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: With a Rebel Yell: The Life & Art of Stanley Papio

Stanley Papio saw art where others saw junk. The rebellious welder-turned-metal-artist transformed the metal collection piled high in his yard into extraordinary works of art, many of them comical and caustic commentary on neighbors and naysayers who wanted him to conform to their imposed zoning laws.

41 years after his death, Key West Art & Historical Society is proud to present the this historical lecture centered on pioneering Florida Keys folk artist, Stanley Papio. He and his artwork embody the Florida Keys. When repeatedly confronted, he began using his artwork to fight back; to oppose the environmental defilers and neighbors that tried pushing him out of Key Largo.

Though Papio gained some acknowledgement of his work by a handful of museum professionals, like many folk artists, he was not truly recognized for his remarkable artistic abilities until after his death. When Papio passed suddenly in 1982, the Society acquired his collection— more than 100 sculptural objects and three-dimensional constructions

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.