The City of Fort Pierce’s annual tribute to the world-renown Florida Highwaymen artists and their contribution to the rich cultural history of Fort Pierce will be postponed until further notice due to COVID-19 concerns.
While the actual festival is postponed, we will still promote local art and culture by way of partnering with St. Lucie Cultural Alliance to host a community-wide landscape art contest. This will encourage artists of all ages while highlighting and promoting the entrepreneurial spirit of the Florida Highwaymen.
The annual city-wide 5th-grade art contest and educational curriculum will still take place this year, with the winners’ artwork being displayed at City Hall throughout the month of March.
In February, a virtual guided tour of the award-winning Highwaymen Heritage Trail will be available at cityoffortpierce.com. The Trail’s colorful markers, magnificent public art, and detailed history will help convey the plight, fortitude, and accomplishments of these African Americans Artists starting in the 1950s through their induction into the Florida Artist Hall of Fame in 2004.
The A.E. Backus Museum and Gallery, 500 N Indian River Drive, in Fort Pierce, will host a special Highwaymen Celebration with a vintage art sale of Highwaymen Paintings on Saturday, February 20th, which typically takes place in conjunction with the annual festival. For more info, contact A.E. Backus Museum and Gallery at 772-465-0630.
The 6th Annual Highwaymen Heritage Trail Art Show and Festival was originally scheduled for Saturday, February 20th from 10 am-4 pm at Moore’s Creek Linear Park, located in the heart of the Lincoln Park neighborhood, the birthplace of the Highwaymen artists who are said to have begun the ‘Last Great American Art Movement of the 20th Century.”
More information on the Highwaymen Heritage Trail or activities celebrating the Florida Highwaymen is available by calling 772-467-3168 or by emailing cscott@cityoffortpierce.com.