Exploring Orlando's Loch Haven Park: A Center of Arts and
Culture
On this overcast day we decided to explore other areas of
Orlando in more detail. About 10 minutes north of downtown
Orlando is Loch Haven Park, an area that holds a number of major
attractions, including theOrlando Museum of Art, the Mennello
Museum of American Art as well as the Orlando Repertory Theatre,
the Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival, the Orlando Philharmonic
Orchestra, and the Orlando Science Center.
We started our exploration off with a trip to the Leu Botanical
Gardens. The centerpiece of the gardens is the Leu House Museum,
a restored farmhouse dating back to 1888. It is located on Lake
Rowena, one of the hundreds of lakes in Orlando, and surrounded
by a 50 acre garden of roses, palms and camellias. The complex
also features an orchid house with one of the best collections
of orchids in the United States. The Leu Botanical Gardens also
offer a new tropical stream garden, a kitchen garden complete
with herbs and vegetables and a butterfly garden.
Just 10 minutes away is Loch Haven Park, one of Orlando's
centers of art, culture, and science. One of the main
attractions is Orlando Museum of Art (OMA), one of Florida's
cultural gems and a popular destination for visitors from all
over the world. The collection features American art from the
19th century to the present, African art and art of the ancient
Americas. Outstanding temporary exhibitions are drawn from
private collections and those of the world's great museums.
The upcoming exhibition at the OMA is called the "The Art of the
Motorcycle". Based on the landmark Guggenheim Museum exhibition,
it explores the motorcycle as both cultural icon and design
achievement and offers a thought-provoking challenge to
conventional assumptions about art and popular culture in the
modern age. The exhibition will run from Jan. 22 - July 23, 2006
and feature more than 70 historic and contemporary motorcycles.
The Mennello Museum of American Art is centered around the
Museum's outstanding permanent collection of paintings by Earl
Cunningham (1893-1977). It also houses special exhibitions,
publications, and programs that celebrate outstanding
traditional and contemporary Amercian artists. The Museum's
Cunningham collection was donated by collectors Marilyn and
Michael Mennello of Winter Park, Florida, and was opened to the
public on Nov. 22, 1998.
The Orlando Science Center includes ten themed exhibit halls
with a large variety of interactive activities for children and
adults. A CineDome Planetarium shows large format films and an
Adventure Theater as well as five Discovery Laboratories can
keep everyone busy for hours. In total the Science Center has
four levels of hands-on exhibits, a 200-seat cafe, 7,000 square
feet of exhibition space for national and international
traveling exhibits. The Orlando Science Center is open Monday to
Thursdays from 9 am to 5 pm, Fridays and Saturdays from 9 am to
9 pm, and Sundays from noon to 5 pm.
The Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival is a non-profit
professional theater that produces professional productions of
Shakespeare, classics and contemporary plays, as well as plays
for young audiences. The group also develops new plays from
readings through World Premieres and fosters innovative
educational programs to serve the community.
As a professional theatre for family audiences in partnership
with UCF, Orlando Repertory Theatre (The Rep) opened its doors
on October 9, 2003. The theatre focusses on classic and
contemporary children's literature. It is a place where young
audiences can come and experience the adventure and creative
wonder of watching their favorite characters come to life.
Loch Haven's cultural offerings continue with the annual Orlando
International Fringe Festival of theatrical performances. The
10-day, world-renowned festival showcases original works;
premiere performances; and first-class improvisational comedy,
musicals, drama, mime and dance in 500 shows by more than 300
performers from around the world.
The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra is Central Florida's resident
orchestra, appearing in more than 105 performances each season.
As a fully professional ensemble, the Orlando Philharmonic
engages the talents of more than 80 professional musicians from
around the globe. The Philharmonic's mission is to foster and
promote symphonic music through excellence in performance,
education and cultural leadership.