Volume I No. 2| January 10, 2019
Meet the people who make the Treasure Coast a great place to live and visit.
Join me Mondays at 5 p.m. for Cultural Connection with Willi Miller on WAXE 1370 AM and 107.9 FM on the Treasure Coast and streaming at  www.waxe1370.com  at 5 pm. Replays at  cultural-council.org .
We're Always Celebrating the Arts!
While the experts at ArtfullyManaged.com work on getting my website up and running, I’ll make sure you know about some of the many things going on this week.

I ran into my local history guru, Ruth Stanbridge, at Celebrate the Arts last weekend. It’s impossible to walk away from a conversation with her without learning something interesting. The public IRC Historical Society meeting Jan. 10 at 7 p.m., will be all about the St. Johns river. That’s the one that begins in a marsh west of Fellsmere and flows north, yes north, and meets the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean at Jacksonville. If you miss the Jan. 10 meeting at the Vero Beach Woman's Club, 1534 21 St., Vero Beach, but want to learn more about the river, try http://www.stjohnsriverkeeper.org , one of many other sources of fascinating information. Find the Vero Beach Woman's Club on Facebook.

History buffs and those who are merely curious about area history will be in downtown Fort Pierce Saturday for Indian River magazine’s third big Treasure Coast History Festival. The publication and Main Street Fort Pierce , the St. Lucie County Historical Society , the Sunrise Theatre, and A.E. Backus Museum & Gallery all put a tremendous amount of work into coordinating walking and trolley tours, including one that centers on well-known ghosts, lectures in the theatre’s Black Box, and a fish fry by the Summerlins. There will be a cowboy encampment, volunteer re-enactors, local authors and a lot more. Get information about schedules and tour reservations at http://www.indianrivermag.com .
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 Happy Birthday, Laura Riding Jackson! The foundation that bears her name will celebrate her Jan. 16 birthday next Saturday, Jan. 19, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at her cracker-style home on the Environmental Learning Center’s campus. The house is scheduled to be moved to a new location at Indian River State College in Vero Beach. www.lauraridingjackson.org )
Vero Beach Book Center ’s lineup this week is filled with intrigue. Every book made my Read-Me list but the one I couldn’t resist digging into first was Brad Meltzer’s The First Conspiracy.

Meltzer is a master of research that he turns into the riveting thrillers you’ll find listed on his website, http://bradmeltzer.com . Right next to that long list is the Non-fiction category, with only one entry, a book that’s a spinoff of a single reference in his 2015 The President’s Shadow. 

Before George Washington was president, he was a military man with inner circle enemies feeding information to the British. The First Conspiracy is a bit of history that probably will surprise readers and give insight into the roots of present-day intelligence operations. Meltzer is at Vero Beach Book Center Sunday at 3 p, unfortunately going head to head with Vero Beach Opera’s Carmen.

Jan. 12 has Brad Taylor in the house with his latest, Daughter of War, at 3 p.m. Andrew Gross will talk about Button Man Wednesday and Larry Loftis introduces us to a real-life spy in Code Name: Lise Thursday, both signings at 6 p.m.
Vero Beach Opera follows last year's standing O, fully staged Madama Butterfly with another favorite of opera lovers, Bizet's Carmen. The performance is at 3 p.m. Sunday Jan. 13 at Vero Beach High School Performing Arts Center. Bizet broke the traditional mold of opera with Carmen, bringing the lives of ordinary, not necessarily desirable, people to the stage. Tickets are online at https://verobeachopera.tix.com
If your father had seen the real Blessed Mother in his own barbershop, wouldn’t you want the whole world to know? In Tom Dudzick’s Miracle on South Division Street at Vero Beach Theatre Guild Jan. 15-27, daughter Ruth writes a one-woman show that brings the family’s faith crashing down on them in VBTG’s traditional hilarious manner. Tickets and times are at verobeachtheatreguild.com .

Gretchen Green is at Galleries of First Pres
The Galleries at First Pres will celebrate a second anniversary Jan. 13 with a reception introducing the artists whose work will be on display through April 1. The reception, with light refreshments offered, is from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. in several locations on the First Presbyterian Church of Vero Beach campus. The artists for this first quarter of 2019 are Vicki Beyer, Grechen Green and Darlene Kratovel.
At left: The Nativity by Gretchen Green


Artists of Color: Place, Race and Vision of the Florida Highwaymen opens at A.E. Backus Museum & Gallery just in time for the Jan. 12 Treasure Coast History Festival in Fort Pierce. The vintage paintings on display are on loan from private collections and can be seen only through March 3. 
The Backus Sunday in Key West Brunch fundraiser is Jan. 27. Be aware that this event will probably sell out early. Get information and buy tickets at http://www.backusmuseum.com



Anush Avetisyan the soprano giving the benefit concert for Music Angels Education Fund Inc on Jan 16 so Anush in Carmen
Soprano Anush Avetisyan sings to benefit Linda Sposato’s Music Angels Education Fund at First Presbyterian Church on Royal Palm Boulevard Jan. 16, 7 p.m. Tickets at http://musicangels.net.
Emerson Center - Inside tips from astronomer Jon Bell Jan. 10. - Tapestry: A Carole King Tribute Jan. 11 - Early Elton Jan. 17. All events are at 7 p.m.

AAUW Vero Beach Writing Workshop with Charles Todd - Jan.26. register at [email protected].

Sebastian Art Studio Tour - Saturday, Feb. 9.

Jazz in the Sanctuary brings back Mark Green and The Rowdy Roosters to St. Mary's Episcopal Church, 623 SE Ocean Blvd., Stuart, Jan. 13 4 p.m.

Melbourne Chamber Music Society has the Pacifica String Quartet Jan. 11, 7:30 p.m. at St. Marks United Methodist Church, Indialantic

FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERS
This newsletter is not intended to be a comprehensive arts calendar. Continue checking culturalcalendar.org and other event listings for everything that's happening on the Treasure Coast.