The Arts

Local Art Here

Best friends Autumn Johnson and Kasey Caldwell co-worked for years selling their respective artwork out of co-op shops. But they never anticipated graduating their work relationship to co-owners.   “We’re like soulmates,” Johnson says. “We know each other very well,…

Grand Turk

In February, the Arts & Design Society of Fort Walton Beach announced Michael Lunsford’s Grand Turk painting as the winner of the Viewers’ Choice award in the 65th Annual Beaux Arts Exhibition. And at the 2025 ArtsQuest Fine Arts Festival…

Music as Salvation

I have lived in this flourishing beach town for eight years, and I have never had the opportunity to attend the 30A Songwriters Festival—until this year.   I attended in hopes of being a part of something unique and discovering a…

Theatre for all

For 10 years, the Southern Shakespeare Company (SSC) has been bringing the beloved works of Shakespeare to life in Tallahassee. “We are devoted to making his work accessible and exciting for all,” says SSC Artistic Director James Bond. “We do…

Zooming Out On Zen

Zen.  That is how freelance photographer Romona Robbins Reynolds describes the feeling she gets when she dons her goggles and takes to the saltwater with her camera. Above sea level, Reynolds juggles a small business, a home, a husband, a…

Snow-Kissed

“Sun-kissed” is a phrase often used here in our beach paradise. Our winters are brief and mild, and on sunnier days, we can even bask on the shore in swimwear during the colder months. However, on January 21 and 22…

Baker’s Brush Paints Legacy

“I’m not a fan of blank walls,”says artist and teacher Terry Baker. Thanks to him, you won’t find many empty walls throughout Freeport High School. He’s painted the school’s bulldog mascot, which hangs in the main hallway, and several of…

Making of a Mural

One resin artist, two mixed media sculptors, and three painters teamed up in fall 2024 to bring Emerald Coast Magazine’s Love EC signature hashtag to life.  The result—a one-of-a-kind mural fit for the best night of the year.  “The colorful,…

A New Tattooing Era

The tattoo industry has long thrived in Pensacola where a perfect combination of military members, locals, and tourists have kept books full at shops throughout town for decades.  “I think it’s just a really good, supportive community,” says Carrie Daniels,…