Every year Museum of the Everglades collaborates with our local school – one of the last two K-12 public schools on a single campus in the state of Florida – to create an exhibit that celebrates a specific aspect of this unique community. Students submit artwork, photos, videos, stories, interviews and more to help us share a part of the character and history of the area with visitors from around the world. A contest with cash prizes is held with a variety of categories open to currently enrolled students of all ages.
This year we have invited them to join us in celebrating America 250 by sharing what the American Spirit means to them and how their lives and those of their families and friends connect them to the two and a half century-long tradition of pursuing the American Dream.
The exhibit will be augmented with historic information and established traditional stories that provide context for the creative responses the students have submitted.
The exhibit explores a small fraction of the life and beauty beneath the water through the vivid oil paintings of Inez Hudson. For this collection, the artist used the dive videos of her friends, Tom and Bridget, as an inspiration and resource. Working from screenshots of the film footage, Hudson brings the brilliant diversity of our underwater world to her canvases in strokes of vibrant color. Step into the museum and come along on the dive with her!
SELF DOCUMENTED: Community Memory & Lived Experience Art Exhibition
July 7, 2026- October 24, 2026
A community exhibition centered on storytelling, memory, and lived experiences within the immigrant community of Immokalee and neighboring communities.
The Untold Stories of the Mexican Railroad Braceros of World War II
September 8, 2026 – December 23, 2026
Discover the lasting contributions of the little-known chapter in American and Mexican history that helped sustain the United States transportation network during World War II. Explore the origins of the Railroad Bracero Project, the journey of workers from Mexico to the United States, and their demanding work maintaining the nation’s railways during wartime efforts.
This exhibit celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month alongside ARTEVIVA! and Honorando Nuestra Historia.
Airboats in the Everglades
October 20, 2026 - February 6, 2027
The Everglades, with its vast expanses of sawgrass savannahs, mangrove swamps dotted with tree islands and hardwood hammocks, is almost synonymous with the airboat. While best known as waterborne thrill rides that no trip to the region is complete without, airboats serve a variety of other crucial roles ranging from search and rescue to commercial utility work. They also play a crucial role in environmental conservation. This exhibit will explore the history of the airboat from its invention at the beginning of the 1900s to the massive modern tour boats of today with explorations of those creations and innovations that were specific to the Everglades environment. There will also be a section exploring changes in airboat safety that includes never-before-displayed artifacts from the family of Willard Yates, who was the first airboat fatality at the age of 30 in 1946. An overview of airboats in popular culture spanning from Gentle Ben to Guardians of the Glades and beyond rounds out the exhibit - giving visitors the added bonus of a ready-made list of movies and old tv shows ripe for a family nostalgia night.
Screw You, Worms - A history of screwworms and the Florida Cattle industry
October 27, 2026 - February 27, 2027
Join us for an exhibit focused on one of Florida’s least favorite insects, the screwworm. How long have these flies been around, how do they affect wildlife and the cattle we ranch in Florida, and what is being done today?
Thrift Style
November 10, 2026 - March 14, 2027
Thrift Style explores the reuse of feed sacks to make clothing and other household objects during the particularly challenging time of the Great Depression and World War II. It not only spotlights one of the best examples of upcycling in our nation’s history, but also shows how the “upcycling” of these bags mutually benefited consumers and businesses. With over forty works from patterns to garments, this American history exhibit serves as an example of past ingenuity that can inform today’s efforts towards sustainability.
This exhibition is organized by The Historic Costume and Textile Museum and the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, both at Kansas State University, and ExhibitsUSA, a program of Mid-America Arts Alliance.
6th Annual “A Cottage Christmas” Exhibit
November 21, 2026 - January 9, 2027
Visit the Cottage at Collier Museum at Government Center from November 21st through January 9, 2027 for our 6th Annual holiday display, “A Cottage Christmas.” Exploring the 20th century Christmas traditions that introduced new technologies and materials to Christmas celebrations, transforming the holiday from a home-based Victorian celebration of a few days to a modernistic, multi-week season of shopping, events, and celebrations. The cottage is decorated in mid-century holiday style, and vintage decorations are on display throughout the house.