Floridiana Festival & Highwaymen Artist Show The Sunshine State's LARGEST show and sale of vintage Florida souvenris and memorabila, plus Florida Highwaymen art, Saturday, November 5, 2011, at the Historic Garden Club of St. Petersburg.
News-Antique.com - Dec 30,2010 - Celebrate the Floridiana Festival & Highwaymen Artist Show!
Flamingos and alligators and mermaids, oh my! Mark your calendars for Saturday, November 5, from 10 am to 5 pm, when the “Floridiana Festival & Highwaymen Artist Show” returns to St. Petersburg.
Kitsch rules at this show, definitely, but for those looking for some serious, vintage tropical furnishings, it’s also a hot spot to pick up some old rattan, tropical lamps, and beautiful wall art. A very special feature at this 10th edition of the Floridiana Festival & Highwaymen Artist Show is the participation of the original Florida Highwaymen Artists, who will be displaying many of their beautiful land and seascape paintings.
Florida-themed vintage collectibles, and related old tropical decor, are the emphasis of this unique event, and the dealers don't disappoint, saving up both their rarest and wildest merchandise for this special one-day show. Everything from old flamingo and alligator figurines (as well as politically incorrect alligator bags and shoes) to restaurant china and souvenirs from Florida's grand old hotels is available. Several of the participating exhibitors specialize in authentic citrus and cigar box labels, dating back to the start of these industries. Many of the dealers display and sell a large assortment of old Florida postcards, travel maps, tourist attraction brochures, and other related Florida ephemera, and several book sellers focus on vintage books about Florida, both fiction and non-fiction, helping to make the show a destination for academics and also museum staff looking to add to their facilities special collections.
"While there's certainly the fun and kitsch element in many of the old roadside attraction souvenirs that have helped make collecting Floridiana so fun" says show promoter Annette Vedsegaard-Ross, "there's also the tropical allure of the art and home furnishings that contribute to making this such a popular collectible field, like ashtrays and lamps made from Florida's natural elements of palm fronds and shells. And the art is extraordinary, with an emphasis on nature...palm trees and hanging Spanish moss, beautiful sunsets over the water." Naturally, old Florida art is another sought-after item at the show, which always features a great selection of both vintage paintings and photographs, from photograhic artists such as Barnhill and Harris, and also landscape paintings by Florida artists, including those of some of the 26 artists known as the Florida Highwaymen.
The Highwaymen were a group of young, African-American artists who began painting in the 1950's, many traveling the highways of Florida's coastal communities, selling their painting from the trunks of their cars. The participation on November 12th by many of the Florida Highwaymen artists assists in creating an authentic ambiance of old Florida in the Coliseum, and several of the artists will be offering painting demonstrations while selling their works. James Gibson, Issac Knight, Willie Reagan, Roy McLendon Sr., Robert Lewis Jr., Carnell Smith, and Curtis Arnett are some of the Highwaymen that will be participating on November 5th, as well as others.
In addition to the sale of Florida memorabilia and decor, other
