Exhibits

Online Exhibition Beneath the touristy exterior of Key West’s bars, beaches, restaurants and sunset celebrations lies a subtler culture of literary residents and visitors.  For decades, the island has enjoyed a long tradition of luring artists, poets, authors and playwrights to its bohemian setting.  It has been home – or at least home away from […]

In Focus – Photographs from the Permanent Collection Online Exhibition To celebrate its recent photograph digitization project, the Key West Art & Historical Society presents this online photography exhibition drawn exclusively from the Society’s permanent collection. In Focus features more than 60 photographs that showcase the depth and variety of the museum’s rapidly-expanding collection. The […]

Tennessee Williams The Playwright and the Painter The gallery contains 15 of the writer’s paintings dating from the 1970s.  The paintings were donated to the Key West Art & Historical Society from David Wolkowsky, one of Williams’ closest friends who hosted him at his private island on Ballast Key on multiple occasions, and at his […]

As the 100th anniversary of Tennessee Williams’ birth approached in 2011, Dennis Beaver, local businessman and community activist, met with staff members at the Key West Art & Historical Society to discuss ways to celebrate this milestone event.  They felt strongly that Key West needed to honor this international celebrity who had been an island […]

Robert The Doll is one-of-a-kind, handmade doll created around the turn of the 20th century.  Standing 40 inches tall and stuffed with wood wool known as excelsior, he is dressed in a sailor suit and once bore painted features not unlike those of a jester.  His unusual size indicates he may have been fashioned in […]

Mario Sanchez’s painted woodcarvings not only provide insights into an island rich in culture and traditions, but also illustrate the lives of real people from widely diverse backgrounds, living together in America’s Southernmost City.  Mario spent most of his life in Key West.  His work reflects his often-stated belief that ‘every generation should tell the […]

In July 1934, Key West, once one of the richest cities in Florida, formally declared itself bankrupt. Of the 13,000 people who inhabited the town, 80% were on relief rolls and the City was deeply in debt. Once-flourishing sponge and cigar industries had long since moved elsewhere making it difficult for Key West residents to […]

Stanley Papio moved to Key Largo in 1949, at a time when the island was largely uninhabited.  He had no neighbors, there were no businesses on his doorstep, he lived an isolated life on a stretch of U.S. 1 at Mile Marker 101.  A welder in the U.S. Army during World War II, he took […]

After the 1846 hurricane destroyed the original lighthouse at Whitehead Point, the U.S. government began construction on a new tower the following year further inland.  Without modern radar, the lighthouse served as the only warning ships had about the hazardous waters of the Lower Keys. Tending the lighthouse was a dangerous job that demanded the […]

Originally built as a Civil War fortification, Fort East Martello has served several purposes over the years.  Its last role was as a training facility for the Navy and Army during World War II, after which time the Fort fell into disuse and decay.  After extensive restoration, the Society opened it in 1950 to the […]