Ride the waves of surfing history in Delray, enjoy cat videos on the big screen, and explore a Florida artist’s gift for upcycling vintage computer parts. Plus, DEVO and more in your week ahead.
TUESDAY
What: “100 Years of Surfing”
When: 6 p.m.
Where: Delray Beach Historical Society, 3 N.E. First St., Delray Beach
Cost: $10 nonmembers, $5 members
Contact: 561/274-9578, delraybeachhistory.org
Tom Warnke rode his first wave at the age of 8, in 1956, riding the surf of Boynton Beach on an inflatable mat after his family moved here from Wisconsin. To say the experience impacted the youngster is an understatement: Surfing has become the lifeblood for this eminent advocate and archivist, who launched Florida’s first chapter of the environmental nonprofit the Surfrider Foundation, in 1996. He also runs the South Florida Surfing Museum, a West Palm Beach facility housing some 135 historic surfboards. In this lecture, part of the Delray Beach Historical Society’s “Summer at Sea” series, Warnke will discuss the rich history of surfing in the region, from the pioneers to the lawmakers who once prevented surfing in parts of the Palm Beaches—it took a ruling from the Florida Supreme Court to re-establish the right to hang 10 in certain of our cities—to the contemporary scene.
FRIDAY
What: Devo
When: 8 p.m.
Where: The Fillmore, 1700 Washington Ave., Miami Beach
Cost: $94.50-$196.45
Contact: 305/673-7300, fillmore-miami.com
Whenever I think of the best cover songs ever recorded, Devo’s angular take on The Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction” comes immediately to mind. Distilling the tune down to its nuts and bolts while losing none of its feral intent, it’s a vital example of an artist molding a pop staple into something certifiably weirder. (Mick Jagger, to his credit, was a fan.) The song appeared on the group’s revolutionary 1978 debut Q: Are We Not Men? We are Devo!, and nearly 50 years later, Devo is still certifiably strange, boasting a crunchy, art-punk sound that marries live and electronic instruments; set lists that include costume changes and eccentric video interludes; and a stealth political philosophy, centered on the “devolution” of humanity, from which the band derived its name. At this tour, titled “Mutate Don’t Stagnate,” three of the founding members will perform the group’s only Billboard-charting hit, “Whip It,” along with decades of underground bangers that attest to Devo’s enduring cult appeal.
FRIDAY TO SUNDAY
What: Cat Video Fest 2026
When: 6 p.m. Friday, 3 and 5 p.m. Saturday, 2 and 4 p.m. Sunday
Where: Lake Worth Playhouse’s Stonzek Theater, 713 Lake Ave., Lake Worth Beach
Cost: $9
Contact: 561/296-9382, lakeworthplayhouse.org
If you’re a cat owner, you know this already, but to the uninitiated—perhaps to dog people like your humble scribe—it’s amazing what felines can do, and what absolute hams they are when you put a camera in front of them. As this latest compilation of submitted, largely internet-born videos attests, cats can surf, perform card tricks, take selfies, and maybe deliver the mail—not to mention mangle that tabletop puzzle you’ve been working on for the past two weeks, and they’ll take much delight in doing so. Funny cat videos are hardly new; they have been around since the internet’s early days, not to mention the camcorder era of America’s Funniest Home Videos. But this annual touring event, offering a curated collection of the year’s top feline vids, has only been around since 2019. A portion of ticket sales will benefit local cat welfare organizations; more than $1 million have supported cat charities in the event’s seven-year history.
SATURDAY
What: Opening day of “Chang Dai-Chen: A Master of Modern Chinese Painting”
When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: Norton Museum of Art, 1450 S. Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach
Cost: $18 general, $15 seniors
Contact: 561/832-5196, norton.org
The Norton Museum’s collection of, and focus on, Asian art is among the most impressive in the Southeast, with both a dedicated senior curator of Asian art, in Shawn Yuan, and permanent galleries showing some of the more than 700 objects representing the continent, with a frequent focus on China. Such is the case with this special exhibition, a deep dive into three seminal works from Chang Dai-Chen, a modern ink and calligraphy artist who lived and died in the 20th century but created work that echoed the traditionalists of his nation and its sprawling history. Through “Portrait of Li Bai,” a tribute to an eight-century Chinese poet; “Pine Tree,” which captures its subject’s gnarls, twists, and almost human-like form; and “Eulogy for Burying a Crane,” a calligraphic copy of a fifth-century epitaph; longtime admirers and newcomers alike can bask in Chang’s delicate straddle between the past and present of Chinese art. The exhibition runs through Jan. 30.
What: “Pixel by Pixel, Key by Key: An Artist Talk with Doug Powell”
When: 1 to 3 p.m.
Where: Cornell Art Museum at Old School Square, 51 N. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach
Cost: Free; RSVP requested
Contact: downtowndelraybeach.com/do/pixel-by-pixel-key-by-key-an-artist-talk-with-doug-powell
From Audrey Hepburn to Popeye, George Harrison to Pablo Picasso, Freddie Mercury to Looney Tunes and even Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring, artist Doug Powell plumbs iconic imagery from popular and art culture for his retro-tech portraits. As he will explain in “Pixel by Pixel, Key by Key,” Powell’s medium of choice is the discarded computer keyboard, a piece of clattery analog technology most of us simply toss into the garbage when it’s exhausted its utility. For Powell, upcycling vintage tech is a way to layer his portraits in a visually doubling way; viewed from afar, we recognize the icons staring back at us. Up close, spectators can admire the works anew by noticing the material itself and the hidden messages the artist encodes in the images. But don’t take it from me; listen to Powell explain his process while viewing his work and enjoying complimentary refreshments.
For more of Boca magazine’s arts and entertainment coverage, click here.
