The Florida Highwaymen Obelisk                 Home

concept and design by Stephanie Jaffe Werner
manufactured by Mosaika Art & Design www.mosaikadesign.com please visit the installation blog at Mosaika to see the obelisk in progress

In the late 1950's a group of African American artists began to skillfully capture the serene landscapes of their time. The artists painted under shaded backyard trees to escape picking oranges during the Jim Crow segregation era. They traveled Florida’s highways selling their paintings from their cars for $25 each. They came to be known as the “FLORIDA HIGHWAYMEN” The 19' high obelisk is embellished with hand-glazed ceramic mosaic tile interpreting selections of paintings by the Highwaymen.  The images are arranged in a rainbow flowing from top to bottom in red, green, blue, to orange.  The obelisk will be adorned with a ‘hat’ covered in silver mirrored tile, which will glisten in the sunlight and denote inspiration.  The imagery for the bottom portion of the obelisk is done in hand-carved ceramic tile in the style of woodcuts.