1991: Crime novelist Elmore Leonard, part-time resident of North Palm Beach, published the first of seven books set in Palm Beach County. Maximum Bob was dedicated to Leonard’s friend, Palm Beach County judge Marvin Mounts.

1991: The Theatre Club of the Palm Beaches moved to a new, 250-seat space in Manalapan’s Plaza del Mar as Pope Theatre, in honor of benefactor Lois Pope. In 1997 the theatre was renamed Florida Stage.

1992: The Palm Beach County Council of the Arts was renamed the Palm Beach County Cultural Council.

1994: The Youth Orchestra of Palm Beach County was formed as a project of the Junior League of Boca Raton, under music director Wendell Simmons.

1996: The City of Boca Raton invited Beetle Bailey cartoonist Mort Walker to open the $15 million National Cartoon Museum there. The collection had been displayed in the ‘70s in Connecticut as the International Museum of Cartoon Art. In 2001, when the Boca Raton museum was unsuccessful, Walker auctioned off a Mickey Mouse drawing for $700,000.

1996: Palm Beach County Commissioner Burt Aaronson and philanthropist George Elmore founded the Palm Beach International Film Festival (PBIFF), which has been recognized as one of the Top 25 Independent Festivals in the world. Year-round activities with local youths lead to the Student Showcase of Film during the annual weeklong festival. The PBIFF has donated over a million dollars to film and television programs in area schools.

1996: Palm Beach County’s largest entertainment complex, the 19,000-seat Sony Blockbuster Coral Sky Amphitheatre, opened. The venue has changed names several times as it has changed sponsors.

1996: The Meyer Amphitheatre opened on the site of the former Holiday Inn on Flagler Drive, West Palm Beach, named for patrons Arthur I. and Sydelle Fisher Meyer.

1996: The seven-year-old Jupiter Theatre closed.

1997: After raising more than $30 million, the Norton Museum of Art more than doubled its size.