Director’s Message

Summer 2025

It’s summertime at the Vero Beach Museum of Art, and our galleries and studios are energized with the creativity and inquiry of the youth attending Summer Art Camp. Sessions this year take inspiration from works in VBMA’s permanent collection and the touring exhibition French Moderns: Monet to Matisse, 1840–1950, which concluded its run here on June 22. French Moderns has proven to be one of the Museum’s best-attended exhibitions, delighting tens of thousands of VBMA members and visitors, including audiences from throughout Florida and the nation.

The past season was also punctuated by three original exhibitions curated by Chief Curator Caitlin Swindell, who joined the Museum just over a year ago. This coming summer and fall, Caitlin’s original shows, A Tangled Plot (July 12–October 5), featuring the works of Miami-raised artists Annie Blazejack and Geddes Levenson; Recent Acquisition Highlights (September 5–January 11); and Double Portraits (October 25–January 11), will fill our galleries. These exhibitions are complemented by the touring Picasso and the Progressive Proof: Linocut Prints from a Private Collection (September 13–January 4), which explores Pablo Picasso’s late-career printmaking through three key works.

VBMA’s art education and outreach programs—central to our mission delivery—also continued their upward trajectory. Over the past year, we’ve increased our offerings for U.S. Military Veterans, including waiving their Museum admission fees, and introduced new partnerships with Childcare Resources, Indian River County Sheriff’s Office, and United Against Poverty, among others.

And, through the generosity of our Athena Society members and additional supporters, the Museum expanded its holdings of American and global Contemporary works from renowned and mid-career artists, including Anish Kapoor, Bo Bartlett, and Ana González.

Together, these activities engaged over 70,000 children and adults.

In March, VBMA was distinguished as one of the nation’s best-attended small museums by Remuseum, an independent research project promoting innovation among art museums across the United States. The report cites that VBMA’s service to its local community outperforms that of most art museums, large or small.

Over the next few weeks and months, you will notice some changes as we prepare to accelerate our community impact. We will keep you informed of our progress via e-newsletter, on social media, and in the pages of the Quarterly.

We are grateful to all our members, donors, partners, and supporters, and look forward to seeing you often in the season ahead.