History

The History of the Cultural Arts Association

In May of 1989, local residents Susan Foster, Jan Clarke and Jeff Ellis organized the first Grayton Beach Fine Arts Festival. In 1991 Susan Foster and Hilda McDonald cosponsored an arts festival on Eastern Lake, Seagrove Beach, designed to offer scholarships to children for after-school art classes. This was the forerunner of today’s Flutterby Festival held annually in the fall. Soon after this original scholarship festival, it was discovered that scholarships could only be given by not-for-profit organizations.

Susan Foster called a meeting of the primary players of the two festivals and said, “Now is the time to form a legitimate arts association in South Walton.” A board was formed with Foster as president, Clarke as vice-president, and McDonald as secretary. Over the next few months Susan worked with a CPA who volunteered her time to get the necessary paperwork together and filed with the state. Jan Clarke and Hilda McDonald made numerous trips to Tallahassee to meet with representatives of the Florida Department of Cultural Affairs. They applied for a state grant made available from leftover money from the National Endowment for the Arts, and qualified to receive a technical assistance grant to aid in the organization of the association. The first membership drive was held at the Grayton Beach Fine Arts Festival in May 1993 with a representative from the State Department of Cultural Affairs in attendance to help supervise.

In May of 1996 the Grayton Beach Fine Arts Festival was moved to the magnificent grounds of Eden State Gardens where the juried art festival became a weekend-long event attended by thousands. Renamed ArtsQuest by the organizers, ArtsQuest became a full week of art-related activities culminating with the fine arts festival. 2003 saw another change when ArtsQuest was moved to Baytowne Wharf to accommodate larger crowds and easier transportation to the event.

Local residents and visitors to the area look forward to these hallmark events that the pioneers of the Cultural Arts Association foresaw those many years ago.