Florida Saltmarsh Marsh Landscapes

For the 500^th Anniversary of Ponce de Leon, The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens partnered with artist Jim Draper to celebrate the beauty of Florida’s native habits with Jim Draper:  Feast of Flowers.  The twenty-nine paintings in the exhibition showcase nine of Florida’s ecosystems. 

Through his paintings, the artist developed a deep appreciation for the native landscape of Florida and considers himself an environmentalist, who uses his art to promote conservation of these special environments. 

Art Adventures students studied the painting Willie Brown's Marsh then compared it to other Florida landscapes within the exhibit. They learned that salt marshes are a vital part of the Florida seashore environments providing a valuable nursery habitat for marine wildlife.  After this discussion, students returned to the studio to create their own version of a salt marsh landscape.