Barbara Ready

Explore the human fascination with seashells and their ancient history as global currency, their use as religious and luxury objects, and the remarkable marine mollusks that make them in Ms. Barnett's engaging account of an aspect of nature and culture long hidden in plain sight. Barnett illuminates the beauty and wonder of seashells as well as human ingenuity and scientific solutions they represent for the warming world. No registration or

The nation's first Underground Railroad was established in Florida in the late 17th century, servings as a beacon of freedom for runaway slaves from the American south. Existing before the better-known Northern Underground Railroad, enslaved Africans gained their freedom by escaping and earning asylum in Spanish Florida. This presentation focuses on Florida's early history as a Spanish territory, the escape routes used by runaway slaves, and the black communities they

In 1961, two friends from Broadway visited Key West. Peter Pell and Jim Russell fell in love with their surroundings: brightly-colored flowers, exotic fruits, and resplendent birds. Residents urged them to open a silk-screening factory, which became Key West Hand Print Fabrics. The company began printing and selling textiles to visitors, and hired an artists named Suzie dePoo, who produced a marvelous array of tropical imagery on fabrics. One of

When Newt Perry sank a theater into the edge of Weeki Wachee Springs in 1947, he had no idea his mermaids would become world-famous Florida icons. This presentation covers the fascinating history of Weeki Wachee Springs told through vintage photographs of the resident "mermaids" from their earliest days performing silent ballets to their pinnacle of popularity. Lu Vickers was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship for fiction as

The Florida landscape has provided aesthetic inspiration to artists for centuries. Titian Ramsay Peale and John James Audubon came in search of native flora and fauna, followed by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Martin Johnson Heade, George Inness, Winslow Homer, and Henry Ossawa Tanner, who were lured by its natural beauty and warm climate. This presentation offers a succinct and engaging history of Florida's landscape painters. Keri Watson is an associate professor