Students from Blanche Ely High School have filled the Historic Ali Cultural Arts Center with new artwork about Esther Rolle, the Emmy Award winning actress and activist who was born in Pompano Beach. The exhibition, titled Everything Esther, opened with a reception on Thursday, November 5, and stays up through January 24 at the center on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

The show is a joint project between Pompano Beach Arts, the city's cultural affairs program, and young artists from Ely. Each piece is the students' own contemporary take on Rolle's life: where she started, the work she did on stage and screen, and the causes she spoke up for.

A hometown name, seen by a new generation

Pompano Beach Arts describes Rolle as an actress and activist who pushed for honest, authentic portrayals of Black life in entertainment. The exhibition approaches that record through the eyes of artists who were born decades after her years on screen, which gives the gallery a different feel from a standard retrospective. Rather than posters and archival photos alone, visitors see how teenagers growing up in her hometown read her story today, from her early years to her advocacy for social justice.

The Ali center has marked Rolle's legacy before. In November 2020, its Soulful Sundays series closed out its season with poetry, dance and a concert celebrating what would have been her 100th birthday. Everything Esther brings that tribute into the gallery and puts students at the center of it.

The Ali itself carries history. Pompano Beach Arts says the center's mission is to celebrate the history and culture of the African American community in Pompano Beach and to widen local access to dance, music, poetry, storytelling and theater. It sits inside the Downtown Pompano Creative Arts District and also houses The Hive, a black box theater.

How to see it

The Ali Cultural Arts Center is open during scheduled events and by appointment. To book a time to walk the exhibition, call 954-545-7800. The center is closed on major holidays, so plan around Thanksgiving and the winter holidays when picking a date.

One easy way in: Soulful Sundays, the center's monthly second Sunday concert, is back on Sunday, November 8, with Old Skool Gang (OSG), a vocal group whose sets run from 1950s soul through early 2000s R&B, funk and disco. Tickets are $15 and are sold online only through Eventbrite, with no sales at the door. Tables for four can be reserved near the stage. The next Soulful Sundays date is December 13, with the ReaXtion Band.

More art downtown this month

The Rolle exhibition is one of several new arts openings in Pompano Beach this week, all run by Pompano Beach Arts.

We are pressed into lines opens at Bailey Contemporary Arts (BaCA), 41 NE 1st Street, on Friday, November 6, with a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. during Old Town Untapped, the first Friday street gathering in Old Town. The show is built around large sculptures inspired by playground equipment, and it looks at how rules and institutions shape the way people move, behave and fit in. It runs through November 27. BaCA is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed Sundays and Mondays.

Gutenberg! The Musical! has its South Florida premiere at the Pompano Beach Cultural Center, 50 W Atlantic Blvd., staged by the Pompano Players, the center's resident professional theater company. The two person comedy follows a pair of hopeful writers pitching a wildly inaccurate musical about the invention of the printing press, and its Broadway revival earned a 2024 Tony nomination for Best Revival of a Musical. There are only eight performances over two weekends: November 6 at 7 p.m., November 7 at 2 and 7 p.m., November 8 at 2 p.m., November 13 at 7 p.m., November 14 at 2 and 7 p.m., and November 15 at 2 p.m. Tickets start at $55.

Plan your visit

Everything Esther: through January 24 at the Historic Ali Cultural Arts Center, 353 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Pompano Beach. Open during events and by appointment (954-545-7800). General questions: 954-786-7877.

Soulful Sundays with OSG: Sunday, November 8, at the Ali. Tickets $15, online only.

We are pressed into lines: November 6 to 27 at BaCA, 41 NE 1st Street. Opening reception November 6, 6 to 8 p.m.

Gutenberg! The Musical!: November 6 to 15 at the Pompano Beach Cultural Center, 50 W Atlantic Blvd. Tickets from $55; box office 954-545-7800.

Full listings and tickets for all three venues are on the Pompano Beach Arts website.

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