ART
Hutchinson meticulously detailed the traditional garments of the Seminoles
as portrayed in this portrait of Annie Tommy.
17
when she died in 1960, the Hutchinsons were two of the few
whites to attend her funeral.
“She had written books that were sitting on the shelves in
the Fort Pierce library,” says Hutchinson, shaking his head.
“And because of Jim Crow laws, she could not walk into that
library to do her own research.”
One night in 1955, the couple went to the Flamingo, a juke
joint on Avenue D, to hear a calypso band they knew from
Nassau. They were arrested for disturbing the peace and
breaking the color line of segregation.
According to Hutchinson, Backus hired two lawyers who
fought a two-year legal battle. They became known in the
area newspapers as the “calypso cats.” When The Miami
Herald reported that the charges finally were dropped, the
headline read, “Calypso Cats Get Last Meow.”
UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY
The couple married in 1956, living on a teacher’s pay and
the sales of Jim’s paintings, when a unique opportunity arose.
“I was painting and wasn’t getting anywhere,” he says.
“Then we read an article in The Miami Herald about the
Seminole and Miccosukee tribes and how life was changing
for them. We thought it was an opportunity to paint the native
Florida Indians and how they lived before they gave up
the old ways.”
Backed by funding from a foundation grant, the couple
moved to Brighton Reservation, where the Seminoles were
still living in chickees and wearing traditional dress. The
couple camped on a flatbed truck and slept on an inflatable
mattress. Because they didn’t have electricity, they contrived
a way to hold a candle on their stomachs so they could read
>>
Free Family-Fun On View Throughout the Summer in the Alice and Jim Beckwith Sculpture Park
CELEBRATING 25 YEARS: Sculpture from the Permanent Collection
Vero Beach Museum of Art
3001 Riverside Park Drive
Vero Beach, Florida 32963
(772) 231-0707
Hanneke Beaumont, Bronze #56 (detail), 2003, bronze and Cor-ten steel, ed. 2/8, Museum
Purchase with funds provided by the Athena Society, 2009.004
CLOSED MONDAYS THRU LABOR DAY
Tues - Sat 10 am - 4:30 pm
Sun. 1 pm - 4:30 pm
www.verobeachmuseum.org
John R. Henry, Vero, 1987, painted aluminum, Gift of Janet and Clark Daugherty, 1999.018
Joseph Wesner, Pherein Shaprea, 1990, welded steel, sandstone,
paint and wax, 71 x 31 x 22 inches, Museum Purchase with
funds provided by the Samuel A. Burns Memorial Fund, 1992.014
25CELEBRATING • INNOVATION • EXCELLENCE FOR 25 YEARS
/www.verobeachmuseum.org
/www.verobeachmuseum.org