“7th Annual Winter in Paradise 2023,” Dec. 1, in the Historic Northwest

November 17, 2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact: Ansley Lacy, Marketing Coordinator
City of West Palm Beach – Community Redevelopment Agency
[email protected]
(561) 822-1484 (TTY: 800-955-8771)

 

Diane G. Papadakos, Director of Communications
City of West Palm Beach – Mayor’s Office
[email protected] 
(561) 822-1411 (TTY: 800-955-8771)

Experience the Magic of the “7th Annual Winter in Paradise 2023” in the Historic Northwest!

 WEST PALM BEACH, FL – The West Palm Beach Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) invites you to an enchanting evening at “Winter in Paradise 2023.” This event, held at Heart and Soul Park, 825 N. Rosemary Avenue, on Friday, Dec. 1, 2023, from 5 to 9 p.m., is a celebration of community, culture, and transformative redevelopment.

Delve into the heart of West Palm Beach and explore the CRA’s impactful redevelopment initiatives in the Historic Northwest District. Highlights of the evening include live music, performances, art activities, and diverse local vendors next to the newly renovated Styx Promenade. Attendees will be able to enjoy a Pop-Up Skating Rink by The TJ Spot LLC, resident, and business owner, Teawanna Teal, and dance the night away in a music lab dance experience by local Terrion Nelson. The CRA booth will provide project updates while giving attendees a chance to ‘draw up’ their visions for the Historic Northwest on an empty canvas. 

The event also features live entertainment by ‘Soul Collective’ and the evening’s headliner ‘Sweet Justice Band,’ with an extraordinary performance by the Palm Beach Lakes Band Marching Band who will lead visitors up Rosemary Avenue from The Square to Heart and Soul Park in the Historic Northwest District. Other local performances include U.B. Kinsey & Palmview Elementary, and Faith Place Drumline. Guests can also enjoy the culinary arts at the cookie decorating booth next to the new and exciting tree of lights, donated to the community by CEMEX.

The night will include a Special Lighting Ceremony of Heart and Soul Park by City Commissioner President, Shalonda Warren and City Commissioners. The centerpiece of the night will be a special public art commemoration of Genius Loci, by Nekisha Durrett. The sculpture, which is inspired by the form of an RCA gramophone, symbolizes the physical manifestation of music as well as amplifying voices that have been systematically marginalized by history. Made of copper sheeting supported by concrete resembling charred wood, the piece invites the public to contemplate what voices of Palm Beach Black History would be amplified from the earth itself. Genius Loci is made possible through a partnership between ArtLife WPB and the West Palm Beach CRA.

Join us to celebrate our community’s past, present, and future at Winter in Paradise 2023!  For detailed event information, visit our Eventbrite page, or contact the CRA at [email protected]. Stay connected and informed with the CRA about ongoing projects by visiting the WPB website: www.wpb.org/cra. For information on Genius Loci by Nekisha Durrett contact [email protected].

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About the West Palm Beach Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA)
A Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) is a dependent district established by City government to carry out redevelopment activities that include reducing or eliminating blight, improving the economic health of an area, and encouraging public and private investments in a CRA district. The CRA is governed by State Statutes, Chapter 163, Part III. The West Palm Beach Community Redevelopment Agency is funded through Tax Increment Financing (TIF).

About the City of West Palm Beach:
The City of West Palm Beach is a vibrant and dynamic City located on the Atlantic coast of Florida. With a rich history, a thriving arts and cultural scene, and a commitment to sustainability, the City of West Palm Beach is a great place to live, work, and play. As one of the three largest cities making up the South Florida region, and the central City of Palm Beach County, West Palm Beach is a vibrant, growing, waterfront City that offers the business advantages available in the region, combined with a more refined and relaxed environment for living and working. To learn more about the City of West Palm Beach, visit us on our official website, or follow us on our social media: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and/or Linked-in.

About ArtLife WPB: Public Art for an Inspired City
ArtLife WPB is the public art program of the City of West Palm Beach, Florida. ArtLife projects capture the diverse, contemporary beat and rich history that make West Palm Beach a destination city. ArtLife WPB curates, commissions, and presents a variety of projects created by artists at all career levels. www.wpb.org/our-city/artlife-wpb.

ABOUT NEKISHA DURRETT
Nekisha Durrett is a mixed-media artist who employs the visual language of mass media to bring forward histories that objects, places, and words embody, but are not often celebrated. Her expansive practice includes public art, social practice, installation, painting, sculpture and design. Through deep research and material investigation, Durrett finds historical traces in the present that are filled with stories easily overlooked. Her work contemplates biases and the unreliability of memory, as information is filtered over time. Durrett illuminates individual and collective histories of Black life and imagination, addressing her own younger self and the stories she wished she had learned. She is the 2023 Howard University Social Justice Consortium Artist-in-Residence, and a finalist for the 2023 Janet and Walter Sondheim Art Prize. Durrett has recently been awarded the commission for the ARCH Project at Bryn Mawr College in partnership with Monument Lab. www.nekishadurrett.com