The show will go on for Festival of the Arts BOCA, say Schmidt Family Centre officials
BOCA RATON – The annual Festival of the Arts BOCA appeared doomed earlier this year when its organizer, the Centre for the Arts, closed shop and turned the responsibility of the Mizner Park Amphitheater over to the city.
But the Schmidt Family Centre for the Arts has taken over, and the show will go on.
SFCFA has announced that Festival of the Arts Boca, the signature event that has brought world renowned performers to the city, will return 
March 4-13, 2011. Planning is well underway for the fifth annual festival as part of the organization’s continuing commitment to bring high quality cultural programming to the community, said Charlie Rutherford, chairman of the SFCFA board.
“The SFCFA’s board is excited to renew its commitment to expanding cultural opportunities for our community,” Rutherford said. “The recent agreement with the city to assume responsibility for amphitheater frees the SFCFA to focus on cultural arts programming at this and other venues, including the Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center.”
Rutherford said that board members and major donors including the Schmidt Family Foundation pledged continuing support at the SFCFA’s recent Board meeting, recognizing the important role that the SFCFA plays and its many achievements.
More than a million attendees have enjoyed the Amphitheater for the annual festival, free community performances and 125 popular commercial concerts by an all-star roster of entertainers including Norah Jones, Harry Connick, Jr., Ringo Starr and Aretha Franklin, among many others. Many thousands of school children have participated in the SFCFA’s Centre Kids programs provided at no charge for low income children, Rutherford noted.
The SFCFA was founded to provide Boca Raton with a center for the arts comprised of a museum of art and a unique, world class outdoor performance venue designed to unite the community through culture and encourage the growth of performing arts in the area. The $6 million Count de Hoernle Amphitheater, built and operated since 2002 by the SFCFA at no cost to the City, was key to expanding access to cultural and community programming and set the stage for the widely acclaimed Festival of the Arts Boca.
“We are excited to build on this foundation and plan to announce the 2011 Festival roster in the near future. We are looking at a diverse program including symphonic music, another cinema with orchestra, concert opera, ballet, jazz and literature,” said Charles Siemon, an SFCFA founder. “As we look to the future, we are grateful to the generous donors and supportive community members who have played a role in helping us to further SFCFA’s mission.”
The annual Festival of the Arts has brought international recognition to Boca Raton with concerts and lectures featuring such performers and writers as Itzak Perlman, Salmon Rushdie, Renee Fleming, Joshua Bell and the Russian National Orchestra. “With The Festival of the Arts Boca, SFCFA has created the signature cultural identity for the City and Downtown Boca Raton that cities such as Charleston and Aspen have long enjoyed,” Rutherford said.
Siemon said that while the economic downturn and other factors adversely impacted the SFCFA’s ability to raise funds for the Amphitheater’s annual operating costs, SFCFA is proud of its contribution to the community. The construction, operation and programming of the Amphitheater over the past
eight years represents a private and non-profit sector investment for the community by SFCFA at no cost to the city, he said.
He also noted that the Mizner Park Amphitheater is the only one of nine such venues in South Florida which was not built and supported by the public sector from the start. Under a recent agreement with the SFCFA, the city has assumed on-going financial and operational responsibility for the amphitheater.
