In conjunction with our current exhibition Florida East Coast: Selections from the Guidi Collection, an exhibition of works from the Doris and William Guidi Collection, we are pleased to host a lecture by writer Gary Monroe, Painting in Paradise: The Art of the Highwaymen on Friday, June 1 at 5pm. This event is a part of St. Augustine’s First Friday Art Walk, and is free and open to the public.

Focusing on self-taught and vernacular art, Gary Monroe began his literary pursuits with The Highwaymen: Florida’s African-American Landscape Painters (University Press of Florida, 2001), in which he told the story of the Highwaymen painters and offered a fresh interpretation of their art. Consequently, public interest in these compelling but forgotten artists was revived. The New York Times wrote a Lively Arts front-page article about the book, saying that “These colorful landscapes… shaped the state’s popular image as much as oranges and alligators.” In subsequent books, including Harold Newton: The Original Highwayman (2007), The Highwaymen Murals: Al Black’s Concrete Dreams (2009), and Mary Ann Carroll: First Lady of the Highwaymen (2014), Monroe continued to tell these artist’s inspiring stories. Based on his nomination, these painters were inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame in 2004.

Monroe’s other books about Florida art include Extraordinary Interpretations: Self-taught Florida Artists (2003), Silver Springs: The Underwater Photographs of Bruce Mozert (2008), Florida’s American Heritage River: Images from the St. Johns Region (2009), and E. G. Barnhill: Florida Photographer, Adventurer, Entrepreneur (2016).

Monroe’s work has been recognized by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Florida Department of State's Division of Cultural Affairs, Florida Humanities Council, and the Fulbright Foundation. He recently retired after 30 years as a professor at Daytona State College.