The Art of the Highwaymen: Exhibition

Jan. 15 - March 22, 2015
 
 In 1950s and 1960s, a group of self-taught African American artists known as the Highwaymen worked against segregation and oppressive Jim Crow laws to sell their Florida landscape paintings. Driving from town to town and offering their work from the trunks of their cars, the Highwaymen sold to a diverse audience of doctors, shop owners, and housewives.
 
In the 1990s, articles about their success in Folk Art, People Magazine, and the New York Times brought the Highwaymen new acclaim, and suddenly the public clamored for their paintings. Original works by the Highwaymen became extremely collectible. Surviving artists found themselves staging painting demonstrations and even contributing designs to ornaments for the White House Christmas tree.
 
The Orange County Regional History Center showcases fourteen paintings from its collection created by twelve of the original Highwaymen artists, including Mary Ann Carroll, the only female artist in the collective.