Facilities & Studios

Leeper Studio Complex

Nestled on a 69-acre ecological preserve among the palmettos and pine forest on the edge of pristine Turnbull Bay, Atlantic Center for the Arts provides a tranquil yet stimulating setting that inspires artists from around the world to rejuvenate, collaborate and create. Envisioned and founded by environmentalist, painter and sculptor Doris Leeper in 1977, the artists-in-residence facility brings talented artists from different disciplines together to work with distinguished masters in the fields of visual, literary, performing and musical arts.

The original buildings, the Administration Building and Gallery, Whatmore Commons and Thompson Fieldhouse were built in 1982, and designed by architect Will Miller. Phase One of the $3.1 million Leeper Studio Complex began in September 1994, and included the construction of the black-box theater, the painting and music studios, and the renovation of the Whatmore Commons. Phase Two construction began in March 1996, and included the addition of the dance studio, library and sculpture studio. All of the buildings are made of stained cedar, with lead-coated copper roofs, keeping true to the rustic Florida Cracker-style. Inspired by the site's dense, jungle-like vegetation, Charles Rose and Maryann Thompson of the Cambridge, Mass., firm of Thompson & Rose Architects, designed the Leeper Studio Complex as separate structures connected by a winding boardwalk. Both separated and linked by the boardwalk and the jungle, the studios each afford the necessary privacy and spatial focus for individual creative activity while the boardwalk acts at once as theater, street and informal gathering area - a space for interdisciplinary discourse and collaboration at the Center. The firm has received numerous awards for the design of the Leeper Studio Complex.

Awards

MARK AND MARGERIE PABST VISITOR CENER AND GALLERY

Atlantic Center for the Arts’ Mark and Margerie Pabst Visitor Center & Gallery, designed by ACA’s original architect, Will Miller, opened in 2007. Constructed of formed-in-place concrete, glass and wood beams with a galvanized aluminum roof, the 5,000 sq. ft. structure is responsive to the site and to Atlantic Center’s legacy of environmental conservation and ecological preservation. It includes three interconnecting galleries: the Master Artist Gallery features changing exhibits – showing work by Master Artists, Associates, Florida university students, and special curated exhibitions, and is sponsored by Charlotte Everbach, Marcia and Lou Frey, Beverly and Roy Lassiter, and Margie and Mark Pabst; the History Gallery highlights the history and documents the mission of the organization through an exhibit that reflects ACA’s interdisciplinary aspect, and is sponsored by Ed and Jeanie Harris; the Jack Mitchell Portrait Gallery features over 180 Master Artist portraits by the renowned photographer, and is sponsored by Jim and Alexis Pugh. Also included in the new space is a Founder’s Room offering a meeting area, and a Gift Shop. Outdoor enhancements include the Stine Way Nature Trail, Dial Vig Entryway, Sorensen Walkway, new parking, roadways, and signage. All of this brings visitors into the world and work of one of the premier artists’ communities on the globe.

• x1998 American Institute of Architects National Honor Award for Design Excellence
  
• x1997 AIA Honor Award
  
• x1997 AIA New England Honor Award for Design Excellence
  
• x1997 ID Magazine Annual Design Review, Design Distinction Award
  
• x1996 Boston Society of Architects Design Honor Award
  
• x1995 Progressive Architecture Award: Citation
  
• x1995 American Wood Council Honor Award
  
• x1993 Boston Society of Architects Unbuilt Architecture Award