February 20, 2026
An Open Letter to City of Stuart Commissioners, Members of the Martin County School Board and Our Community:
Recent public discussion has renewed attention on the future of the historic Stuart High School campus. We welcome this interest and believe it is important, now more than ever, to clearly share what has been accomplished, what is currently underway, and the principles guiding this project forward.
For the past four years (March 2022, intent to lease signed), the Arts Foundation of Martin County (MartinArts) has led a careful, transparent, and community-driven effort to transform the former Stuart High School into a vibrant arts and education campus. This work has proceeded through formal approvals, professional due diligence, and sustained collaboration with the Martin County School Board, artists, educators, nonprofit partners, and residents.
MartinArts has completed extensive due diligence on the property, including environmental, structural, and building systems assessments. We have secured professional teams for architecture, historic preservation, campaign planning, acoustics, and theatrical design. As-built drawings, schematic designs, conceptual plans, and cost estimates have been produced and refined over multiple years.
To initiate the above efforts, funds were raised for early planning and pre-development support, through private philanthropy, our Cornerstone Donors and others, along with state and federal grants (successful awards from the Division of Historic Resources and the National Endowment for the Arts).
The vision for the campus has been shaped through collaboration. Key partners, including youth-serving and educational organizations, have been secured. Artists, educators, architects, and community members have participated in visioning workshops and planning sessions as early as 2017, before we knew where this vision might unfold. The building’s 100-year anniversary was celebrated with a public open house, underscoring both its historic value and its future potential.
From the outset, this project has been guided by a core principle: the long-term success of the campus depends on operational independence and mission-driven stewardship, not day-to-day government control. Arts organizations thrive when they are nimble, accountable to their communities, and able to respond creatively to changing needs. For this reason, MartinArts has pursued a lease-to-purchase structure with the School Board, an approach that allows the project to launch, demonstrate sustainability, and ultimately secure long-term ownership.
At the same time, we have always acknowledged an equally important truth: a project of this magnitude cannot succeed without public partnership. Across the country, transformative cultural campuses rely on layered support from federal, state, county, and municipal sources because their impact extends far beyond their walls. They strengthen education, fuel economic development, attract visitors, support local businesses, and measurably improve residents’ quality of life.
Public support, however, works best when it is strategic and enabling, not directive. It helps unlock private philanthropy, accelerates readiness, and affirms shared civic value without redirecting a project mid-course.
It is in this context that we believe it is important to clarify process. Ideas related to land ownership or alternative project structures carry significant implications and deserve thoughtful, coordinated discussion among all governing bodies and project partners. Introducing such concepts outside of established processes, particularly while active negotiations are underway, can create confusion and unintended delay, even when intentions are noble.
We remain committed to open dialogue with the City of Stuart and appreciate the City’s interest in the campus’s success. Our immediate priority is to complete negotiations already in progress with the Martin County School Board so the project can move confidently into the capital campaign, final design, permitting, and construction. From there, we look forward to identifying meaningful ways the City can participate as a partner, supporting infrastructure, placemaking, cultural programming, and long-term community benefit.
This campus represents more than a building. It is an investment in creativity, education, and belonging and is one that will serve residents across generations. With clarity, collaboration, and respect for the work already accomplished, we are confident it can become one of Martin County’s most enduring civic assets.
Respectfully, on behalf of the Board of Directors, The Arts Foundation for Martin County, dba MartinArts,
Duncan Hurd, Chair Nancy K. Turrell, CEO
