Where Culture & Nature Meet

The Center for the Performing Arts is prime among the university's cultural attractions. Each season, The Center Performing Arts presents the very best established and emerging national and international artist on the Phillips Center main stage, from Broadway, opera and dance to the superstars of pop, jazz, and classical music. The center has also hosted world premieres and been home to Romanian gymnast and BaAka pygmies from Ventral African rainforest as they mounted collaborative productions. This state-of-the art facility features 1,700 seat proscenium hall with the latest in sound and lighting technology as well as 200-seat multi-purpose Black Box Theatre.

Gainesville's Hippodrome State Theater Take your seat next to the three quarter round Hippodrome stage and enjoy the very best in contemporary plays starring professional actors from all over the country. The Theatre is one of only four state-supported theaters in Florida. In addition, the Theatre also offers an exciting cinema series on the Second Stage, and a gallery that features the work of local artist. The Hippodrome is housed in the former U.S. Post Office, and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Performing arts groups flourish in Gainesville and Alachua County. Included are the Gainesville Civic Chorus, Gainesville Ballet Theatre, Danscompany, Dance Alive!, the Gainesville Symphony Orchestra and the Gainesville Friends of Jazz. In addition, there are several theatrical groups: the Gainesville Community Playhouse, Santa Fe Players, Across Town Repertory Theatre and the Florida Players.

The Florida Museum of Natural History is yet another of the university's splendid facilities. The largest natural history museum in the southeastern U.S., the museum's permanent exhibits transport visitors into Florida ecological experiences--Northwest Florida; Waterways and Wildlife; South Florida: People and Environments, Florida Fossils; Evolution of Life and Land, and Learning Resource Center. This 55,000 square foot facility also includes interactive exhibits, specimen collection, outdoor natural areas and teaching laboratories.

Butterfly Rainforest is the Florida Museum of Natural History’s newest permanent exhibit and provides visitors the experience of coming face-to-face with hundreds of exotic, vibrant butterflies fluttering atop a lush tropical canvas of foliage and flowers. The 6,400-square foot screened outdoor Butterfly Rainforest houses tropical and subtropical plants and trees. Guest can stroll along a winding path and relax to sounds of cascading waterfalls year round. The McGuire Center showcases a Wall of Wings” which captures the eye with thousands of preserved and photographed butterfly and moth specimens reaching nearly 3-stories high and 200-feetlong.

Harn Museum - The visual arts have a prominent place in Gainesville culture as well. The Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art is one of Florida’s newest and largest facility that features American paintings, African, and pre-Colombian collections, as well as contemporary work of art. The museum boasts a variety of changing exhibits along with a fully stock gift shop.

In addition to the university's Harn Museum of Art, there is the University Gallery, the Santa Fe Gallery at Santa Fe Community College and the Center for Modern Art. The Gainesville Artisans Guild operates a gallery where visitors are welcome to browse and shop.

The Fred Bear Museum is a tribute to the accomplishments of Fred Bear, promoter of proper wildlife management and the founder of Bear Archery. Elephant, caribou, moose, lion, Cape buffalo, brown bear, wolves and many other species share the floor and wall space with groupings of authentic spears, shields, carvings, artwork and Indian, Eskimo and tribal African items that Fred collected, bartered for or purchased during his numerous bow hunting adventures. All this and more are to be seen and enjoyed at the museum.

Marjorie Rawlings State Park This site was the home of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, the author of many major literary works, including The Yearling, which received the 1939 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, the novels South Moon Under, and Golden Apples, and her memoir, Cross Creek. She was elected to the National Academy of Arts and Letters.

The Rawlings house also is a notable example of the Cracker (descendents of pioneer settlers) style of architecture, derived from a variety of influences to suit the climate and available technology of the rural South.

The National Historic Landmark designation is the highest such recognition accorded by our nation to historic properties determined to be of exceptional value in representing or illustrating an important theme, event or person in the history of the nation. National Historic Landmarks can be actual sites where significant historic events occurred, places where prominent Americans worked or sites that represent the ideas that shaped our nation. Fewer than 2,500 historic places carry the title of National Historic Landmark.

The Thomas Center located in the heart of Gainesville's Historic District is where Gainesville Cultural Center is housed within a beautifully restored Mediterranean Revival-style hotel. The Thomas Center is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and contains art galleries, 1920’s period rooms, local history exhibits, and is surrounded by lovely gardens.

The Matheson Historical Center houses an archive and museum to show the history of Gainesville. This center offers visitors a glimpse of Florida’s past with 18,000 post cards, 1,200 Stereo-View cards, 400 Florida prints, several maps of Alachua County and Florida, and 2,500 volumes of local and state history.