Culture the Florida Keys & Key West 2019
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Culture The Florida Keys & Key West 2019 19 Culture.indd 1 10/12/18 11:59 AM welcome to FLORIDA KEYS This delicious home CULTURE was originally built on Green Turtle Cay in The Florida Keys are the Bahamas. Rather incredibly fortunate than build anew when to have an extremely he moved, master diverse and talented shipbuilder John Bartlum disassembled the house, Note from Mayor David Rice art community. The “St. Paul’s” “Bromilead” shipped it to Key West by Susan O’Neill by J.H. Allen artistry runs the gamut of artistic expression, and reassembled it. capturing the beauty and essence of tropical island life and bringing it to life whether it be in works of art, theatre and dance, music, or literature, in wonderful venues up and down the islands. The richness and depth of the Florida Keys art culture is a very special part of our communities from Key Largo to Key West. We look forward to sharing with you our beautiful island life, and the vibrancy of the art that awaits you in the Florida Keys. “Cocky Casanova” “The Banyan House” fla-keys.com by Gabrielle Wilson by CJ Groth Mayor David Rice 1-800-FLA-KEYS table of CONTENTS “Clues to Keys’ Culture in the Architecture” by Alyson Crean ......................................1-3 “Southernmost Special Effects” by Mandy Miles .......................................4-7 Calendar of Events ................................8-13 about the cover artist: “Tropical Celebration” “After the Storm” by Sherry Sweet Tewell by Alyson Crean CJ GROTH Photographer Connie “CJ” Groth has been creating her warm and painterly images of The Florida Keys & Key West for nearly 30 years. An accomplished and prolific photographer, she consistently elevates scenes of everyday island life to fine art. You can see larger works at Art on Duval - CLUES TO KEYS’ CULTURE IN THE A Procaccini Gallery, at 714 Duval Street in Key West. CJ displays her smaller works and prints at Guild Hall Gallery, 614 Duval Street and at the Key West International Airport. “Key West 1st Sunrise of 2018” “Island Transportation” CJ has won many competitions and her art by Bob Slitzan by Kathy Buckard is highly prized by collectors. She is the past chairman of the Florida Keys Council of the ©2018-19 Monroe County Commission. All Rights Reserved. ArchitecturePhotos & Story by Alyson Crean Event listings are for use as a guide in contacting the event coordinator to receive information on dates, times and locations. Every Arts and is active in many arts groups. See new effort has been made to ensure accuracy, but verification should be made when planning to attend these events. Dates, times and work on Facebook at CJ Groth Photography, locations are subject to change. Neither the Monroe County Commission, Monroe County Tourist Development Council, nor their agency may be held liable for incorrect information, errors or omissions. and visit her website at www.CJGroth.com. Culture 1 19 Culture.indd 2 10/19/18 11:24 AM 19 Culture.indd 1 10/12/18 11:59 AM he Florida Keys and Key West have a were designed to let air in and keep intense light out. Broad proud and distinctive history based second floor balconies under the eaves were great places to catch a cool evening breeze. The distinctive “eyebrow” houses on ship building, cigar making, and have second-story windows tucked up under the eaves, giving T the homes a heavy-lidded look that keeps the hot sun from treasure salvaging. That history is reflected, in part, by Key West’s elaborate wooden homes beating through the glass. left by the magnates who built these industries. The cigar making industry of the late 19th Century brought about one of Key West’s most prosperous periods. The A stroll down an Old Town street brings to life the history of population swelled as Cuban cigar barons built factories on the island. Stately oversized ship builders’ homes, small cigar- the island. This labor-intensive industry meant that factory makers’ cottages, bungalows and ornate Victorians all jostle owners needed to provide a place for their employees. These the eye on this two by four spec of land 120 miles from the one and a half story wooden cottages have a small front porch mainland. Two hundred years of influence, of boom and bust, and clapboard siding. Long and narrow, they’re often called of hardship and plenty – all in this diverse subtropical climate shotgun houses because a bullet fired on the front porch would – leaves a diverse architectural heritage. travel down a long hallway and out the back door without a wall to stop it. These cottages still dot Old Town, upgraded and In the mid-19th Century, Key West was a thriving and wealthy gentrified for 21st Century living. city, thanks to the maritime salvage industry. The