OCTOBER 1, 2001 – JANUARY 1, 2002

Between the 1930s and the early 1950s, the historic city of St. Augustine, Florida had a thriving cultural community that attracted hundreds of American artists. Today, some of these artists are famous, some are relatively well known, and others have fallen into obscurity.

St. Augustine developed into the largest art colony in the South through the efforts of a small group of dedicated professional and amateur resident artists who founded the St. Augustine Arts Club in 1931. Renamed the Arts Club of St. Augustine in 1934, and St. Augustine Art Association in 1948, this organization served as the nucleus of the city’s artistic activity. In an unusual alliance between culture and commerce, the Art Association was avidly supported by St. Augustine’s civic-minded businessmen and retail merchants, who recognized that it had the potential to contribute to the city’s economic revival.

During the three decades proceeding, during, and after World War II, St. Augustine, Florida was a haven for artists from northern art centers, such as Rockport and Provincetown, Massachusetts and Woodstock, New York. Their stylistically diverse works often reflected the historical ambience and sunny weather of the Nation’s Oldest City. Over 60 works by these artists such as Tod Lindenmuth, Blanche Lazzell, Anthony Thieme, and Emmett Fritz are displayed in the museum’s Transition Gallery.

Accompanying this exhibit is a full color catalog by art historian Robert W. Torchia.

BACK