Leesburg Center for the Arts hosting Florida Highwaymen exhibit

Cindy Peterson
·2 min read
Toni Stokes stands in front of The Highwaymen collection at the Leesburg Center for the Arts. [Cindy Peterson/Correspondent]
Toni Stokes stands in front of The Highwaymen collection at the Leesburg Center for the Arts. [Cindy Peterson/Correspondent]

LEESBURG — The Leesburg Center for the Arts debuted a private collection of paintings by The Florida Highwaymen on Friday.

The Stokes family — Jody, Toni and Sandy —  put together their 26-piece historic collection to share with the community. "The Florida Highwaymen, A Family’s Perspective" will be up through Aug. 26.

“I’ve been collecting these since 1999,” Toni Stokes said. “It was interesting how we came to love them. My dad was having bypass surgery and was in the ICU, and I was reading in the New York Times an article about the Highwaymen and became fascinated with their story. Plus, I love their artwork because it depicts my Florida.”

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The Stokes Family is displaying its collection of The Highwaymen artwork at the Leesburg Center for the Arts in August.
The Stokes Family is displaying its collection of The Highwaymen artwork at the Leesburg Center for the Arts in August.

In the early 1950s, a group of 26 Black artists, known as the Florida Highwaymen, painted pictures of Florida landscape with beautiful oil-based colors. They would travel and sell their artwork to provide for their families, often selling out of the back of their cars, for around $25 a piece.

Today, those one-of-a-kind pieces sell for $1,000 to $1,500.

“Back then, there were no African Americans represented in art,” Toni said. “Most worked in the field and these men, and one woman, took art lessons from a white man and the group grew from that.”

Toni Stokes tells about her favorite paintings by The Highwaymen at the Leesburg Center fort the Arts. [Cindy Peterson/Correspondent]
Toni Stokes tells about her favorite paintings by The Highwaymen at the Leesburg Center fort the Arts. [Cindy Peterson/Correspondent]

One of the paintings from the original Highwayman, Alfred Hair, is also on display. Others artists include Horace Foster, Sam Newton, James Gibson, Willie and Johnny Daniels and Curtis Arnett.

One piece in particular is dear to Toni’s heart.

“I had the privilege of meeting Curtis Arnett, one of the Highwaymen artists, and he came to my home for dinner and painted a picture of my backyard,” Toni said. “He has another one of Johnsons Point, which reminded me of where my dad would take us fishing. The Highwaymen are really the last great American art movement and we are happy to share it with everyone.”

See the show

"The Florida Highwaymen, A Family’s Perspective" is on display at the Leesburg Center for the Arts through Aug. 26. The center is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. It's located at 429 West Magnolia Street in downtown Leesburg. For more information, visit LeesburgArts.com. 

This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: Leesburg Center for the Arts hosts private collection of Highwaymen works