One Year of Storytellers

Please join us at Emerald Coast Theatre Company Friday, July 14th, to celebrate the ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of Emerald Coast Storytellers.

We're beyond thrilled to have one year of storytelling under our belt, and can't wait to celebrate with the incredible community that has helped us make it what it is. As we commemorate how far we've come, we thought it fitting to open the floor to not only our journey but yours...

The theme for the evening will be milestones.

Tell us a story about the path that has led you here; the peaks, the valleys, the chapters of all shapes and sizes, and the endings that perhaps weren't endings at all, but the mark of new beginnings that have helped take you to the places you were meant to go.

Our Featured Storyteller will be Jennifer Steele of Cultural Arts Alliance!

Please join us for sips, snacks, and, of course, stories as we showcase local talent from the beach and beyond.

We will have a grazing table featuring a delicious charcuterie spread from Graze 30A as well as an assortment of flatbreads from Bitterroot. Satisfy your thirst with a choice of beverages for purchase including wine by Vin'tij Food & Wine, beer, seltzers, and a speciality cocktail made with the award-winning Half Shell Vodka from Distillery 98. 

Doors will open at 6 PM for the cocktail hour with the show starting promptly at 7 PM.  

For those interested in taking the mic, we ask that you please email emeraldcoaststorytellers@gmail.com to be considered for a reading spot and include your name, genre, a little bit about yourself, and what you plan to present. We've had a lot of requests and would like to give everyone a chance to share their stories.

Stay tuned for the official announcement of our Featured Storyteller to come!

Early bird tickets are now on sale through the end of June and will increase beginning in July.

. . .

Jennifer Steele is the Executive Director of the Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County (CAA), the Local Arts Agency that fosters creativity through the inclusive and collaborative advancement of the Arts. She has dedicated her entire career to that mission, beginning just out of college at the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, GA, as the co-founder and managing director of the Seaside Repertory Theatre, Northwest Florida’s first professional theatre company, and then as an Arts management consultant.

In 2008, Jennifer joined the CAA and has led the organization’s exponential growth over the past 15 years. Under her leadership, the CAA created the county’s first professional artist cooperative, The Foster Gallery, the nation’s first Underwater Museum of Art, and an Art in Public Spaces program. The CAA also produces large-scale events and initiatives, including Art Month Walton County, the ArtsQuest Fine Arts Festival, and the 30A Songwriters Festival, which she co-founded; presents ongoing Arts education, both online and at the Miramar Beach Creative Campus and Bayou Arts Center; provides critical arts funding to artists, students, schools and organizations; funds a Prison Art Program; and advocates for the Arts at the local, state and national levels.

Jennifer is a past co-Chair of Americans for the Arts’ Private Sector Network Council and past member of Visit Florida’s Culture, Heritage, Rural, Nature committee. Jennifer is a recipient of the Van Ness Butler, Jr. Hospitality Award that recognizes excellence in hospitality service, travel/tourism marketing, advertising, promotion and contributions to Walton County. She is the current Chair of the Walton County Tourist Development Council and a past chair of its Arts, Culture, Events and Activities Committee, which implements the Artist of the Year program.