Catch the spirit of Alachua County, where the arts embellish the natural beauty of Original Florida.
Arts and cultural attractions abound in the rolling hills where Timucuas and Seminoles once roamed and Florida crackers herded cattle nearly a century ago. Dance, music, theatre, visual arts, historical preservation, and folklore are an integral part of our community with exciting, dynamic arts and cultural events and festivals held year round. The University of Florida augments the local cultural scene through numerous student and faculty exhibits, performances, concerts, and recitals.

Gainesville is the cultural capital of north central Florida. Residents and visitors alike revel in the abundance of cultural riches, including one of the largest and best-equipped university art museum facilities in the country, north central Florida's only professional theatre, a professional orchestra, a nationally-recognized dance company, the largest natural history museum in the southeast, a performing arts center offering world-class entertainment, numerous art galleries, multiple community theatre groups, and a wealth of musicians and musical styles.

The quaint, rural and historical communities of Alachua, High Springs, Micanopy, and Waldo beckon you to leave the present far behind by wandering down their quiet streets lined with trees dripping Spanish moss. And four Historic Districts in Gainesville, all listed on the National Register of Historic Places, reveal Florida's architectural styles from 1880 through the 1920s.

In Alachua County we take tremendous pride not only in our first-rate visual and performing arts facilities but in the creative spirit that brings them to life. Visual and performing artists infuse our communities with energy — creating, challenging, delighting, provoking, but always entertaining their audience.

Dance:
Dance Alive National Ballet   
Dance Gainesville
Dance Theatre of Santa Fe
Danscompany of Gainesville 
Floridance
Gainesville Ballet Theatre
Greenwood Morris Dancers and the Maypole
Lavern Porter Dance Company
Society for the Preservation of Oriental - Folkloric Dance & Culture
Sahnobar Dance Ensemble 
SoundStage American Dance Company

Visual Arts:

Art on Exhibit Cofrin Gallery at Oak Hall Focus Gallery Gainesville Artisans' Guild Gallery  Grinter Gallery High Springs Gallery Melrose Bay Art Gallery “the gallery” at the Reitz Union Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art Santa Fe Galleries The Thomas Center Galleries University Gallery

Public Art
Art in the Alachua County Public Library
Keep Alachua County Beautiful
Civil War Memorial
GTEC wall sculpture
Martin Luther King Memorial Garden, Gainesville City Hall
Outdoor sculpture/gazebo, Gainesville Regional Utilities
Outdoor sculptures, University of Florida campus
Scaled Solar System, NW 8th Ave.

Studios & Organizations
Artwalk
Artists Alliance of North Florida
Center of Modern Art
Eleanor Blair Fine Art Studio
Florida Association of Public Art Administrators
Gainesville Association for the Creative Arts
Gainesville Fine Arts Association
Gainesville Handweavers Guild
Greentree Southern Pottery
Harold's Fine Frames & Gallery 
Landscapes Art Studio Gallery
McIntyre Stained Glass Studio
Plein Air Florida
Sweetwater Print Cooperative
Tench Building Artist Studios
Porcelain Artists of North Central Florida

Music: Academy of Music & Art Alachua County Youth Orchestra BarberGators  Gainesville Chamber Orchestra Gainesville Civic Chorus Gainesville Community Band Gainesville Friends of Jazz & Blues Gainesville Harmony Show Chorus Gainesville Youth Chorus N. Central Fl. Blues Society SFCC Department of Music Santa Fe Brass Ensemble Thirsty Ear Concerts UF University Choir UF Chamber Singers UF Men's Glee Club UF Women's Chorale UF Gospel Choir University Symphonic Band & Wind Ensemble World Harmony Project

Theatre:
Acrosstown Repertory Theatre
The Fable Factory
Gainesville Community Playhouse
High Springs Community Theatre
Hippodrome State Theatre
Performing Arts Center at P.K. Yonge
Theatre Santa Fe
UF Performing Arts
UF School of Theatre and Dance

Film Series:
Hippodrome Cinema
Reitz Union Cinema
RISK Cinema

Historic Preservation & Folklife: Museums Florida Museum of Natural History Matheson Historical Center Micanopy Historical Society Museum

Historic Neighborhoods and Communities
Alachua
Archer
Historic Downtown Gainesville and Related Structures
Hawthorne
High Springs 
Historic Gainesville Inc.
Melrose
Newberry
Northeast Historic District - Gainesville
Pleasant Street Historic Society - Gainesville
Southeast Gainesville Historic District
University of Florida Historic Campus - Gainesville
Waldo

Historic Sites/Folklife
Dudley Farm State Historic Site
Historic Haile Homestead
Kanapaha Botanical Gardens
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings State Historic Site
Morningside Nature Center
Paynes Prairie State Preserve
The Thomas Center 
A Walk Through Time

Cultural Resources:
Alachua County Library District
Civic Media Center
Cultural Arts Coalition
Micanopy Community Council for the Arts
Society for Creative Anachronism
The Junior League of Gainesville, FL Incorporated