Highwaymen art exhibit and lecture at The Butler this weekend

“Beautiful Beach Day” by Harold Newton, considered one of the first Highwaymen.

Roger Lightle, an expert in the work of the Florida Highwaymen, will show a large collection of these paintings and give a lecture on the genre on March 27 and 28 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Butler Cultural Center, 84 SE 4 Ave, Vero Beach. The public is invited to this free event.
Lightle,  a Vero Beach contractor, is the president of Highwaymen Art Specialists. His home is filled with the works of these artists and much of his collection is for sale.
He will lecture each day at noon on the Highwaymen, a group of 27 African-American artists who, although lacking in formal artistic training, painted landscapes of Florida’s backwoods, seashore and rivers. They began in the late ‘50s, and because they had no place to show their work, set up their paintings on the roadside giving rise to the name “Highwaymen.”

The Florida Legislature has approved a specialty license plate in honor of the Florida Highwaymen, but 3,000 presale vouchers must be ordered before the plate can go into production. Click here to place a preorder.

Alfred Hair

In 1958, a young African American high school student named Alfred Hair met local artist A.E. Backus, and soon an idea was kindled: creating an artistic path beyond the prevailing racial barriers of the times and toward a brighter, self-made future.
The experienced artist recognized the emerging talent in Hair, and remembering the spirit of altruism that helped him start his own career, he became a mentor. With training in art, audience, and business, Hair launched a movement. He invented a new business plan for himself and a group of friends, whom he taught to paint and to sell paintings up and down the Atlantic coast of Florida … from the trunks of their cars.

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Harold Newton

​Meanwhile, Harold Newton was trying to make his way as an artist. He had heard of the white painter who lived at the end of Avenue C, that he was welcoming to all, and in 1955 he thought it might be worth a visit. What he learned from Backus transformed him — mastering scenes of the Florida landscape, watching the older artist work especially with a palette knife, being encouraged to bring his paintings for helpful critiques — it all inspired Newton to paint like never before.
The roadblocks faced during the years of racial segregation in the 50s and 60s were significant, but these enterprising artists were creative and persevered. With success, their number grew to more than two dozen, painting tens of thousands of works to meet the demand. They later became known as the Florida Highwaymen.
The original Highwaymen blazed their own trail by way of the arts. In 2004, they were recognized in the Florida Artists Hall of Fame, and in 2016, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture opened with 18 Highwaymen paintings in its collection, a testament to the inspiring story that began here.

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