Key West Custom House exhibit

Key West Custom House exhibit

February 14, 2008

Photos:

Top - 20080210 Key West Custom House American Gothic sculpture…
Bottom - 20080214 Key West Custom House outside sculpture…

The Key West Museum of Art & History in the Custom House: The living past in a vibrant future

http://www.kwahs.com/customhouse.htm

Follow a path once traveled by wreckers, pirates, and politicians to South Florida's most important historic building. The Custom House, built in 1891, served as a post office, court house and government center when wrecking made Key West the richest city, per capita, in the U.S. But by the 1930s, the island city was bankrupt. Eventually, the building was boarded up and completely abandoned. Now, after a 9-year, $9 million restoration project, the Key West Art & Historical Society has returned the big red brick building to its former glory.

See folk artist Mario Sanchez's colorful wood paintings of old Key West.

Meet Key West's famous people through portraits by Paul Collins.

Stand in the very room where the U.S. decided to go to war with Spain, following the sinking of the battleship USS Maine.

Learn about Ernest Hemingway's life in Key West, where he wrote many of his most famous novels. See his bloodstained WWI uniform and other personal items that created his legendary status as an adventurer and writer.

Discover how pirates prowled the inlets of the Keys to hide themselves and their loot - and how the Navy rid the local waters of the "Brethren of the Coast.”

Feel the history of Key West come alive in the big red brick building - The "Coolest" Museum in Town!

Who Is Key West? Internationally acclaimed painter Paul Collins displays his modern renditions of Key West's most memorable characters past and present, featuring subjects from Henry Flagler to Mario Sanchez, Fuzzy the Cobbler to Ernest Hemingway and more.

Mario Sanchez - Painter Of Old Key West - 2nd Floor. His detailed depictions of life in Key West during the early 20th Century have made him one of the country's most sought after folk artists. Sanchez' creations are mostly reliefs carved into wood panels and then brightly colored. They reflect street scenes, places and people from his past in amazingly accurate detail and with a profound sense of humor.

Coping With Depression, the WPA in the 1930s - Dogwood Gallery - Exhibit depicts Key West in the '30s through drawings, sketches, intaglio prints, paintings and promotional brochures produced by the artists of the Works Art Project.

The Key West Museum of Art & History in the Custom House, 281 Front Street, Key West, Florida 33040

Click here to find the Custom House with Google Maps

Open Everyday from 9:30 am - 4:30 pm

Closed Christmas

Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for children (children under 6 Free) and students with ID. $9.00 for Seniors (62+), AAA Travelers, and Locals with ID.Members - Free.

Group Rates also available. Rental of the facility and free tours are available.

Call 305-295-6616 Ext. 16 for information.

Click Here to See More Pictures of the Custom House in Key West

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20080214 Key West Custom House exhibit

Kevin Dayhoff www.kevindayhoff.net http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/