Museum of History Current Events and Exhibits

YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg celebrates 90 years! The YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg’s Retrospective Exhibit displays photos and artifacts of historical moments from the YMCA’s 90 year history in the St. Petersburg community as well as its influence nationally. Since 1920, the YMCA has been a constant resource to the community, molding its programs and services to meet the ever-changing needs of all residents. The YMCA now offers more than 70 programs aimed to serve a broad spectrum of community members including children, teens, adults, seniors and disabled individuals regardless of their race, age, religion, or socio-economic status. Each day, the YMCA strives to put Judeo-Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind, and body for all. As a non-profit organization, the YMCA receives funding for all programs and services through facility memberships, program fees, partnerships, grants and fundraising efforts. The YMCA is proud to be an integral part of this great community and will continue our work towards building a healthier community in spirit, mind and body.

Images of the Past meet the Photography of the Future This St. Petersburg first ever photographic event is a visual feast that combines both history and advanced technology. You are invited to the St. Petersburg Museum of History which is hosting the first area HDR Photography exhibit with the cooperation of 14 Pinellas County photographers. The exhibit showcases photographic recreations of 33 historical images selected from the museum archives using cutting edge digital photography called high dynamic range. HDR produces images with an exceptionally broad tonal range of luminosity. The 14 area photographers who volunteered for this effort range from pros to talented amateurs; a retired physician to a soon-to-be mom.

Now on Temporary Exhibit at the St. Petersburg Museum of History: Original Highwaymen Paintings! About the Florida Highwaymen: In the early 1950’s through the 1980’s a group of twenty-six African-American artists known as the "Florida Highwaymen" used vivid and bright colors to display the beautiful untouched Florida landscape. The Florida Highwaymen painted wind-bent palm trees, serene sunsets, churning oceans and bright red Poinciana trees. They painted from their garages and back yards on inexpensive Upson board and then on the weekends they would travel and sell their Highwaymen paintings to hotels, offices, businesses and individuals who appreciated the artwork for around $25 a piece. In 2004 the 26 original Florida Highwaymen were inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame. The Highwaymen are credited for encouraging the beginning of the "Indian River School" and "Backus" art movements and have many followers but these 26 individuals are the only true "Highwaymen Collecting Florida Highwaymen art has become an exciting, but often expensive, hobby. The market for an original work of art by a Florida Highwayman can easily bring $5,000 or more. Some of the Highwaymen who are still living have resumed painting to meet the continuing demand for their work. Please take your time to browse our collection on loan from Safety Harbor Museum of regional History’s Delaplane Collection. THE DELAPLANE COLLECTION These Highwaymen paintings were not acquired over a long period of time with a goal of completeness or an eye to investment. The collection was a spontaneous event; a happy passion inspired by my husband Channing’s affection for Bean Backus, the famous white Florida landscape artist who taught Harold Newton and Alfred Hair and mentored many other young black artists to be. They were named the Highwaymen by Jim Fitch, a Florida art historian, because of the way they sold their paintings along A1A. Restricted by illness and often in great pain, the paintings enlivened the last months of Channing’s life. He selected the first exhibit canvas in February, 2003; his final choice was a commission that arrived three days after his death. In less than five months more than 40 paintings, each lovingly selected, filled our walls. They were purchased from the artists at exhibits and their studios, and from art galleries and private collections. After World War II, Channing settled in Ft. Pierce where he met Bean, forming an enduring friendship. In 1967 we met and married spending our honeymoon in Bean’s cottage on the island of Jamaica. In 1970 we asked Bean to paint two canvases. Oh, how I wish we had asked him for more. Please view this selection of paintings from our collection, with your heart as well as your eyes. It is a tribute to Bean and all the artists known as the Highwaymen. Their creativity has given us a record of a beloved Florida that is so rapidly disappearing. We cherish this gift they have given us. - Ruth Delaplane

History is just a phone call away at the St. Petersburg Museum of History (St. Petersburg, Florida) Most experts agree, that using your cell-phone while driving is probably unsafe or at least a distraction. But at the St. Petersburg Museum of History, your cell-phone helps take you on a trip back in time. "It’s as easy as dialing a local number," said Nevin Sitler, the museum’s Education Curator. "Utilizing their personal cell-phone, patrons are able to explore the museum in more detail… and on their own time." Cell-phone tours allow visitors to replay narratives or skip ahead while touring the museum and, according to Sitler, provide a new level of convenience for patrons. More importantly, he continues, the audio tour enables visually impaired guests to more fully experience the museum and unique collections. In the museum’s continual quest for accessibility for all guests, the cell-phone audio tour is a perfect addition to the newly installed touch-screen computers located through out the galleries, which provide further explanations for arm-chair historians and/or the hearing impaired. "No longer will our hearing or visually challenged guests feel neglected," notes Sitler, "this is a 21st Century leap forward in bridging those gaps." While cell-phone tours are a growing trend among larger museums and historic cities, the St. Petersburg Museum of History is one of only a few cultural resources in the Tampa Bay region embracing this technology. In fact, points out Sitler, the history museum is likely the first institution in Pinellas County to offer this high-tech benefit free of charge to guests. The Museum is pleased to have worked in conjunction with the Pinellas County Cultural Affairs Department and neighboring cultural organizations in obtaining and making the audio tour available for our guests enjoyment of the Museum Whether trekking with 16th century European explorers, viewing a mummy, or experiencing the thrill of the World’s First Commercial Airline, history is just a phone call away at the St. Petersburg Museum of History. For more details, visit www.spmoh.org, or call Nevin Sitler, Education Curator, at 727-894-1052 ext. 206.

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Copyright 2010. The Museum's programs are funded in part by: 1) the Pinellas County Commission through the Pinellas County Arts Council Cultural Development Grant Program; 2) the Historical Museum's Grants-In-Aid Program, Division of Cultural Affairs, Fl. Dept. of State; 3) the City of St. Petersburg; 4) Visit Florida-The St. Petersburg/Clearwater Convention and Visitors Bureau; 5) Pinellas County Community Foundation; and from Individual and Corporate donors, such as yourself. Thank You!