History of Lake Wales showcased in art exhibit

An exhibition by the Lakes Wales Arts Council, "How The Arts Shaped Lakes Wales", uses art to tell the history of the city’s growth over the past 50 years.

LAKE WALES, Fla. - An exhibition by the Lakes Wales Arts Council, "How The Arts Shaped Lakes Wales", uses art to tell the history of the city’s growth over the past 50 years.

"What we want to be able to do is to say, hey newcomers, you're coming to a place that has a long history of different types of creativity," Lake Wales Arts Council Executive Director Tommy Frank said.

The backstory:

The art is represented in unexpected ways, like paintings of Bok Tower and surprising ways, like dining plates from the historic landmark restaurant Chalet Suzanne. Rare items are on display as well, including musical instruments from the Streitwieser horn collection.

"It was donated by family," Frank explained. "That collection walks through the entire anthropological study and development of the horns."

Frank explains that several industries, like sand, citrus and ranching, provided the foundation to grow a city, but that art takes it to another level.

"The arts are the thing that makes it a really great place to live in. The arts in Lake Wales created enriching opportunities for the folks who lived here, as well as visitors who came to have a deeper sense of community, a deeper sense of esthetics and enjoyment in things like art and music," Frank said.

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Dig deeper:

Art is also represented through the city’s various musical acts, performing arts groups and the annual Lake Wales Arts Festival.

"When people come through our gallery space for this show, we kind of want them to be overwhelmed. That overwhelming comes from the fact that we're a relatively small town, but we've done a lot in the course of about 100 years," Frank said. "Within that history, it's not just a history show. It's talking about current events. It's talking about things that are still going on that are fun, engaging and really exciting."

What's next:

The exhibition wraps up on May 29 with a closing ceremony during the evening.

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