Brush stroke of luck
Famed Highwaymen coming to Pompano.
Florida’s famed Highwaymen painters will exhibit and sell their colorful works of an unspoiled Sunshine State on March 23-25 in Pompano Beach.
Eight of the self-taught, African-American painters from Fort Pierce will set up and sell hundreds of their vibrant landscapes — from the signature royal poinciana to moonlit beaches and Everglades sunsets — inside the historic Sample-McDougald House.
Meet the artists and get first pick of original works at a reception from 6 to 9 p.m. March 23 and at a public opening from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. March 24 and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 25. Tickets for the reception, which includes live music, food and beverages, cost $50. Admission for the Saturday and Sunday shows is $5.
“The Florida Highwaymen event is so special because it offers a different cultural perspective of African-American art,” said Peter Williams, president of the Pompano Beach Historical Society. “These artists are one of the most unique groups of ethnic landscape artists in the world.”
Aging members of the group expected to attend include Doretha Hair Truesdell, Al Black, Curtis Arnett, Mary Ann Carroll, Isaac Knight, Robert Lewis, Willie Reagan and Charles Walker. James Gibson, who usually attended the shows, died in August at age 79.
Truesdell, widow of founding member Alfred Hair, is scheduled to discuss the beginnings of the Highwaymen at 6:30 p.m. March 22 at the Pompano Beach Historical Society, 217 NE Fourth Ave. Food and beverages will be provided. Admission is free.
The Highwaymen painters became known for quickly creating vivid scenes of wild Florida. The works, often still wet, were sold from the trunks of the artists’ cars along U.S. Highway 1 for as little as $10 in the late 1950s and ’60s. They used painting to escape the tomato fields and orange groves during segregation.
Today, some original oils sell for tens of thousands of dollars, and Highwaymen works hang in homes across the United States, in city halls, museums and the White House.
The original 26 artists, including one woman, Mary Ann Carroll, were inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame in 2004.
The annual show benefits preservation efforts for the 4,500-square-foot pioneer homestead built in 1916, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
INFO: Sample-McDougald House is at 450 NE 10th St., Pompano Beach. Info: 954-782-3015, PompanoHistory.com