Friends, guests and fans were enthralled and inspired by the artistry and many stories of Florida’s Highwaymen at the Onyx Speaks celebration earlier this week.
Beginning in the early 1950s and 1960s as a loose association of 26 African American artists from Fort Pierce and Vera Beach, the Florida Highwaymen’s original paintings are in high demand national and internationally and can be found in the State Capitol, Amway Center, prisons, schools, private homes, businesses and the White House. The group created inexpensive landscape paintings, and sold them out of the trunks of their cars. Their longevity is a testimony to their strength, and their ability to survive.
Al Black, a painter and the lead salesman for the group said, “The reason we sold landscapes is because they would sell. I have been with the Highwaymen from the very beginning and nothing else would sell. We would get on the road, and go to different places to sell our work.” The Highwaymen have created a body of over 200,000 paintings, using gypsum board instead of canvas.
“We did not know each other until a book was published about the Highwaymen in 2001,” Willie Reagan, another Highwayman declared. “But before that, I would go up and down the highway and sell my paintings out of my station wagon.”
Several newspaper articles on the Highwaymen’s work brought major recognition from the art world in the 2000s. Some of the Highwaymen are deceased, and most are now in their 70s and 80s. Nevertheless, they all still paint and Mary Ann Carroll, the only woman in the group, had this to say about her experiences.
“It never occurred to me, because I love art. When my kids were at school, I would go out and sell my work. I knew, I had to get back in time to pick them up after school,” Carroll said.
Earlier this year, Carroll met First Lady Michelle Obama and one of her paintings is on display at the White House. She has been invited to discuss and display her art at Harvard University.
In recent years, the Florida Highwaymen’s paintings skyrocketed in value and their work is listed in the Florida Artist Hall of Fame. There will be a silent auction of their work at the 9th Onyx Awards Reception & Gala, on September 24, 2011, at Rosen Centre, at 6:00 p. m.
For more information, log onto www.onyxawards.com.
