culture 2012
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Destin • Fort Walton Beach • Crestview 32 August–September 2013
EmeraldCoastMagazine.com
AKA was founded in 1995 and has since supplemented art instruction by bringing visual, performing and even culinary arts to more than 250,000 students in more than 55 schools in Okaloosa and Walton counties. It too is expanding to include a collaborative alliance with a new partner, the Emerald Coast Theatre Company founded by producing artistic director Nathanael Fisher. Making an Impact The biggest impact of AKA is likely made on the smallest of our citizens. Eight-year-old Gabriel Stevens of Destin started attending the AKA art and theater camps when he was in kindergarten. Each year he’s one of the first kids to sign up. His mom, Ruth Anne Stevens, loves the range of art experiences AKA offers. “They’re able to explore multiple disciplines — drama, art, culinary, dance — and find out what their true interests are,” she says. The theater program, in particular, has coaxed Gabriel out of his shell and into the casts of “Robin Hood,” “Jack and the Magic Beans” and this year “Aladdin.” The program has given Gabriel more than stage credits and frameable art for his family’s walls. “I’ve seen his confidence grow each year, and that’s invaluable for a child,” Stevens says. Thanks to a $1 million grant from the Dugas Family Foundation, locals will get the chance to enjoy live theater and more. After breaking ground in 2005, the grant has enabled MKAF to work with DAG architects to design and build a flexible 79,550-square-foot arts pavilion space that can accommodate an audience of nearly 5,000. The first phase (open now) includes the Dugas Pavilion, a 1,600-square-foot permanent stage covered by a canvas canopy that opens onto the Village Green. When the space is not in use by MKAF and partner art organizations, it will be available for events and functions on a rental basis. Welcoming guests to the new Cultural Arts Village is a commanding 20-foot metal sculpture entryway designed by metal artist Frank Ledbetter. The puzzle-like artwork is Ledbetter’s largest sculpture to date and is one of the few pieces of public art in Destin. Named “Welcoming Arms,” it is made of 5,000 pounds of aluminum and stainless steel. It glimmers during the daylight and will be illuminated at night. “It will be a shining beacon to welcome all,” says Marcia Hull, the arts advocate who leads the foundation Tracy Wood of Niceville has always been an arts lover and has always felt welcome at MKAF events. When she and her husband, Alan, moved to Destin from a big Alabama college town teeming with cultural arts offerings, they were happy to discover MKAF. Today, Alan serves on the board, and Tracy, a realtor with Century 21, has chaired two fundraising luncheons for the charity. And thanks to CCB Community Bank, where Alan works, the couple has enjoyed the Village Concert Series from corporate-sponsored “supper club tables” for three years. “We just love it. The atmosphere is amazing and fun, and it’s a good way for us to network with friends and clients,” Stevens says.