Florida Tourism | Sunshine and Shadows

The University of Florida’s Smathers Libraries and UF Museum Studies program is pleased to announce the opening of Florida Tourism | Sunshine and Shadows in the Smathers Library Gallery. On view October 13 - December 14, 2017, the exhibition examines the social and racial inequities of tourism in Florida. It looks at the period of growth and increasing access to Florida vacations from the late 19th century until the opening of Walt Disney World in 1971.

The exhibition is drawn mostly from Smathers Libraries Special and Area Studies Collections, including tourist photographs, brochures, postcards, and souvenirs. These items together ask: Who gets to be a tourist? How do race and economics impact one’s experience as a tourist? How have people and cultures been consumed by tourists to and in Florida?

Florida Tourism | Sunshine and Shadows was developed last spring as part of the graduate Exhibitions Seminar in Museum Studies. It was driven by student inquiry and has been an experiment in collaborative exhibition development processes. Course instructors and faculty curators are Briley Rasmussen, Director of Museum Studies, and Lourdes Santamaría-Wheeler, Smathers Libraries Exhibitions Coordinator. Student curators are Stephanie Boothby, Elizabeth Bouton, Madeline Collins, Kristin Conwill, Valton Jones, Kaitlyn Hof-Mahoney, Nameiko Miller, Brittany Mistretta, Lauren O’Neill, Halee Sommer, Noelle Ward, and Lynea Wilson.

The Smathers Library Gallery is located on the second floor of the Smathers Library on the University of Florida campus. Hours are Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., unless otherwise specified and with occasional exceptions for maintenance. All exhibitions are open to the public and free of charge.

Room #

Smathers Library Gallery

Address

1508 Union Road
Gainesville
FL 32611

Website

Smathers Library Website