Applications are Now Open for Residency #196 (Feb. 8–28, 2025)
Deadline Fri. Dec 5 | Apply Now!

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Founded in 1977 by Doris Leeper, an internationally known sculptor and painter, as well as a visionary environmentalist, Atlantic Center for the Arts (ACA) is a non-profit multidisciplinary artist residency facility and vibrant cultural hub with expanded community offerings such as Arts on Douglas and IMAGES: A Festival of the Arts located in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

Memorial Gifts

In loving memory of Misao Shinme Beckert, whose unwavering support for the Atlantic Center for the Arts touched many lives. Help us continue her legacy by contributing today.

Make a Gift in Her Memory

Mission
ACA inspires and nurtures creativity through interdisciplinary artist residencies, dynamic artist collaborations, community engagement, and self-discovery within the experience of nature.

Vision
ACA enriches lives through the joy and power of the arts.

Values
We believe in the values that our founder Doris Leeper embraced.

• The creative spirit must be nurtured.

• There is a powerful connection between the arts and the natural environment.

• Supporting artists creates innovation and capacity, both locally and globally.

Atlantic Center for the Arts continues to preserve and protect these values.

 
A Grammy-nominated violinist performing an unforgettable evening of original music blending jazz, Celtic, classical, bluegrass, and folk traditions at ACA’s Joan James Harris Theater. Saturday, October 25, 2025 7 PM doors 5:30 in the Joan James Harris Theater Atlantic Center for the Arts 1414 Arts Center Avenue, New Smyrna Beach, FL 32168 Tickets https://www.eventbrite.com/e/aca-live-presents-kittel-co-tickets-1703851919959?aff=oddtdtcreator Information https://atlanticcenterforthearts.org/event-or-exhibition/aca-live-presents-kittel-co/
ACA LIVE Presents Kittel & Co. #LiveAtACA #NSBEvent #AtlanticCenterForTheArts #artresidencies
A clip from the Associate Artists Reception (Residency #195) on Friday, October 10, 2025 at the Pabst Visitor Center & Gallery, Atlantic Center for the Arts.
Residency #195, Associate Artists Reception, October 10, 2025
ACA's educational outreach with Ron Artis II met on Wednesday with two high schools in Volusia County. Both encounters were moving exchanges of excellent questions & heartfelt answers about songwriting, composition, music theory, and life. Ron said afterward, "They were so real—talking with them." He also communicated insights about finding purpose, sharing with people, and remaining curious & kind.  Tickets will sell out soon for Ron's Saturday night show in the Black Box Theater at ACA’s main campus. Get Tickets https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ron-artis-ii-tickets-1218054887959?aff=oddtdtcreator
ACA Educational Outreach with Ron Artis II
Jesse Budel (b. 1991) is a composer-performer, sound artist, academic and arts entrepreneur based in South Australia. His works are for diverse media and spaces, ranging from concert works and installations to community and interdisciplinary collaborations. His music has been performed the Australian String Quartet (AUS), Soundstream New Music (AUS), Zephyr Quartet (AUS), Elder Conservatorium Wind Orchestra (AUS) and Corvus Ensemble (Alaska, USA), and he has been an artist-in-residence at Adelaide City Library and Sir Robert Helpmann Theatre in Mount Gambier (SA, AUS), as well as at Arts Letters and Numbers (Upstate NY, USA), Atlantic Centre for the Arts (FL, USA) University of York (UK) and University of Birmingham (UK). Jesse’s PhD research at Elder Conservatorium of Music (supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program scholarship) focussed on adapting soundscape ecology to creative process, resulting in a body of works responding South Australian ecosystems and soundscapes, and receiving a Dean’s Commendation for Doctoral Thesis Excellence in 2019. As an emerging member of the Acoustic Ecology and Ecoacoustic communities, As an emerging member of the Acoustic Ecology and Ecoacoustic communities, Jesse currently serves as the Secretary for both the Australian Forum for Acoustic Ecology and World Forum for Acoustic Ecology. In the wider community, he is an ongoing contributor to the state’s arts and culture, and youth sectors, recognized as Finalist for the Frank Ford Memorial Young Achiever Award at Arts South Australia’s 2020 Ruby Awards and recipient of an inaugural 2017 Carclew Fellowship. In 2024, Jesse is a 2024 Arts South Australia Fellow, supporting creative development and research in higher-order ambisonics.
Visiting Artist-in-Residence, Jesse Budel, South Australia Speaks on his ACA Experience
From February 24 – March 31, 2025, Dani Ferreira Amaro explored Canaveral National Seashore as its ACA Soundscape Field Station Artist in Residence, creating sonic happenings and a site-specific sculpture. Amaro’s approach to environmental storytelling combines the process of sustainably creating textiles from organic materials to broaden her practice by exploring new ways audiences can tangibly experience music. She is a trained jazz musician and music teacher in Miami, Florida who shares her heritage across distance from the Global South to Florida. Artist Statement Utilizing the voice as an instrument to explore experimental realms of modern folklore and storytelling, I weave together elements of vocal percussion, improvisation, and harmonic choral modalities in composition. I find home, and the greatest well of inspiration in the strong yet whimsical sounds of the natural world, oftentimes performing in tandem with my looping pedal and traditional percussion instruments. Through working in multi-disciplinary collaborations, such as involving choreography and theater, I aspire to highlight the interconnectivity across mediums. By delving into bodies of work that reflect intergenerational themes of catharsis, one can process indigestible collective emotions such as trauma, grief, joy, etc. within a shared created community. This provides essential tools in navigating the dimensions of my multi-faceted diasporic experience, while informing every step and expression of my musical transdisciplinary practice. Currently, I am researching the process of sustainably creating textiles from organic materials to broaden my practice by exploring new ways audiences can tangibly experience music. Our Window This site-specific piece reflects themes of the home, and invites audiences to actively participate in, and reflect on the intimate sonic stories they hold. These curtains encompass a hand made bio-textile, derived from Sargassum found along Miami and Florida’s coastline. On the curtains, are Sankofa ironwork iconography, resembling a common wrought iron barred window that is found in both South Florida, the Caribbean, and the Global South, thus connecting these vast places particular to my heritage across distance. As Sargassum is known to filter out pollutant debris from our oceans, as well as provide refuge for marine life, one is invited to draw parallels and contemplate the similar functions of preservation, protection, intimacy, and shelter, Sankofa ironwork provides to the many homes of historically displaced peoples. The symbolic iron work is designed to be electro conductive, playing songs when touched and interacted with. These compositions are made from a blend of meditative looped vocals and mirrored field recordings from diverse locations recorded during my time in this residency. Homage is paid to Doris ‘Doc’ Leeper, an instrumental figure in establishing Canaveral National Seashore through environmental arts activism. In adorning her historic house windows with stained glass bio-textile, it further conveys this historic site as a secular sacred space of convening, creativity, and storytelling. For more information on the residency, visit https://atlanticcenterforthearts.org/home/soundscape-field-station/ This program is supported by Atlantic Center for the Arts, Friends of Canaveral, the City of New Smyrna Beach, and the Cultural Council of Volusia County.
Our Window - A sound art piece by Dani Ferreira Amaro
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