LAKELAND, FLA.- This spring, the Polk Museum of Art presents nearly 70 works of the prodigious and widely popular group of artists known as the Florida Highwaymen in an original exhibition entitled “The Art of the Highwaymen: From the Woodsby Family Collection.” The exhibition, featuring works drawn entirely from the Woodsby family’s private collection, will be on view from February 12 through May 22, 2022 in the Museum’s main galleries.

While the paintings themselves showcase beautiful Florida landscapes, including lush wetlands, warm beaches, and native Florida flora, the story of the artists behind these successful paintings is one of perseverance and determination. During 1950s America, still in the throes of segregation, a group of self-taught African American painters decided to follow their passion, despite the obstacles of racism and poverty set in their paths. Over the next forty years, the Highwaymen created nearly 200,000 works, traveling along Florida’s highways and selling their art from the trunks of their cars or door to door, allowing Florida natives and tourists to take home an original oil painting and a piece of Florida all their own.

This large-scale academic exhibition revisits the Highwaymen, examining their legacy and key place in art history, studying the complete story of their rise and seeking answers for their unexpected mass appeal. Finally, Florida art that was once deemed lowbrow and rejected from museums and galleries but celebrated widely by eager consumers receives its moment in the sun, right here in Lakeland.

“The Highwaymen hold a unique, if under-recognized, space in the history of art, and we are so grateful to the Woodsby family for sharing their vast collection with our audiences,” said Dr. H. Alexander Rich, executive director and chief curator of the Polk Museum of Art. “Beyond their fame in Florida, remarkable itself for a group of Black artists working in the mid-20th century American South, the Highwaymen were as pioneering a set of artists as in any era, something textbooks simply don’t recognize today.”

Intended originally as decor for the Woodsby family restaurant, Johnnie’s Hideaway, to evoke its nostalgic mid-century Florida atmosphere, the collection has grown and grown alongside the Woodsby’s deep interest in the remarkable story of the Highwaymen. This is the first time these incredible works have been displayed in the space of a museum.

“The Art of the Highwaymen: From the Woodsby Family Collection” will be on view in the Museum’s Dorothy Jenkins Gallery from February 12 – May 22, 2022 and in Gallery II from March 12 through May 22, 2022. Special thanks to the Woodsby Family and the Museum’s Affiliate Partner, Florida Southern College, and our Exhibition Partner, the Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Foundation.