The Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center Art Fest by the Sea is proud to announce painter Kelly Tracht from Jupiter, Fla., has been selected as this year’s commemorative artist poster artist. Tracht’s piece, title Pastel Palms will be featured during the festival March 11 and 12 in Juno Beach.

“Pastel Palms is about being in a tropical oasis, in a paradise found, with colors, palm trees, the ocean, and all the things we love about Florida. I just wanted to share that love with the world because that is my experience with Florida and the beauty we have here,” said Tracht who also painted the 2014 ArtiGras Fine Arts Festival poster. “I am so excited to be selected as the poster artist. This is a beach show and my work is all about the ocean, it is all about nature.”

Though formally trained as an architect, Tracht’s painting career really started to blossom in 1997, when she took a year sabbatical on the island of Grenada in the West Indies. Inspired by island living, Tracht painted al fresco landscape and seascape paintings experimenting with an expressive, painterly style. She started to sell her landscape paintings to European tourists and foreign dignitaries, and her work quickly gained notoriety. Tracht was invited by the German owner of The Aquarium Club, a stylish beach side resort in Grenada, to hold a season long exhibition of her work.

In 2006, Tracht painted the cover for the Junior League of the Palm Beaches cookbook Worth Tasting, then Bloomingdales invited her to exhibit at their 2007 Artrageous event, and in 2012, Tracht was awarded the prestigious President’s Purchase Award at SunFest.

The 2017 Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center Art Fest by the Sea poster will be available at the Art Fest by the Sea Merchandise Booth during the festival. The festival hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day and there will be free parking and shuttle service available from the FPL lot located on Universe Blvd and Ellison-Wilson Road.

Stretching along the oceanfront along A1A in Palm Beach North, Florida’s Prospersity Coast, the Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center Art Fest by the Sea has become a springtime tradition for residents and snowbirds alike. Since its inception, this esteemed community art festival continues to highlight the talents of more than 250 artists displaying a wide range of works from life-size sculptures, to photography and jewelry. There are all sorts of opportunities to appreciate art during this weekend of visual inspiration.

For more information, visit the Art Fest by the Sea web site at www.artfestbythesea.com or call the Palm Beach North Chamber of Commerce at (561) 746-7111.