Selby Gardens to feature Florida Highwaymen in summer exhibition

Harold Newton, “Royal Poinciana” ASSELTINE COLLECTION / COURTESY PHOTO

Visitors to Marie Selby Botanical Gardens are in for a rare treat. Beginning July 20, its Museum of Botany & the Arts will display a collection of art by the famous Florida Highwaymen.

The Florida Highwaymen, Black landscape artists, emerged in the 1950s in the agricultural communities of Fort Pierce and Gifford. They numbered 25 men and one woman.

Most were self-taught. They painted Florida landscapes, which they sold to residents and tourists alike. They sold their artworks roadside from the trunks of their cars and door-to-door along main thoroughfares such as U.S. Route 1 and State Road A1A during the post-World

War II boom. Because Jim Crow laws were still in effect, these artists could not exhibit their works in galleries.

They were inducted into the Florida Artist Hall of Fame in 2004, where they joined other artists such as Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams and Ray Charles.

While the Highwaymen were making their art, residents of Sarasota’s predominantly Black neighborhood of Newtown were striving to gain access to the segregated beaches on the Gulf. Protests in support of beach integration in Sarasota were early efforts in the fight for equal rights for all Americans, resulting in the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Harold Newton, “Early River Scene with Herons”

The Selby exhibition ties the Highwaymen story with that of Newtown.

According to David Berry, Selby’s vice president for visitor engagement and chief museum curator, the works being shown are from the collection of one private lender in Sarasota. The exhibit was about two years in the planning.

“We have a relatively small team get into the actual fabrication and installation of things — the nuts and bolts — generally within about a year from the opening of the show,” Berry said. Although summer shows are usually only held within the museum, Berry said they’ve prepared “a small sort of fun outdoor piece that kind of introduces the show,” which will be placed at the gardens’ Welcome Center.

TOP: Harold Newton, “Backcountry Hammocks at Sunset” ASSELTINE COLLECTION / COURTESY PHOTOS

“The story that we’re telling is about the Highwaymen in the ’50s and ’60s creating their style and their sales technique. It exhibits many works from some of the key figures that were not only producing some of the finest works, but also were setting an example for many of their con- temporaries,” he said.

The Selby exhibit also draws parallels between the group of artists who are active on the East Coast of Florida and what was going on in Sarasota at the same time. Residents of Sarasota’s predominantly Black neighborhood of Newtown were striving to gain access to the segregated beaches on the Gulf. Protests in support of beach integration, called wade-ins, in Sarasota were early efforts in the fight for equal rights for all Americans. Ultimately, it all led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

“What was interesting to us is there were a number of significant developments in Sarasota relating to civil rights — wade-ins at Lido Beach — because the beaches in Sarasota were segregated.

RIGHT: Alfred Hair, “Palms on the Florida Coast” (1960)

What was interesting to us was that you have a group of artists, in the case of the Highwaymen, who were producing these beautiful, evocative images of the Florida landscape and the beach. At the exact same time the paintings were being produced, access to the beach here was denied to members of the African American community,” Berry said.

Selby Gardens has partnered with members of the Newtown community who have shared their stories.

“They have supported us in our research to come to better understand the history we’re trying to communicate in the exhibition.”

The exhibition will display historical photographs from that period, as well as show highlights of some current initiatives that are taking place in the Newtown community.

“We want to keep the history that we’re talking about alive, and some of these are private initiatives on the part of individual people, and then the others are the work of organizations that are preserving this history and promoting African American art and culture as part of what makes Sarasota an interesting and dynamic place to live and to visit,” Berry said.

“The Highwaymen represent a group of very talented and beloved artists,” said Jennifer Rominiecki, president and CEO of Selby Gardens. “Their works collectively capture colorful scenes of Florida’s unique landscapes with universal appeal.

“To appreciate their art in our botanical setting is an experience perfectly suited to our bayfront sanctuary during the summer.”

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