The Norton Museum
The Norton Museum of Art was founded in 1941 by Ralph Hubbard Norton (1875-1953) and his wife Elizabeth Calhoun Norton (1881-1947). Norton was an industrialist who headed the Acme Steel Company in Chicago. He and his wife began collecting to decorate their home and formed a sizable collection of paintings and sculpture. In 1940 they contemplated what to do with their art collection and eventually decided to found their own museum in West Palm Beach, to give South Florida its first such institution.
The Museum’s permanent collection now consists of more than 8,200 works in five curatorial departments: European, American, Chinese, Contemporary and Photography.
In 2011, the Norton launched Recognition of Art by Women (RAW), an annual exhibition series that celebrates the contributions of living female painters and sculptors with solo exhibitions.
In 2012, the Norton instituted the Rudin Prize for Emerging Photographers, a biennial international award those on the leading edge of the field who have not yet received a solo museum exhibition.
In 2013, with Florida’s population dramatically increasing and with Norton Trustees seeing the need for more exhibition and education space, the Board decided to embark on a bold, visionary Museum expansion, enlisting the renowned London-based architectural firm of Foster + Partners to design a new building. The transformed Museum opened on Feb. 9, 2019, featuring the Kenneth C. Griffin Building, which includes 12,000 square feet of new gallery space.
The Society of the Four Arts
The Society of the Four Arts is a nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1936 with a mission to inspire and engage people through the presentation of outstanding artistic programs. From November through April, the Four Arts offers hundreds of events, including concerts, art exhibits, workshops, films, children’s programs, and more. The 10-acre campus along the Intracoastal Waterway in Palm Beach includes a performance hall, an art gallery, a modern education center devoted to lifelong learning, a library, a children’s library, and beautiful sculpture gardens.
The Four Arts believes that the passion of music, the beauty of art, the thrill of drama, and the pleasure of literature bridge the gap from mere existence to truly living. It is our mission to share “the four arts” with everyone.
The Boca Raton Museum of Art
As “The Official Fine Arts Museum for the City of Boca Raton.” the Museum plays a key role in enhancing the cultural, educational, and economic vitality of Boca Raton and its surrounding communities, and has maintained the reputation of being one of South Florida’s leading cultural institutions, attracting more than 100,000 visitors annually to its galleries and programs with even more being reached through our on-line programs, social media, and Art in Public Places initiative.