ON THE FLIP SIDE: BLACK
TIE
HATS OFF TO DOLLY: A tip of the hat to the ‘Queen of the Air’ > < OPERA: ‘Aida’ earns its praise with a spectacular opening. 7
ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT DRINK THIS
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2016
YOUROBSERVER.COM
The Clever Cup Coffee Shop A new Gulf Gate café combines java and jewelry — clever, indeed. PAGE 4
DO THIS
VOICES OF THE HIGHWAYMEN Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe honors the art of Florida’s segregation-era painters. NICK FRIEDMAN A+E MANAGING EDITOR
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Music Half
Turn up at the secondannual Sarasota Music Half Marathon — the most fun you’ll have exercising. PAGE 6
HEAR THIS
Renée Fleming
The world-renowned soprano joins the Sarasota Orchestra for a night of classics and pops. PAGE 9
Courtesy photos
Alfred Hair is credited with starting the Florida Highwaymen movement. Above: Highwaymen painted on drywall-like material to cut costs.
lorida, in the 1950s, was a very different place. Although most people associate America’s racially charged Civil Rights Movement with cities like Selma, Montgomery and Birmingham, the struggles of racism and segregation were very much alive in the Sunshine State. For aspiring artists like Alfred Hair, who lived in the coastal city of Fort Pierce, 150 miles east of Sarasota, displaying their paintings in a gallery simply wasn’t an option. If they hoped to make a living as artists, they were going to have to get creative — and they did. Skipping the galleries and hitting the road to sell his work directly to clients, Hair effectively started a movement, inspiring a group of 26 like-minded artists who would later come to be known as the Florida Highwaymen. PAGE 2