In the late 1950’s along the central East Coast of Florida a small group of African American artists started a business venture that wasn’t supposed to happen. The jobs available at the time for these artists were most likely in the orange groves picking fruit or other low paying minimum wage employment. This was the Jim Crow era in the south.

Twenty-six artists that were loosely associated and centered in the Vero Beach Ft. Pierce area eventually made up the group. They traveled the roads selling their artwork to business owners, real estate brokers, lawyer’s offices, banks, and others along the way. In the mid 1990’s Jim Fitch coined the name The Highwaymen due to their sales method.

The Highwaymen artists created an estimated 200,000 paintings but many of the paintings didn’t survive. Many were thrown out and many were damaged.

The artists captured Florida’s natural beauty that is currently being compromised by development. The back woods scenes, breaking waves, palm lined beaches, and river scenes are just a small part of what they painted. They were successful with 60+ years of painting. They have had three articles published in the N. Y. Times, NPR broadcast across the country on three separate occasions and in 2004 the Highwaymen were inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame. In 2015 they were inducted into the Smithsonian in Washington DC. They are in the White House and the Florida Governor’s mansion and countless homes and offices across the country.