Post Cards from the Edge
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It’s amazing what you can find in your own backyard. On a recent trip to Lakeland, Florida and Mount Dora, Florida, a friend and I stopped in at Grassy Waters Preserve, a 20 square mile wetland preserve in eastern Palm Beach County.
Our intent was to see a show of Highwaymen art. The Highwaymen are a group of African American artists from the 1950’s to the 1980’s who produced their art and sold it along the highways of Florida to tourists as the visited the sunshine state. The exhibition space was in the preserve office and contained around 40 Highwaymen artists.
While viewing the art, we met Roger Lightle of Vero Beach. He proceeded to tell us of another exhibit in the Vero Beach area and then he explained he was a collector of Highwaymen art and has approximately 250 of their paintings. He is featured in the Winter 2016 magazine Indian River. The magazine explains how Roger and his wife built their home to house the art. The home is made of reinforced concrete to withstand hurricanes to protect the art.
It was a perfect day to visit the preserve. There are boardwalks throughout the area around the nature center. It was especially nice to see young kids tromping through the water and mud with instructors learning about the preserve, the flora and fauna.
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