The building that opened as the Lake Theatre in downtown Lake Worth Beach in 1940 is still a place to go and look at something. Next Friday, Oct. 16, the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County opens its 2026-27 season there, with 14 exhibitions over the coming months featuring nearly 200 artists who live or work in Palm Beach County. Every one of them is free to see.

What opens first

The season starts in the council's Donald M. Ephraim Family Foundation Gallery with Molded & Mannered, a show of work by members of the Ceramic League of The Palm Beaches, on view Oct. 16 through Dec. 12. A gallery full of what the county's working ceramicists can do is a good reminder of how far the craft goes past a mug.

A week later, on Oct. 23, the first of the season's solo shows opens in the Gayle and Paul Gross Gallery: Bogdan Kravchenko, a painter who trained at the Kyiv Academy of Art and later worked in advertising and design. The council is throwing a free opening reception on Thursday, Oct. 22, from 5 to 7 p.m., where visitors can meet the artist. Admission is free, and the council asks guests to register in advance.

The solo artists are not picked casually. According to the council's season announcement, a panel of art professionals chooses them through a competitive process, and each receives a stipend toward the cost of packing and shipping the work, a small thing that makes a real difference to a working artist.

The rest of the season

The main Kruger Family Gallery opens Nov. 6 with Sun, Sand, Surf, a look at how the beach shapes the creative life of the county, running through Dec. 31. It is followed by Foodways, a show about the traditions and systems around food, from Jan. 15 to Feb. 27; the second edition of The Short List, nearly 200 small works by local artists, in March; and the juried Biennial 2027, curated by Ross Karlan, from April 16 to June 11.

The title most likely to get people through the door is in the smaller gallery this winter. Karate Bagels Dance, running Dec. 18 to Feb. 20, is an exhibition inspired by strip mall signage, which in South Florida is close to a native art form. Anyone who has ever sat at a red light reading the stacked tenant signs on a Military Trail plaza will understand the idea instantly.

Five more solo artists follow Kravchenko through next summer: Elena Mamenko, Ilene Gruber Adams, Heather Couch, Keren Kroul and Sandy Lerman.

Movies back in the theater

The building's past is part of the program. The Lake Theatre Revival Series returns for a second season, screening classic films in the former movie house. It opens Dec. 11 with Beach Blanket Bingo, paired with the beach show, and continues Feb. 5 with Big Night, the 1996 restaurant film, alongside Foodways. A summer screening with the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens follows in June, and the series closes in July with a program on Black cinema of the 1940s.

Why it is worth the trip downtown

Lake Worth Beach has long sold itself on its art, from the murals on its walls to its street painting festival. The council's headquarters is the year-round anchor of that reputation, and it costs nothing to walk in. Pair a gallery visit with lunch or an early dinner on Lake or Lucerne avenues, and it is an easy, inexpensive afternoon.

The galleries are open Tuesday through Saturday from noon to 5 p.m., and admission is always free. Details on every show, the reception RSVP and the film dates are at palmbeachculture.com.