Current Exhibits

Requiem for Steam: The Railroad Photographs of David Plowden

January 14 – April 16, 2021

Naples Depot Museum

Our latest special exhibit on loan from the Center for Railroad Photography & Art has been stationed at the Naples Depot! Requiem for Steam: The Railroad Photography of David Plowden was created by the Center in conjunction with the renowned railroad photographer. Plowden traces his fascination with railway steam power back to his earliest memories. It was through his pursuit of documenting locomotives that Plowden hit upon the notion of becoming a photographer. He worked as an apprentice to O. Winston Link & studied with Minor White & Nathan Lyons before striking off on his own. After the rise of diesel locomotives’ dominance, Plowden trained his cameras on myriad facets of American industry and infrastructure. Throughout his career, the railroad has remained a common thread. The photographs in Requiem for Steam preserve the living beauty of his beloved locomotives while continuing to show the railroad’s presence in the ever-changing American landscape. See in them the power of the steam locomotive, the pride of railroad men, and the lasting imprint of steel rails across the continent.

All Collier County museum locations offer free admission.

A Pressing Matter:
Preserving Marco Island’s Flora

December 8, 2020 – April 3, 2021

Marco Island Historical Museum

Botanists have been collecting and pressing plants from Marco Island since the 1870s. A Pressing Matter explores the history of botanical collecting on Marco Island and highlights the important role that plant pressings play in our collective understanding of the natural world. Plant pressings from the Florida Museum of Natural History, the New York Botanical Garden, and the U.S. National Herbarium – all collected from Marco Island – are juxtaposed with early 20th Century photographs of local flora, creating a sense of Marco Island’s natural environment prior to large-scale development. A dozen original plant pressings, on loan from Dr. George Wilder (Naples Botanical Garden), demonstrate the important conservation work that continues today. Guests are invited to take home their own miniature plant presses so that they too can contribute to #APressingMatter.

All Collier County museum locations offer free admission.

Indomitable – the Life & Art of Camille Brock Baumgartner

December 1, 2020 – February 27, 2021

Museum of the Everglades

Indomitable – the Life & Art of Camille Brock Baumgartner recounts the colorful story of the late artist who made Everglades City her home from 1977 until 1994. Focusing as much on the artist and the events that shaped her life and work as it does on the art itself, this exhibit explores her journey from adventures as a Playboy bunny in 1960s Miami to her groundbreaking work lifecasting dignitaries of the Seminole tribe in bronze thirty years later.

A fixture in the Naples art community, Camille’s paintings of her friend and colleague Paul Arsenault’s historic home were selected to represent the Fine Arts Society’s Decade of Arts campaign in 1989. Overcoming struggles with alcoholism and other personal issues, Baumgartner was determined to pay back her gift of sobriety and became a licensed addiction counselor, working both in that capacity and as a public relations agent for the Willoughs at Naples. She wore many hats (quite literally) and served our community in many ways before returning to her native Georgia where she died in 2015.

Examples of Camille’s work in a variety of mediums and along with numerous photos from her storied career bring the Pauline Reeves Gallery at Museum of the Everglades to life – capturing the essence of an artist whose irrepressible spirit inspired the exhibit’s title.

Indomitable – the Life & Art of Camille Brock Baumgartner opened on Tuesday, December 1st and will run through Saturday, February 27th.

Skin Deep: Contrasts in Seminole Culture

January 9 – March 27, 2021

Collier Museum at Government Center

The Collier Museum at Government Center is pleased to present the exhibit Skin Deep: Contrasts in Seminole Culture. The Seminole Tribe of Florida’s Lorelei Matthews created Skin Deep to showcase the diverse, resilient Indigenous women who uphold her community and culture. The exhibit—which made its premiere at the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation’s Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum—was a collaborative effort made entirely by Seminole tribal members. Matthews brought together makeup artist Shelli Mae Osceola (Bear Clan) and photographer Drew Osceola (Panther Clan) to capture how eight Seminole women articulate their own styles and identities through tattoos. The exhibit’s sixteen highly contrasted, black-and-white portraits invoke the beauty and glamour of Golden Age Hollywood, a decision Matthews and the team made to highlight the dimensions of body art often overlooked by mainstream media.

All Collier County museum locations offer free admission.

Forgotten Florida: Photos from the Farm Security Administration

January 19 – April 19, 2021

Immokalee Pioneer Museum at Roberts Ranch

The Farm Security Administration developed and administered aid to farmers and farm workers during the Great Depression. Visit and discover the images that agency captured that show the Depression as it affected Florida’s diverse population of sharecroppers, transient agricultural workers, and African Americans. See the contrast in lifestyles between residents of tourist camps along the coast, the wealthy winter visitors and the middle class, who were an increasingly important part of our state’s developmental direction. This exhibit is made possible thanks to the Friends of Collier County Museums and the Museum of Florida History.

All Collier County museum locations offer free admission.