The St Johns Cultural Council's annual ROWITA award — Recognizing Outstanding Women in the Arts — celebrated four honorees at The Waterworks in 2026, each with a story worth telling.

Sarah Arnold, St Johns County Commissioner, used her seat at the table to fight for the arts — including a $1 million appropriation for the Florida Museum of Black History in West Augustine. Nancy Christensen, a portrait artist and Saint Augustine fixture since 2001, has spent 25 years teaching inclusive art classes and helping build the cultural organizations that define this City. Carole "Wattie" Foster turned 90 this year and is still overseeing exhibitions at the St Augustine Beach Art Gallery — a place she has poured herself into for over a decade. Marie LaPerriere LaConte has taught ballet at The Dance Company in St Augustine Beach since 2005 and brought her choreography to stages and galas across the region.

The evening also recognized three graduating seniors through the Junior ROWITA Fellowship: Ilayda Bekcan, a digital artist headed to the Savannah College of Art & Design; Olive Ferreira, a scenic designer bound for the University of Central Florida; and Alexandria Mitsis, a costume designer accepted to the University of North Carolina School for the Arts.

The women who built this community, and the young artists who will carry it forward — all in one room.

Event photos by Yvette Monell