Armory Art Center: Classes, Studios and Exhibits in West Palm Beach

The Armory Art Center occupies a 1939 Art Deco building in West Palm Beach, Florida. The building was constructed by the Works Progress Administration and designed by William Manley King. It served as a National Guard Armory from 1939 to 1982, and its façade still carries Art Deco stars that date to the summer of 1939.

The center's mission is to inspire the creation and experience of art. It offers nearly 100 courses in 12 state-of-the-art studios, provides art classes for artists of all ages and abilities, and serves as a space for exhibitions, art salons, lectures and special events. It is a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.

A 1939 Art Deco armory

Before, during and after World War II, the Armory served as a training center for soldiers and National Guardsmen. The main building still houses a vault where guns were stored, and the building behind it was the motor pool for repair and maintenance of jeeps and other military vehicles.

When the Norton Art Museum closed its art school, a group of art teachers was left without a place to create. Attorney, art lover and philanthropist Robert Montgomery and his wife Mary provided $100,000 to renovate the National Guard building. The Armory Art Center, Inc., was incorporated as a Florida not-for-profit corporation on November 21, 1986, and commenced operations on July 1, 1987, as a community arts organization. It opened its doors to the public in July 1987.

The main building was renamed The Robert and Mary Montgomery Historic Armory Building. Montgomery Hall, the main exhibition hall, was dedicated on April 11, 1992. On June 11, 1992, the building was certified on the National Register of Historic Places.

With a significant contribution from Jerold Kaplan in 1999, the Armory began a major makeover of the National Guard's motor pool garage building, converting it into a ceramics/sculpture complex named the Muriel S. Kaplan Building after Mr. Kaplan's mother, who was an original Armory faculty member. In 2001, the Armory built a wholly-owned third building called the Young Artist Studio Facility, a two-story building dedicated to painting, drawing, printing and fiber arts. The Ansin Kiln Complex, a further development of the ceramics and sculpture building, was dedicated in 2003.

In the Spring of 2023, the Armory Art Center launched a restoration project of the Old Armory Building.

Classes and studios

The Armory offers hundreds of courses held in 12 state-of-the-art studios annually. It provides art classes for artists of all ages and abilities, and has taught thousands of emerging artists of all ages and cultures art classes. Workshops are taught by national and international visiting master artists, and the center provides summer art camps for thousands of youth. It is home to artists-in-residence from the United States and abroad.

The BraveHeARTS program promotes the rehabilitation of military service veterans through visual arts and the power of creative expression.

Exhibitions and events

The center is a space for exhibitions, art salons, lectures and special events. It has exhibited art in hundreds of shows. In December 2016, the Armory established the initial two-day West Palm Beach Arts Festival.

Who runs the Armory

Jill Brown is the Chief Executive Officer. The Board of Directors is an all-volunteer board that supports and advances the mission of the art center.

The Armory Art Center received a fifth-place prize of $70,000 from Wellington International's Great Charity Challenge.