Bonnet Springs Park, now under development as a major recreational and educational space near downtown, announced Wednesday that it has received a large donation toward the construction of a botanical garden that will be a significant feature of the park.
Author Archives: Cary McMullen
Posted inSocial Services
City Unveils Affordable Housing Proposals
Led by Mayor Bill Mutz, a majority of the City Commission expressed enthusiastic support for a series of groundbreaking steps to address the issue of affordable housing in Lakeland during a policy workshop today.
Posted inPeople
Change of Command: Q&A with FSC’s Outgoing Provost and His Successor
On May 2, Florida Southern College announced that its provost, or chief academic officer, Dr. Kyle Fedler, would step down from that post to return to a teaching position in the college. Effective Saturday, he will be succeeded as provost and vice president of academic affairs by Dr. Brad Hollingshead, FSC’s dean of the College […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Beethoven and Coldplay Mash Up in Concert for Charity
No doubt singer and frontman Chris Martin and his Coldplay bandmates would be flattered to hear it, but Steven Hackman thinks there is a parallel between their music and that of Beethoven. “I think they share universal, humanist themes, such as triumph and tragedy, and they do it in such a large way,” he said […]
Posted inActivism
Holocaust Survivor: Choices Foster Hate
When Rose Rosenkranz first visited Auschwitz, the former Nazi extermination camp where as many as 1 million Jews were murdered, she said she heard the voice of her grandmother, who was among those who died there along with her two young children. “She said, ‘Speak for me and my two babies. I no longer have […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Imperial Symphony Concludes Season with ‘West Side Story’
In recent years, major orchestras have found it popular – and lucrative – to perform concert versions of hit Broadway musicals. In these performances, there are no costumes, staging or dancing but simply singers standing with the orchestra on stage, singing through the score. The recent centennial birth year of composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Craftsmanship and Faith Combine in Polk Museum Exhibition
The tragic fire last week at the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris drew attention to its Gothic structure, the architectural art of the Middle Ages. But another artistic achievement of that same period sits in a current exhibition at the Polk Museum of Art at Florida Southern College.
Posted inActivism
Commissioners Pledge to Add Housing for Homeless Kids
At a rousing faith-based rally Tuesday night, four Lakeland city commissioners pledged to reach a goal of adding 500 housing units for families with homeless children by 2023. Mayor Bill Mutz and commissioners Stephanie Madden, Justin Troller and Phillip Walker drew cheers for their pledges from the approximately 1,400 participants at the 19th annual Nehemiah […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Commission Approves New Members of Arts Council
Amid hints that increased funding for the arts may lie in the future, the Lakeland City Commission today unanimously approved a resolution increasing the number of organizations represented on the Mayor’s Council for the Arts. The resolution added three educational institutions – Harrison School for the Arts, Florida Southern College and Southeastern University – to […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Young Artist Winner to Sing with Imperial Symphony
The Imperial Symphony Orchestra’s musical tour of Europe in its 2018-2019 season has taken audiences through Spain and France. The orchestra still has a couple of pops concerts remaining on its schedule, but in the season’s concluding Masterworks concert, the tour ends in sunny Italy.
