Art Conversation
I Sing Because I am Happy: Florida Self-Taught Artists
Friday, July 10
11:00am - 1:00pm
C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. Public Library
Community Room A & BJoin us for an engaging and interactive discussion led by a museum educator from the Tampa Museum of Art.
Joanna Robotham, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Tampa Museum of Art, will present a talk on three of Florida’s distinguished self-taught artists: Harold Newton, Purvis Young, and Ruby C. Williams. Each artist found success as painters despite the adversity they faced during the Jim Crow era. On the Space Coast, Harold Newton was regarded as one of the pillars of the Florida Highway, a collective known for their idyllic landscapes of Florida’s shorelines and rivers. Purvis Young painted his Overtown neighborhood in Miami in his assemblage artworks. Ruby C. Williams, known locally as Miss Ruby, created vibrant fruit and vegetable signs to advertise her family’s farm in Bealsville. A woman of faith, Miss Ruby also painted imagery with uplighting hymns.
Harold Newton, Purvis Young, and Ruby C. Williams’s art are part of the Tampa Museum of Art’s permanent collection. They are featured artists in the poster exhibition Made in Florida, on view across the Hillsborough County Library system.
C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. Public Library
Today's hours
We're open 10:00AM to 9:00PM
| Mon, Jun 08 | 10:00AM to 9:00PM |
| Tue, Jun 09 | 10:00AM to 9:00PM |
| Wed, Jun 10 | 10:00AM to 9:00PM |
| Thu, Jun 11 | 10:00AM to 9:00PM |
| Fri, Jun 12 | 10:00AM to 6:00PM |
| Sat, Jun 13 | 10:00AM to 6:00PM |
| Sun, Jun 14 | Closed |
The 25,000 square foot C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. Public Library, located in east Tampa, offers a collection of popular materials for customers of all ages as well as a variety of meeting spaces, computers, state-of-the-art technology and instruction, early literacy and family events, and job seeking resources and assistance.