Wild Waters: Rivers, Lakes, Wetlands, Coast and the Florida Wildlife Corridor

Wild Waters: Rivers, Lakes, Wetlands, Coast, and the Florida Wildlife Corridor

September 1, 2025 – August 2026

Sunny beaches, exotic swamps and winding rivers—these are the iconic Florida landscapes captured by the artists represented in The Florida Art Collection, a transformational gift from Samuel H. and Roberta T. Vickers to the Harn Museum of Art. Drawn exclusively from this collection, Wild Waters: Rivers, Lakes, Wetlands, Coast and the Florida Wildlife Corridor showcases nearly forty paintings dated between 1871 and 1965 by more than 30 artists who were intrigued by Florida’s natural beauty. Travel across the United States and to Florida in the late 19th and early 20th centuries presented a significant challenge. By the mid-20th century, however, travel to Florida was booming due to new rail and highway networks—along with the availability of air conditioning. Although a few of the artists represented in Wild Waters lived in Florida, such as Franz Josef Bolinger, Harold Etter and Buell Whitehead, most traveled from across the United States to capture the state’s natural beauty in their paintings. Additional artists featured include Maria a’Becket, Earl Cunningham, Sarah Harvey, Charles Robert Knight, Frank Henry Shapleigh, William Aiken Walker and Mabel May Woodward.

The paintings in Wild Waters are organized along four thematic sections: Rivers, Lakes, Wetlands and Coast. The “Rivers” section features views of the Ocklawaha, St. Johns and Caloosahatchee Rivers and Phillippi Creek. The “Lakes” section includes scenes from St. Petersburg, Lake Wales, Orlando and Winter Park. “Wetlands” includes views of coastal salt marshes, mangrove swamps, inland swamps and Florida’s famed Everglades. Finally, “Coast” is the largest thematic section with views depicting the beauty and fragility of Florida’s coastline across the state.

Wild Waters draws from The Florida Art Collection to spark conversations about how Florida’s natural environment has been represented historically and how it exists today, particularly within the Florida Wildlife Corridor, a statewide network of nearly 18 million acres of protected and unprotected wild and working landscapes. Water and land are deeply connected in Florida. With over 13.5 million acres of water, the state relies on its rivers, lakes, wetlands and coastlines to support essential wildlife and habitat. This exhibition highlights the importance of water resources in Florida for maintaining natural communities as well as the economic, recreational and other services that humans rely upon.

Wild Waters is organized by the Harn Museum of Art in partnership with the UF Center for Landscape Conservation Planning, and is guest curated by Eleanor Laughlin, Art and Museum Exhibition Coordinator at the Center for Landscape Conservation Planning.