Blue Bamboo Looks to Lease Space to Visual Artists
The performing arts venue has hit multiple obstacles as its rent for the old city library building increases
Sept. 3, 2026
By Beth Kassab
Beset by the death of its founder last year, construction delays and increasing rent, Blue Bamboo Center for the Arts is now facing the loss of $12,900 in annual funding from the city as it presses forward with a new plan to lease space on its second floor to visual artists.
City Commissioners appeared in agreement at a budget work session last week to end its yearly contribution to Blue Bamboo, one of seven local nonprofits that has traditionally received dollars from the city in recent years.
“Why are we funding Blue Bamboo if they are paying us rent?” asked Mayor Sheila DeCiccio at the work session called for commissioners to evaluate potential cuts to the budget as financial pressure intensifies on local governments as voters prepare to vote in November on property tax reductions.
The commission is set to take its first budget vote next week.
The day before that meeting, Todd Weaver, a former city commissioner who is now vice chairman of Blue Bamboo’s board, appeared before the group to ask for a month-long extension to secure a certificate of occupancy for the second floor of the old library building that the group leases from the city.
Weaver said construction was nearly complete and the group would begin paying the new higher rent amount this month. The commission granted the extension for the group to bring the space into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and other city codes.
Weaver told the Voice the second floor will be partitioned into 21 visual art studios that artists can rent.
The plan comes about three months after a contentious meeting between Blue Bamboo Chairman Jeff Flowers and the City Commission in which Flowers was seeking changes to the group’s lease because, he said, he was having trouble finding an arts group that could afford the rent in the wake of the original tenant walking away and construction delays as well as the death last year of founder Chris Cortez.
The commission did not agree at the time to grant the group any rent reductions or allow it to deviate from keeping the building as an arts hub.
So far, the group has invested about $1.5 million into the building, including more than $900,000 in grants from Orange County’s Tourism Development Taxes.
The music venue on the first floor opened more than a year ago and boasts a calendar full of events most weeks from Thursday to Sunday.
Weaver said he could not speculate on when the visual artist spaces will open on the second floor.
WinterParkVoiceEditor@gmail.com
What criteria and definition defines a visual artist?
Madame Mayor,
You’re asking a good question about taxpayer funding while charging Blue Bamboo rent. In that vein, why in the heck is WP Playhouse getting an increase in taxpayer funding to the tune of $50,000 +/year while they have a free taxpayer funded new building and $1 a year rent? If I rent a pavilion at Azalea Lane Park for 1/2 of a day, it costs $45….the same amount the taxpayers of WP will receive from the Playhouse in 45 years! This isn’t right.
The Blue Bamboo offers 50 free shows a year, our “Thursday Night Hang”. We used the grant funds from the City to pay the band, which allowed us to open our stage to local performers to come make their music. The Blue Bamboo is not a commercial idea, it’s a community building idea. That’s why the City needs to fund this community resource.
Jeff bless your heart buddy, but what percentage of the Winter Park Community benefits from the Blue Bamboo and more specifically the “ Thursday Night Hang?”You’re a nice to have, but not a necessity in these financially challenging times.
End the contract now before Winter Park taxpayers lose any more money.
Does Winter Park Playhouse offer any free shows to the community like Blue Bamboo? If not, why not?