by Mary-Kate Roan
Staff Writer
It isn’t every day that a yacht stops traffic. Then again, it isn’t every day that a yacht travels up the East Coast selling art and offering five-star hospitality along with gourmet dining.
“Instead of people going to the art gallery, we bring it to them,” said Ann Lee Lester, who came up with the idea for the world’s first megayacht exposition venue along with her husband, David.
Not newcomers to the business, the husband and wife team also organized the famous Palm Beach International Art and Antique Fair.
Christened the Grand Luxe, the four-deck, 228-foot ship offers guests 28 custom art galleries, a champagne and caviar lounge and gourmet dining. Built in Seattle, the ship travels with only seven crew members, while another 50 crew members travel on a smaller ship docked alongside the Grand Luxe. Featured artists include Giovanni Lanfranco and the Magazine Photographer of the Year Steve McCurry.
“It’s a very unique idea,” said Cathy Sullivan, wife of Kent Sullivan, an Orlando studio artist who was discovered by the Lesters and invited to show his work aboard the ship.
“Because it moves around, you get more exposure,” said Sullivan, who travels from port to port with her husband’s paintings in the family van rather than leaving them aboard the ship.
“This is wonderful,” said Karyl Bryant of Karyl Bryant Interiors in Jacksonville. “I’m pleasantly surprised.”
The Grand Luxe is scheduled to make another stop in Jacksonville in March.
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photos by Mary-Kate Roan