SEEING OLD FLORIDA IN A NEW LIGHT

Lecture exploring the history, context, and cultural significance of Florida’s landscape painting tradition and its enduring legacy.

For more than a century, artists have gathered along the Indian River to build a powerful tradition of landscape painting that continues to resonate today. Chief among them is A.E. “Beanie” Backus, the 20th century’s foremost painter of the Florida landscape, whose generosity of spirit helped shape one of American art’s most remarkable stories: the painters known today as the Florida Highwaymen.

This loose collective of 26 self-taught African American artists captured the splendor of their surroundings through vivid, fast, and accessibly priced paintings, often sold directly from their cars. This lecture explores the stories behind these works, the landscapes they immortalized, and a legacy that continues to influence future generations.

PROGRAM

6:00 – 6:30 PM Reception with wine and light bites
7:00 – 7:45 PM Lecture
7:45 – 8:00 PM Q&A

J. Marshall Adams is the Executive Director of the A.E. Backus Museum & Gallery in Historic Downtown Fort Pierce, Florida, where he has been contributing to the cultural wealth of the Treasure Coast community since 2017. He brings 30 years of museum experience to his role, and has been recognized statewide and nationally for his work. He was previously the Director of Education at the Vero Beach Museum of Art, the Director of Education & Exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville, and the Head of School Programs at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. He has a Master’s in Museum Education from the Museum Leadership Program at Bank Street College of Education in New York, a Bachelor’s in Studio Art from Tulane University in New Orleans, and in 2004 was in the inaugural class of The Getty Center's Museum Leadership: Next Generation program.