Museums & Galleries in Sebastian

Celebrating the ship's 100th anniversary, Titanic The Experience's live actors, full-scale models, and 20,000-square-foot interactive museum faithfully recreate the poignant story of one of the world's most famous ships. One-hour guided tours of the museum led by trained performers immerse visitors in the mystery and lore of the ship's tragic tale. Actors donning garb from the early 1900’s portray such iconic characters as Molly Brown and the time-traveling Gilligan, amid full-scale recreations of the Titanic's grand staircase, promenade deck, and boiler room. History buffs can also feast their eyes on an 8-foot replica of the ship as it appears on the ocean floor today. More than 200 artifacts from the ship's history are on display as well, including memorabilia from the blockbuster film Titanic and an apology letter from the glacier.

Snap! Orlando unravels a city-wide canvas for more than 50 renowned photographers and emerging local talents to showcase their shutterbug prowess. Stretched across a dozen different venues, including art galleries, cafés, and exhibition spaces, the multi-day celebration unites both photography novices and veteran collectors under the same creative banner. On Friday, an artist reception launches the festivities with live talks from featured visionaries, and on Saturday, a fashion show shifts the spotlight from portraits to patterns with bold new styles inspired by some of the event’s creative minds. Attendees can also drop in on a lineup of lectures, workshops, and guest speakers who will be on hand to discuss their areas of expertise or demonstrate their go-to dance moves for developing a Polaroid.

A sea turtle proudly displays its intricately patterned shell. A stingray safely brushes its sleek skin against a child’s hand, grazing the top of a 10,000-gallon tank. A bird splashes into mangrove swamps to snatch fish. Sensory experiences like these occur on a regular basis at the 57-acre Florida Oceanographic Coastal Center on Hutchinson Island, sandwiched between the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian River Lagoon. As the headquarters for the nonprofit Florida Oceanographic Society, the center strives to both educate the public and inspire environmental stewardship of Florida’s coastal ecosystems.

Among the center’s many activities, visitors can high-five crustaceans at the Sea Star Touch Tank Pavilion and watch a live feeding at the 750,000-gallon Game Fish Lagoon. Educational programs throughout the day explore the lives of sea turtles and explain how to identify local fish that refuse to wear nametags. Just past a colorful butterfly garden and aquariums at the Frances Langford Visitors Center, guests can find nature trails that wend through mangrove swamps and hardwood hammocks. Here, they can see the natural state of a bio-diverse estuary, along with endangered plants and animals that the Florida Oceanographic Society is striving to save through research as well as educational and restoration initiatives.

Before paved streets and residential blocks took its place, a maze of wetlands rife with rustling wildlife thrived in Central Florida. Such a scene is hard to imagine amid a backdrop of loud car horns, but skeptical visitors to The Brevard Museum of History and Natural Science can travel back in time and see it for themselves on a stroll through the museum’s 19.5-acre nature preserve.

This remarkable preserve joins special exhibits dedicated to regional and cultural artifacts in fulfilling the museum’s mission to keep Florida’s heritage alive in the minds of its current inhabitants. Since the nonprofit facility first opened in 1973, an influx of state and philanthropic funding has spawned further expansion. One of the most crucial add-ons, the Taylor Wing, now houses a nonstop procession of visiting exhibitions and the kid-themed Imagination Center, where young hands can touch actual fossils of mammoths and 8-track tapes. Popular ongoing exhibits include large dioramas of local ecosystems and the Windover Story exhibit, which illustrates how the residents of Brevard County lived 7,000 years ago.

Trained at The Chouinard Art Institute by lauded impressionists Millard Sheets and Phil Dike, Lynne French conjures brilliant landscapes out of oils and watercolors. She often works brushless, letting the colors pool and blend on tissue paper through a meditative method called zen-tissue watercolor. Despite the time commitment of zen-tissue watercolor, French still exhibits her work in international galleries and fills her online store with a plentitude of paintings and limited-edition prints. She also has a gift for rendering evocative landscapes based on her patrons' memories and photographs, as well as on residue from their dream catchers.