shipbuilders The stark settlers’ home of the Adderleys in Marathon features open eaves and Bahama shutters who were drawn to the island for work used their craft to build to help beat the heat. about the simple, sturdy homes of Dade County pine. These homes – author: now called Conch houses – were large and airy with lots of today. The Romanesque school featured hardy the Adderleys must have been in order windows. The wood peg craftsmanship has kept many of these dormered roofs and a unique central tower. to settle among the biting insects and the ALYSON homes standing through the severe hurricanes that wracked Its designer, William Kerr, also designed Old unforgiving heat of summer. the island in the early 20th Century. City Hall on Greene Street, another striking In Islamorada, a house built out of tragedy CREAN structure and the home offi ce of the Historic now houses Pasta Panteleo’s Signature Alyson Crean has lived in Key West’s Oldest House, which now houses the Old Island Florida Keys Foundation. Restoration Foundation, is a well-preserved example of the Gallery. This simple concrete house is one Key West for 28 years working simple, sturdy homes constructed by shipbuilders. Built in In 1968, the convent was demolished, and of 29 built by the Red Cross for families as a freelance and staff writer, 1829 by Richard Cussans, the Duval Street house was occupied the community outcry started a movement who lost their homes in the devastating bureau chief and editor. by several generations of a single family for 140 years. that would eventually reach the Florida hurricane of 1935. For ten years, she has served Legislature. In 1969, the Key West Armory Sugarloaf Key was home to one of the as the spokeswoman for the Architecture of the early and mid-1800s in Key West was also – a stately example of Gothic architecture – City of Key West. Crean’s influenced by the Bahamas with its similar climate and dearth weirdest historic structures – the Perky Bat was slated for demolition. Built in 1877, the Tower – until it was toppled by Hurricane work has won awards from of indigenous building material. Several homes built on Green armory was built to support a local militia, Rolling Stone, the Florida Turtle Cay were actually dismantled, shipped to Key West Irma in September of 2017. Richter Clyde This historic bungalow earned an architectural star awarded by the but by mid-century it had fallen into a state Perky was one of the biggest early landowners Press Association, the Oregon and reassembled. The stately Bahama House on Eaton Street, Historic Preservation Foundation for its meticulous renovation. of disrepair. Concerned citizens reached out Newspapers Publisher crafted by master shipbuilder John Bartlum, is one of the few in the Florida Keys with 23,000 acres, and to the legislature, and the state passed a law likely one of the earliest resort speculators. Association and others. remaining examples. Cigar baron Eduardo H. Gato’s home is an example of the that created a preservation commission and He envisioned a massive and exclusive fi shing She founded the literary period’s opulence. The home, now divided into condominiums, The influence of the Florida Keys’ heat in early architecture secured funding to restore the building. By resort on the property, but his vision was magazine Cayo and published is huge with soaring ceilings, tall windows, a central courtyard, cannot be overstated. Homes were built on piers to allow air 1971, the entire Historic District was placed stymied by wetlands. In an effort to fi ght the the short story collection and two cupolas. Built in 1894, it originally stood next to what to flow underneath the house and cool the rooms. A variety of on the National Register, making Old Town horrifi c mosquito population, Perky had the A Key West Concoction. is now called Bayview Park. However, when Gato donated the shutters – from the solid Bahama shutters to various louvres, the largest predominantly wooden historic tower built in 1929. Monroe County historian park – which served as the home’s grounds – to the city, the district in the nation Tom Hambright jokes about the effi cacy of the house was moved a block down Virginia Street to its current If the historic wealth and concentrated tower, speculating that perhaps the mosquitos location. When he returned to Cuba after the death of his wife, population are refl ected in Key West’s drove the bats away. Whatever the reason, no Gato converted the majestic home into an indigent hospital, architecture, the hardy tenacity of the bats ever roosted in it. named for his late wife Mercedes. settlers of the rest of the Keys is apparent Preserving the Keys’ diverse architectural Some outstanding structures in Old Town reflect the ornate in the architecture outside of the city.