Central – Section 1.4: Orlando’s High Art & Hidden Gems

Heading into the state’s central heartland, the arts keep the beat in downtown Orlando, where the magnificent Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts features such renowned venues as the Walt Disney Theater, the Alexis & Jim Pugh Theater, Judson’s Live—a 150-seat, cabaret-style music space—and the acclaimed SteinmetzHall.

Just north of downtown Orlando in the leafy suburb of Winter Park, the Morse Museum houses the world’s most comprehensive collection of works by Louis Comfort Tiffany including his jewelry, pottery, paintings, art glass, leaded-glass lamps and windows. You’ll step into another dimension of art when you step into the breathtaking interior of Tiffany’s chapel from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

Winter Park also is where you’ll find the Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens, the Rollins Museum of Art, part of Rollins College, and the Winter Park Playhouse, typically producing a year-round series of six musicals, new or rarely produced in the region.

In nearby Maitland, the Art & History Museums offer a combined experience including the Maitland Historical Museum, the Telephone Museum, the Waterhouse Residence & Carpentry Shop Museum and the Maitland Art Center.