Art After Dark
A New Experience Every Friday Night!
Enjoy an eclectic mix of live performances, film screenings, workshops, tours, and more!
EVERY FRIDAY, 5:30 & 7 PM
Docent-led Tours (30 min) Explore great works in the Norton’s collection led by one of the Museum’s fine docents.
EVERY FRIDAY, 6 – 9 PM
Open Studio: Art Workshops Join local teaching artists as they lead drop-in style art-making sessions. All ages and experience levels welcome. Materials included.
EVERY FRIDAY, Live Performances
Enjoy live performances every Friday including live music, dance, spoken word, and more! Check our website weekly for updates.
First Fridays of the Month, 7:30 pm / Jazz Fridays
This popular monthly series features performances by some of South Florida’s best jazz musicians!
Third Fridays of the Month, 8 pm / Artist Tour
South Florida-based artists lead informal, 30-minute gallery talks about works in the Norton’s collection and special exhibitions.
Art After Dark: Mid-Autumn Festival
Friday, September 13 / 5PM-10PM
Join the Norton in celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival with art activities, mooncakes, and tea. The Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節 Zhong Qiu Jie), or Moon Festival, which falls on September 17, 2024, is a harvest festival celebrated in China, similar to Chuseok in Korea and Tsukimi in Japan. Like many other harvest festivals around the world, the Mid-Autumn Festival is close to the autumn equinox. The origin of Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations can be traced to Western Zhou dynasty kings, who reigned from 1045 to 770 BCE, offering sacrifices to the moon in the fall to request a plentiful harvest for the coming year. In the later years of the Tang dynasty, everyone celebrated by enjoying music and dance while appreciating the bright moon. The Yuan Dynasty introduced the tradition of eating mooncakes during the festival. In addition to celebrating the end of the autumn harvest, this holiday promotes a gathering of friends and family, thanksgiving, and prayers for prosperous futures.
Schedule of Events
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Join a tour!
Docents discuss works in the galleries.
Pick up your tour wristband at the Reception Desk one hour before the tour.
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Open Studio
Join Resident Teaching Artist Lymari Cuevas to create a Chinese lantern celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Classroom #2
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Moonrise and Mooncakes
Come to the Colonnade to enjoy a traditional treat of tea and moon cakes as you watch the moon rise and learn more about this important holiday in China.Colonnade
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Join a Tour!
Tonight our Docents focus on Animals in Chinese Art.Pick up your tour wristband at the Reception Desk one hour before the tour.
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Music
Palm Beach Symphony
We welcome violinist Valentin Mansurov and pianist Valeria Polunina of the Palm Beach Symphony for an evening of beautiful music.
Valentin Mansurov is Palm Beach Symphony’s principal second violinist. Mansurov has won prizes and awards from multiple competitions and festivals in the former U.S.S.R, Canada, and the United States. Mansurov has performed in solo recitals and chamber music concerts throughout Europe, North America, and South America. In addition to his performances, both orchestral and chamber, with the Palm Beach Symphony, Mansurov serves as a principal second violinist in the orchestra of the Florida Grand Opera. In 2015, he became a member of the critically acclaimed Delray String Quartet, performing in concerts nationwide. He began studying violin at age seven at Uspenskiy’s School for Musically Gifted Children in Uzbekistan and has pursued further college degrees in Turkey, France, Canada, and the United States.
Pianist and vocal coach Valeria Polunina currently performs as an accompanist in collaboration with prominent artists throughout the United States, Europe, and Russia. Polunina is the principal pianist in the Palm Beach Symphony.
A participant at the Solti Peretti Répétiteurs course in Italy, Polunina has been engaged by and held positions at some of the world’s leading organizations: since 2017 she has been an Assistant Conductor at The Metropolitan Opera, she has been a member of the faculty at the Bolshoi Theater Opera's Young Artist Program, and guest vocal coach at the Mariinsky Theater Opera’s Atkins Young Artist Program. From 2018 until 2020 she was Head of Music Staff for Luzerner Theater in Switzerland, and from 2020-2023 she was Staff Pianist for Oper Köln in Germany.
In 2017, with Rene Kirspuu, Polunina founded her recital series in Tallinn, Estonia where she recruits and performs with the world's leading singers and instrumentalists.
Polunina received her Master of Music in Collaborative Piano at the Juilliard School and is a graduate of The Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.
Great Hall
Art After Dark is made possible by the generosity of The Addison Hines Charitable Trust.
Support for the Docent Program was provided by The Donald and Linda Silpe Endowment for the Professional Development of Docents and The Marcia Mahon Education Endowment Fund.
Support for Open Studio was provided by The Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Schott Endowment for Education.