The Key West Art & Historical Society is excited to partner with Comedy Key West to offer a series of fun historical lectures entitled ‘Happy Hour with the Historian’. Attendees will receive a complimentary drink (beer, house wine or soft drink), and treated to a short presentation by the historian.

Historian: Cori Convertito Ph.D.

Topic: Lilly Pulitzer & Key West Hand Print Fabrics

In 1961, two friends from Broadway visited Key West. Peter Pell and Jim Russell fell in love with their surroundings: brightly-colored flowers, exotic fruits, and resplendent birds. Residents urged them to open a silk-screening factory, which became Key West Hand Print Fabrics. The company began printing and selling textiles to visitors, and hired an artists name Suzie Zuzek dePoo who produced a marvelous array of tropical imagery on fabrics. One of the company’s principal customers was Lilly Pulitzer. This presentation tells the story of how Key West Hand Print Fabrics became a backbone of industry to the island.

This project is sponsored in part by the Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture, the Florida Council on Arts and Culture and the State of Florida, with additional support provided by The Helmerich Trust and Comedy Key West.