Highwaymen Exhibit
The Old Courthouse Heritage Museum brings back the ever-popular Highwaymen exhibit

Inverness… The Old Courthouse Heritage Museum presents The Highwaymen exhibition, on display January 13 – February 28, 2007.

Museum hours are Monday – Friday, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. For more information, please call Laurie Diestler at (352) 341-6429.

The Highwaymen story is an inspirational tale about perseverance and the artists’ defeat of societal limitations to make their dreams come true. Discover the story of the Highwaymen, a group of primarily self-taught artists who prospered in the segregated South of the 1950s and 1960s. For many years forgotten, their Florida landscapes are now seen as an important collection of 20th century artwork.

Ft. Pierce in the 1950s was probably the last place anyone would expect to see a group of young, African-American artists become successful selling art door-to-door. Yet these enterprising businessmen did just that. They rode the highways, stopping in small towns and carrying their paintings around to motels, banks, and doctors’ offices. Art buyer Jim Fitch coined the Highwaymen moniker in 1994.

The Highwaymen painted Florida landscapes on wallboard instead of canvas, mass-producing loud, bold pictures of Florida’s subtropical wilderness. Segregation and racists’ attitudes prevented the artists from selling their works in traditional art galleries, so they took another route. An all night painting session would be followed by loading their cars with paintings and hitting the highways to sell their works. They usually charged $25 to $35 dollars per painting, but paintings are now selling nationally for thousands of dollars.

The artwork is on loan from several private collections.

Support for this exhibition and programming generously provided by The Inverness Olde Towne Association.