Featured Artists

Florida Highwaymen Featured Artists

Unveiling the Talent and Stories Behind the Art

Al Black

Al Black was born in 1947 in the state of Mississippi and moved to Fort Pierce in the 1960’s. He honed his craft of sales at a Typewriter company. Founding member of the Florida Highwaymen Alfred Hair noticed he had a talent for sales and recruited him in 1964 to be the sell paintings for the group. Black was an exceptional salesman who was said to never have come back without a painting sold. His sales methods worked better than anybody thought possible and he trained the other Highwaymen to sell using his approach. but he also started honing another ability which was painting his own art. He learned from the highwaymen and eventually began painting his own works which he still does to this day. Al Black was sentenced to prison in 1997 until his release in 2006 which he stated “saved his life. While in prison he was inducted in the Florida Artist Hall of Fame in 2004 for his work with the Highwaymen which had experienced a resurgence of interest during this time.

Alfred Hair

Alfred Hair was the cofounder of the Florida Highwaymen group alongside Harold Newton, and was the visionary for the groups painting and sales methods. He was born in 1941 in Ft Pierce, FL. As a young adult he met A.E. Backus who was an already established artist. Backus gave him lessons in landscape painting and inspired Alfred Hair to be a full time artist and salesman. Hair eventually teamed up with Harold Newton and formed the Florida Highwaymen, prioritizing fast painting as a tactic to produce as many paintings as possible in a short period of time so that they can go door to door or on the side of the highways and sell many paintings for cheaper rather than less paintings for a higher price. This strategy was invented as a way to sell art without the help of Art Galleries because during the current time period segregation laws in Florida would not allow African American artists to be sold in traditional Art Galleries. Alfred Hair was shot and killed in an argument at a bar on August 9th, 1970 at the age of 29 but his legacy lived on as the other 25 Highwaymen continued to paint and sell as taught by Hair. He was inducted in the Florida Artists hall of fame in 2004 a long with the other Highwaymen he mentored.

Alphonso Moran

Perhaps the most mysterious of the Florida Highwaymen, Alphonso Moran has less paintings in circulation than any other Highwaymen. While the quantity was low the quality was definitely amongst the best. An extremely talented painter he went on to become a successful pool shark, gambler, house painter, and barber which at the time was more profitable for him than selling paintings. He died a year before being inducted in the Florida Artists Hall of Fame in 2004.

Carnell Smith

Born in 1950 in Buckley W. Virginia. Carnell Smith came from a troubled family in which his father murdered his mother in a drunken rage. Growing up without both of his parents present as a result of this incident he found peace when he was introduced to art by his teacher at Lincoln Park Academy after moving to Ft Pierce. His older sister married Alfred Hair and like this he was introduced to the Florida Highwaymen. Smith filled many roles as a part of the Highwaymen collective, including making frames, joining Al Black on his sales trips, painting some of Alfred Hairs backgrounds and eventually painting on his own after Hairs death. He was late to find out about the groups renascence but was happy to enjoy it until his passing in 2015.

Charles “Chico” Wheeler

A character with mystique, very little is know about Charles “Chico” Wheelers early and personal life. He is believed to have been born in 1946 in Fort Pierce, Florida. He was introduced as a frame maker to the Florida Highwaymen and learned to paint by watching the other members. Differing from the other Highwaymen, Chico painted a lot of human figures, cars, and often used bright purple and orange colors. His work has been featured in the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture. He passed away in July 12, 2019.

Charles Walker

Charles Walker was born in 1945 in Fort Pierce, Florida and began creating art at the age of 5. He went to Lincoln Park Academy and his art teacher there, Zanobia Jefferson was a major influence in terms of opening his interest in art. Jefferson also taught Highwayman Carnell Smith. Charles Walker’s wife was Livingston Roberts sister and through her he was introduced to the Florida Highwaymen. He didn’t start painting landscapes until 1970 and forewent the Highwaymen’s fast-painting style in favor of taking his time on paintings; known to have taken up to a. Month and a half to finish a single painting. He was admitted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame in 2004 and passed away in 2022.

Curtis Arnette

CCurtis Arnett was born in 1950 in Greenville, FL and relocated to Fort pierce with his family at the age of 5. He started painting at the age of 7 after receiving a watercolor set as a gift. He accidentally met the man that taught the Florida Highwaymen, A.E. Backus, at the age of 12 when riding his bicycle. By the age of 17 he was already selling his paintings on the side of the Highways and going door to door with the other Highwaymen. Arnett pays great attention to detail in his paintings and is known for his extremely intricate depictions of trees, plants, and leaves. He is one of the few Highwaymen that are still alive and painting.

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