Photo By Jacek Gancarz / Jacek Photo
Dave Lawrence, Matthew Harper, Avery Sommers, Copeland Davis, Barbara Cheives and Alisha R. Winn
Dave Lawrence, president and CEO of the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County, welcomed over 100 fans to the season’s final Culture & Cocktails, a conversation about the jazzy past and future of West Palm Beach’s legendary Sunset Lounge, held at The Ben Hotel’s rooftop ballroom on April 1.
Alisha R. Winn, PhD, an applied cultural anthropologist, historian and consultant for community and heritage education projects, was among the participants. An adjunct professor at Palm Beach Atlantic University’s School of Ministry, she is the founder of Consider the Culture, was director for the Palm Beach County African American Virtual Oral History Project and served as board member for the City of West Palm Beach Mayor’s Taskforce for Racial and Ethnic Equality.
Avery Sommers, who appeared in Broadway’s “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” “Showboat,” “Broadway” and “Chicago,” winning a Los Angeles Ovation Award for Best Supporting Actress for the latter, was also present. Sommers has headlined concerts at the Kravis Center, Cafe Centro, Arts Garage, Palm Beach Institute for the Entertainment Arts and the Royal Room cabaret at The Colony Hotel.
Copeland Davis, an Emmy Award-nominated pianist who appeared on the “Tonight Show,” was inducted into the Las Vegas Entertainers Hall of Fame and has wowed audiences at the Kravis Center, Arts Garage, Cafe Centro, Duncan Theatre and the Dream Awards, and Matthew Harper, a 16-year-old trumpet player and student at the Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts, were there as well.
All proceeds from Culture & Cocktails support the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County’s mission to champion, engage and grow the arts in Palm Beach County.
For more information, visit palmbeachculture.com.