Image: Harn Museum of Art, Gainesville
The Harn Museum of Art at the University of Florida will open its new 3,600-square-foot art gallery and 1,000-square-foot Bishop Study Center on Tuesday, October 27. The renovation began in October 2025, and the museum has remained open throughout the work.
‘Beyond the Brush: The Florida Art Collection, Gift of Samuel H. and Roberta T. Vickers’ will be the first exhibition in the new gallery. It will remain on display there for two years, featuring 70 paintings, works on paper and sculptures spanning the mid-19th to the mid-20th century.
The exhibition explores Florida as a source of inspiration for artists, residents and tourists through images of historic landmarks, cityscapes, popular destinations, beaches, and the state’s brush and vegetation. It encourages a closer look beyond the painted surface to uncover the overlapping narratives, histories and perspectives of the artists and the subjects they depicted.
Representing nearly 60 artists, the exhibition includes nationally recognized figures in American art such as Martin Johnson Heade, Winslow Homer, Thomas Moran, Louis Comfort Tiffany, John Singer Sargent, Jane Peterson and Doris Lee. It also features regional Florida artists Laura Woodward, Albert Backus, Anthony Thieme, and Highwaymen painters Johnny Daniels and Harold Newton.
The renovated Bishop Study Center is intended for more frequent use by university students and classes studying and engaging with the Harn’s nearly 14,000-work collection. It includes technology for virtual classes that can reach a larger academic audience from any location.
