October 17, 2007 - SLC Cultural Affairs To Honor Highwaymen Nov. 4

St. Lucie County Cultural Affairs Council invites the public to a free Highwaymen Florida Artists Hall of Fame Award Celebration on Sunday, Nov. 4 from noon - 4 p.m. at the Fort Pierce Community Center, 600 North Indian River Drive.

The Florida Artists Hall of Fame Award was originally presented to the Highwaymen March 24, 2004 in Tallahassee. However, on Nov. 4, the group of African-American artists will be honored by the St. Lucie County Cultural Affairs Council (CAC) at a special celebration event. Since the state only had one official award, the CAC commissioned local artists Patrick Cochran to replicate 26 awards so that each artist will have their own award. The original award will be housed in one of the glass cases in Fort Pierce City Hall's main lobby.

As part of the celebration, several of the Highwaymen will be selling their work and examples of art painted by the deceased Highwaymen will be on display. Additionally, Zanobia Jefferson will be honored for her encouragement of the Highwaymen. Jefferson is the former Fort Pierce Lincoln Park Academy art teacher who encouraged the young student Alfred Hair to learn from artist A.E. ''Beanie'' Backus, our region's great landscape artist and Florida Artists Hall of Fame participate. Highwayman James Gibson has donated an original painting that will be raffled at the event to benefit the CAC youth scholarship fund.

On Thursday, Oct. 18, at 10 a.m. Gibson and CAC Chair Anita Prentice will be setting up examples of the art work in the windows of the Sunrise Theatre and then City Hall to showcase the work and promote the Nov. 4 event.

For more information on this event and the Cultural Affairs Council, please contact them at (772) 462-1767.