The newest door on the corner of University Drive and Sample Road faces Sample, on the ground floor of the Cornerstone apartment building. Behind it are 57 original prints by Pablo Picasso, made between 1923 and 1972, and you can see them for free on a Friday night until 8 p.m.
The Coral Springs Museum of Art opened its new downtown gallery at 3380 N. University Drive with a community celebration on October 9. Free admission started the next day. The move changes how the corner works. Since spring, the ground floor of the Modera complex has been filling in with places for coffee, a bagel, a juice or a scoop of ice cream. These are quick stops, and you're done in twenty minutes. A free gallery that stays open into the evening gives you somewhere to go between dinner and dessert, and the city is helping pay to keep it there.
The City Is Paying Rent to Put Art on This Corner
For nearly 30 years the museum's gallery was at 2855 Coral Springs Drive, inside the Coral Springs Center for the Arts building. Moving the gallery downtown was a deliberate decision with real money behind it.
Coral Springs Talk reported how the build-out is paid for. About $2 million comes from the city's approved capital budget and $1 million from the Community Redevelopment Agency's capital fund. The property owner is adding about $500,000 in landlord and tenant allowances. The CRA is also putting $179,300 a year toward the lease, and that payment rises 3% each year until 2032.
The money follows the foot traffic. The same Coral Springs Talk report notes that the old gallery will become rental space for private and community events, which brings the city some income. Art classes stay at the old building, in drawing, painting, mixed media and ceramics studios. According to the city, the museum's Creative Studios are on the second floor of the Center for the Arts. So the classes stay put. Only the exhibitions moved to University and Sample, where people walk past.
The city's own announcement says this plainly. Museum Board Chair and Commissioner Joshua Simmons said in the city's October 1 release that the gallery and its exhibitions "will give residents and visitors from around the world even more reason to experience Downtown Coral Springs."
What the Gallery Adds That the Block Was Missing
Look at the hours first. The museum's visitor page lists:
- Tuesday through Thursday: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Friday and Saturday: noon to 8 p.m.
- Monday: by appointment only
- Sunday: closed
On Fridays and Saturdays the gallery stays open until 8 p.m., so it overlaps with dinner at the Farmhouse Kitchen a few doors down. A walk through the gallery fits naturally before or after a meal.
The space has more than 5,000 square feet of exhibition room with movable walls, so shows can rotate. It also has a retail store, a coffee station and a Creative Studio. Two exhibitions are up now. "Picasso: A Graphic Journey" includes etchings, lithographs, linocuts and a rare canceled copper printing plate, and it runs through December 5. "Cages and Collage," by local artist Janet Gold, runs through December 31. The Picasso prints come from the collection of Timothy Collins of Los Angeles, according to Coral Springs Talk.
"This new space for our museum is huge. We are in a good new location, and our art museum is a beacon for northwest Broward County."
Juliana Forero, museum director, speaking to Coral Springs Talk
Parking is free with validation at the front desk. Use the ground-level Modera lot, entered from Sample Road, or the City Hall Parking Garage nearby, which is also free. Free validated parking at the gallery makes it easy to park once and walk to everything else on the block.
The Block, Door by Door
In February, Modera developer Mill Creek Residential announced eight committed retail tenants and said 85% of the complex's 32,589 square feet of retail space was leased. The complex also has 704 homes. The museum was one of the eight. Most of the food tenants opened before it did. Walking south from the gallery along N. University Drive:
- Coral Springs Museum of Art, 3380. Free gallery, open since October 10.
- Let's Chill, 3342. The homemade ice cream shop moved here from its former Sample Road location. Its last day at the old shop was August 30.
- Mitch's Downtown Bagel Cafe, 3334. Opened in late March, according to Coral Springs News.
- Paris Baguette, 3326. A bakery café with pastries, cakes, sandwiches and coffee. A Coral Springs News roundup reported an August 19 opening, and Coral Springs Talk covered the ribbon-cutting on October 8. Open daily 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Farmhouse Kitchen, 3314. Gary Rack's restaurant opened June 15.
- Maha Juice Bar, 3256. Opened August 15. It's the brand's first location outside Massachusetts.
Paris Baguette's 6 a.m. opening and the gallery's 8 p.m. close on weekends cover about fourteen hours of the day on one block. Before 2026, this stretch had none of these places.
Mill Creek's February list also included Big Whiskey, Copenhagen Corner Wine Bar and TREMBLE Pilates. In March, Coral Springs News reported a June target for TREMBLE at 3354 N. University Drive. Opening dates change, so check with each business directly before you plan a night around one. A wine bar and a whiskey bar would give the block late-night options. Right now, though, the gallery is the one place on the corner with a reason to stop in after dinner.
Fall on the Corner, Saturday by Saturday
The museum's fall programs mostly fall on Saturday afternoons, and most of them are free. These are the dates from the museum's events listings:
| Date | Program | Time | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, Oct. 24 | Picasso printmaking talk | 11 a.m. to noon | Free, no registration |
| Saturday, Nov. 7 | ARTventures family program | 2 to 3 p.m. | Free |
| Thursday, Nov. 12 | "No Wrong Answers: Exercises in Creativity" with Janet Gold | 6 to 8:30 p.m. | $65 |
| Saturday, Nov. 14 | Art Spectrum, a sensory-informed family program | 2 to 3 p.m. | Free |
| Saturday, Dec. 5 | Art Spectrum | 2 to 3 p.m. | Free |
| Saturday, Dec. 5 | Gelli-printmaking workshop | noon to 2 p.m. | $45 members, $50 nonmembers |
| Saturday, Dec. 12 | ARTventures | 2 to 3 p.m. | Free |
The Picasso talk is Saturday, October 24. It starts at 11 a.m., so you'll have time for a late breakfast at Mitch's or Paris Baguette before or after. That same morning, the city's free Museum of Coral Springs History tour runs at 10250 NW 29th Street. If you want to do both, check that tour's start time first.
December 5 Is the Day to Plan Around
The Picasso exhibition closes December 5, and that same evening the city holds Light Up the Lawn, its tree lighting at City Hall. It runs from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m., and both admission and the City Hall garage are free. The gallery is open until 8 p.m. that Saturday. That leaves time for a last look at the Picasso prints and then a walk to the tree lighting, with parking already covered at the garage.
After that, the city's Downtown in December program keeps tree lights on the City Hall Lawn every night from December 1 through 31, with free garage parking. Then, on Wednesday, December 9, the free Holiday Parade runs along Sample Road from 7 to 9 p.m., right past the street the gallery entrance faces. Janet Gold's "Cages and Collage" stays up through December 31. If you miss the Picasso prints, the gallery still has a show to see when you come for the lights.
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