Have you ever heard of the Highwaymen?
No, it's not an obscure indie band.
It was an ad hoc group of African-American artists during the civil rights era, documenting the Florida landscape they loved, in oil on board. They got their name by walking and driving up and down US Highway 1, peddling their paintings in office buildings, on street corners, in vacant lots next to the cheesy fruit-n-souvenir stands that used to dot the lonely stretches of road between towns.
When I was a little girl growing up on Florida's Treasure Coast, I didn't know there was a grassroots art movement in the African-American community of Lincoln Park and other segregated neighborhoods. But there was. Quite a few people outside the black community were interested in their work (my dad bought one of Harry Newton's paintings). The paintings of Florida's quintessential landscape artist, AE "Beanie" Backus, were highly influential. One of the Highwaymen, Alfred Hair, actually studied with Bean.
But the Highwaymen went beyond Bean's eye. Bean's work was naturalistic, sometimes impressionistic. His colors were vibrant, but not electrifying. The Highwaymen paintings have intense, riveting colors. The paint is laid on so thick, it almost looks like they used palette knives. Some people don't really like their stuff, thinking it's overdone. And they never quite had the cachet of Bean's stuff -- until recently.
These paintings are going for very pretty pennies these days, but -- and here's the catch -- their story isn't well-known outside the state. Even I don't know all of it, and I grew up with one of their paintings in the house.
This could change, however. And this is where you -- ALL of you -- could come in.
A film is being made in Orlando. Stars North has a narrative film project on the boards. But, like most indie films, they need money for the project. Their fundraiser site on kickstarter has a tally of days left, the total number of supporters, the amount of money raised thus far and the target amount.
That goal is only $100,000. They've got almost $16,000. They have 17 days to go to reach it.
Disclaimer: I am not involved in this project. I may be able to kick $25 their way, but that's about it. I only found out about this because my sister linked to it on her Facebook page.
I know a lot of Kossacks are hurting for money. But some of you aren't. This is a part of African-American cultural and social history that needs to be told and reach a wider audience. It won't happen unless they can raise the money.
I believe it's a worthwhile project. These artists deserve to be better known outside the state and outside the arts community. Several years ago, the New York Times reviewed a scholarly book on them. How much attention that garnered this movement, the artists' stories, isn't terribly clear to me. It's one hell of a story, people.
Sadly, the respectable sums these paintings now command do not necessarily go to the artists and their families. It goes to those who bought those paintings way back when. I want these men and women to get their due, the acknowledgement nationally of what they accomplished during a particularly ugly time. Even if you cannot spare something for this, please spread the word. These filmmakers need an angel or ten, and I'd like to see them get what they need to tell this story.