ideal locations for its cultural events, including Manatee Community College’s Neel Auditorium, which serves as the community’s cultural hub. Numerous concerts and other events produced by the institution’s schools of music and theater are held in this auditorium throughout the year. Palmetto hosts the Manatee Convention Center while Bradenton is home to the Municipal Auditorium - both of which play host to various trade shows, sporting events, performances and conventions year-round.

One of the state’s most significant cultural asset - the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art - is easily accessible to Manatee County’s residents and visitors. Located across from the University of South Florida’s New College Campus, this official state art museum’s 66-acre complex features a host of galleries housing works of the world’s most acclaimed artists, including an outstanding collection of paintings by Baroque master Peter Paul Rubens. Also located on the museum campus is the Ringling’s restored winter home, known as Ca’d’Zan. Venetian for “House of John,” this mini-palace delights hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, as do the Circus Galleries, which house a whimsical collection of art and artifacts commemorating the circus. The Asolo Theater, also located on the grounds of the complex, features the Harold E. and Esther M. Mertz theatre which was brought from Scotland and is a majestic 500-seat former opera house.

Restoration plays a key role in Manatee County’s enjoyment of arts and culture. One of the most visible restoration efforts is the Powell Crosley Museum of the Entrepreneur, formerly known as the Powell Crosley Estate. Resting on the shores of Sarasota Bay and across the Tamiami Trail from Sarasota/Bradenton’s international airport, this exciting Spanish revival-style mansion enables visitors to savor its lofty stone walls, intricately laid porticos, hand-carved woodwork and stately oak-lined ships room. This estate, which holds a position on the National Register of Historic Places, opens regularly for public events and is even available for such private functions as weddings and fundraisers.

It was the railroad that ultimately led to the occupation and expansive development of Manatee County and nowhere is this chronicled better than at the Florida Gulf Coast Railroad Museum in nearby Parrish and Bellm’s Cars and Music of Yesterday, situated on the southern side of the Sarasota/Bradenton Airport. These attractions give visitors the chance to learn about the railroad’s role in Manatee County’s growth as well as the opportunity to ride a post World War II train, meander through isles of antique autos and enjoy learning about the fascinating history of the music-maker.

A day spent at the South Florida Museum and Bishop Planetarium in Bradenton gives visitors a wealth of insight into Florida’s natural history and scientific significance. In addition to perusing numerous exhibits detailing the state’s rich history and archaeology from prehistoric times through the high-tech space age, this museum also houses a local favorite: Snooty. As the oldest living manatee born in captivity, Snooty, who has lived at the museum’s Mary E. Parker Aquarium for more than 50 years, has the distinct pleasure of serving as the county’s official mascot. Over the years, more than a million visitors have greeted him there and even more are flocking to see his new partner, Mo.

If it’s stargazing you’re interested in, you’ll find plenty to do at the adjacent Bishop Planetarium. From daily star shows to sensational laser light displays, the planetarium offers space-lovers of all ages the ultimate in out of this world experiences.

City Island, located just south of Longboat Key, is home to one of the region’s true treasures: the Mote Marine Laboratory. This fascinating facility is ideal for those interested in learning more about Manatee County’s plentiful marine life. In addition to a 135,000-gallon shark tank and a multitude of other tanks occupied by native sea creatures, there’s also a touch tank that gives visitors a hands-on aquatic experience. By venturing across the street to the Ann and Alfred Goldstein Marine Mammal Research and Rehabilitation Center, visitors can grasp a better understanding of southwest Florida’s aquatic mammals, including Loggerhead Sea Turtles, Green Turtles and the famed West Indian Manatee.

For those who favor flora, there’s the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, featuring a wide assortment of plants indigenous to Manatee County’s warm, tropical weather. Situated on the waterfront, these gardens also house a world center for the study and cultivation of orchids, a favorite pastime for many local horticulturalists!

Manatee County’s rich history is commemorated and preserved through informative landmarks, fascinating re-enactments and a multitude of restoration projects. One such landmark, Madira Bickel Mound State Archaeological Site, has the distinction of marking the site of the county’s earliest inhabitants; digs at this ceremonial Indian mound have unearthed artifacts dating from the Christian era up until the arrival of the Spanish in the mid-1500s.

Bradenton’s DeSoto National Memorial memorializes the 1539 landing of legendary Spanish explorer Hernando Desoto. Park rangers at this popular tourist destination recreate the living conditions Desoto and his fellow explorers experienced while camping along the shoreline. Other attractions at the park include a nature trail that takes visitors along a winding path through a mangrove swamp and a display of artifacts dating to the Southeastern Temple Mound Builders, a civilization that appears to have vanished once the Europeans arrived in the region.

Manatee Village Historical Park is home to seven historical architectural efforts, carefully preserved by the County Historical Commission. In addition to the county’s first court house, there’s also a rustic home in the “Cracker Gothic” style, a church dating to 1889, a single-room school house, a barn and smokehouse reproduced in the style of the 1800s, a mercantile and a sugar-cane mill.

The oldest of Manatee County’s buildings dates to 1844. Major Robert Gamble, an officer whose skills were put to the test during the Seminole Wars, built this historic mansion, which is now operated under the watchful eye of the Florida Parks Service. Furnished with antiques and period décor, it sits majestically within the 16-acre park that is known as the Gamble Plantation, once one of the country’s most prosperous sugarcane plantations and the only remaining such plantation in all of Florida.

Heritage Park, located within the history-laden city of Palmetto, offers visitors an opportunity to experience the bygone days of yesteryear. Lush greenery, brick-lined pathways, sculpted wrought iron fences and even an authentic 19th century post office make this beautiful historical park - and the adjacent Carnegie Library, which documents much of the region’s history - must-sees for visitors and newcomers.

Manatee County is indeed a fertile setting for a myriad of annual festivals held throughout the year. From heritage festivals to craft fairs and from holiday festivities to fine arts shows, there’s almost always at least one special event in the works adding to the fun-filled reputation the county enjoys.

The winter season, historically a busy time of year for Floridians thanks to a seasonal influx of snowbirds, plays host to a number of popular affairs. Included among these events are the Anna Maria Island Festival of Fine Arts, Palmetto Winter Craft Fair and Manatee County Fair. The Bradenton Municipal Auditorium welcomes its annual antique and collectibles show during this season, too, and visitors and residents alike have the annual Seafood Festival held in the quaint fishing town of Cortez to look forward to, as well.

Manatee Heritage Days mark the coming of spring. This annual tribute features not only a festive parade, but also walking and waterfront tours of the region’s oldest communities and historic sites as well as various concerts and an arts and crafts display. Live entertainment and fabulous food mark the annual rite of Anna Maria Island’s Springfest, which is celebrated on the grounds of Holmes Beach City Hall. In March, the community of Parrish commemorates its roots with a parade and train tour, while Madira Bickel Mound celebrates Terra Ceia Day with a luncheon featuring tours and an exhibit of local arts and crafts. Florida’s last surviving sugarcane plantation, the Gamble Plantation, also celebrates during the spring with an annual flower show. April marks the annual Florida Heritage Festival, complete with a grand parade and Riverfest, which draws hundreds of thousands of visitors to Bradenton in celebration of the state’s rich cultural diversity and European roots.