Four Arts Palm Beach 2026–27 Season: Lake Trail Detour and Venues

The Society of the Four Arts opens its 2026–27 season this week with its historic auditorium and galleries behind construction fencing. The Lake Trail section that runs through the west side of its 10-acre Midtown campus is closed and will stay closed for the whole project. The detour sends walkers and cyclists up Cocoanut Row and west on Seaview Avenue. Two of the season's main programs moved to those same streets. The O'Keeffe lectures and Lambert concerts are going to the Royal Poinciana Chapel at 60 Cocoanut Row, and films and Met Opera screenings are going to Palm Beach Day Academy on Seaview Avenue.

So the morning trail route and the evening lecture route now run along the same few blocks. Expected completion is November 2027, so this arrangement covers one full winter season and part of the next fall.

The Lake Trail Detour

The Town approved closing the trail segment through the campus. It also approved closing the north sidewalk on Royal Palm Way, which runs along the south edge of the Four Arts property. Construction fencing went up along Royal Palm Way and Four Arts Plaza when work began in May. That means both the lakefront path and the most direct sidewalk past the campus are closed.

The published route for people coming from the south has three steps:

1. Leave the trail and go to Cocoanut Row.
2. Head north on Cocoanut Row.
3. Turn west on Seaview Avenue and follow the posted signs back to the Lake Trail.

If you're walking over the Royal Park Bridge from West Palm Beach, cross on the bridge's west side so you end up on the south sidewalk. The coverage we reviewed gives no step-by-step route for heading south, and we found no official detour map. If you're coming from the north, follow the signs posted around the campus.

You'll also see a change on the waterfront. The Four Arts has put a protective structure over "Intetra," the pyramid-shaped Isamu Noguchi sculpture by the lake.

Where the Calendar Went

Instead of pausing for the season, the Four Arts spread its programs across five partner venues: the Royal Poinciana Chapel, Palm Beach Day Academy, the Flagler Museum, the Norton Museum of Art and the Bunker Artspace. Three of the five are on the island, and two of those are on the detour streets.

The Chapel's pipe organ shaped part of the concert lineup. The Four Arts booked two organists: Grammy Award winner Paul Jacobs, who will play a program of organ chamber music, and German concert organist Felix Hell, who will give a solo recital with a pre-concert lecture. The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center plays baroque concertos at the Chapel on Dec. 9. Artistic Advisor Wu Han's Violin Festival runs Feb. 17, 21 and 24, with a companion lecture series, "The Art of the Violin," at Dixon.

Check the venue on each ticket. A July FAQ said the whole Lambert series would be at the Chapel. The current listings put the new Broadway cabaret series in Johnson Hall instead. That series is hosted by Alan Campbell and features Seth Rudetsky, Faith Prince and Norbert Leo Butz. Venues are set event by event, so the individual listing is the one to trust.

The O'Keeffe Speaker Series has no published speakers yet. The Four Arts says the schedule will be announced soon, and members will be able to livestream and replay the lectures during the season. Earlier reporting said the O'Keeffe lectures would be on Mondays.

The East Side of the Campus Stays Open

The open half of the campus has more going on this season than usual. The Gioconda and Joseph King Library, the Dixon Education Building, the Demonstration Garden and the Philip Hulitar Sculpture Garden all stay open, and the Sculpture Garden has just been improved.

The Children's Library has moved to Dixon's second floor for now. Its programs are held in the Hulitar garden. Preschool story time starts Thursday, Oct. 8. A King Library workshop follows on Friday, Oct. 9. The library's regular groups continue all season: Florida Voices, Page Turners, Talk of Kings, the Biography Book Group and the Short Story Book Group.

With the O'Keeffe galleries closed, this season's exhibition is outdoors. "The High Life: Contemporary Photography and the Birds" shows work by more than 50 international photographers in the Hulitar Sculpture Garden from Dec. 5 through May 2, 2027. German photographer Kristin Schnell, whose work is in the show, arrives in March as the season's Beyer Artist-in-Residence. She'll give a lecture and teach a five-part workshop. Palm Beach Atlantic University's Chamber Choir is also keeping its holiday tradition, "Carols on the Lawn," in the same garden.

Two things to know for these visits. The public restrooms in the Pannill Pavilion are unavailable. On-site parking is limited. The ticket site recommends using the King entrance at 101 Four Arts Plaza for drop-off and pick-up and says street parking may be available through ParkMobile.

What's Being Built Behind the Fence

The work is on the Esther B. O'Keeffe and John E. Rovensky buildings. Addison Mizner designed both in 1928, and neither was originally built for the Four Arts. Palmer PB calls the project the biggest upgrade to the buildings and grounds since the institution was founded in 1936.

At the O'Keeffe building, the Gubelmann Auditorium is being reconfigured with about 650 seats. The plans also include better acoustics, more backstage space for performers, new air conditioning, more restrooms, expanded galleries, and a west-end extension. Second-floor space is being added for art storage and conservation. The Rovensky building is getting a 10,356-square-foot, three-story addition on its north side. It will hold a Children's Library nearly 50 percent larger than its old space, new staff offices, a boardroom with a terrace, and new offices for the Garden Club of Palm Beach. The children's room now on Dixon's second floor is a temporary stand-in for that space.

New York's Beyer Blinder Belle is the lead designer, Spina O'Rourke is the local architect of record, and Suffolk is the general contractor. The work is funded by the Four Arts Centennial Campaign, a $250 million effort that covers construction and the endowment. As of Palmer PB's Sept. 25 report, $216 million had been committed.

"The enhancements to our performance, gallery, and library spaces will unify our campus and allow us to present programs of the highest caliber for years to come." Dr. Philip Rylands, President and CEO of The Society of the Four Arts

The project comes after an earlier zoning change. In 2024 the Town unanimously approved Palm Beach's first Cultural Institution zoning designation, which the Four Arts and the Flagler Museum had pushed for. Palmer PB reports that the old single-family residential zoning had subjected cultural institutions to heavy restrictions and variance processes.

Construction Hours and the November 2027 Target

The schedule tells you when the fenced blocks will be loud. The Four Arts' FAQ lists weekday work from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. On Saturdays, only quiet work is allowed from 8 to 9 a.m., with other work from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. There's no construction on Sundays. In June the Town approved these longer work windows to speed up the project and keep trucks off the roads at peak traffic times.

In March, a project representative told the Palm Beach Daily News the goal was to finish by November 2027, before that winter's social season. The plan was an 18-month build starting May 1, and work was underway by the week of May 12. None of the summer or fall coverage we reviewed changed that target. Until the new auditorium opens, films and broadcasts are scheduled to return to Dixon in April, near the end of this season.

If you're coming back to the island for the season, or managing a Midtown home while you're away, a change like this affects a lot of small decisions. Those include where guests park, how you get to the lake on foot, and when the noise starts on weekdays. The Don Moore Team follows these neighborhood changes month by month for owners who want someone keeping an eye on things while they're gone. If you'd like to talk through how this season looks from your block, request a confidential market consultation.