Calusa Coast 2025 April Events

Calusa Coast Partners are pleased to announce the events this April for Calusa Coast 2025. The various events focus on the Art of the Calusa. Local organizations are offering to the public opportunities to learn about Southwest Florida’s rich Native American history and their artwork. About Calusa Coast 2025 Calusa Coast is a 5-year-old collaborative effort with cultural institutions from the region to educate people about the archaeology and ethnography of the Indigenous Peoples of Southwest Florida. This year the focus is on the Art of the Calusa. Calusa. Coast Partners have come together to offer programs geared towards education and fun. From Marco Island to Pineland, you’ll be sure to find a few events that pique your interests. As anthropologist Frank Hamilton Cushing wrote in his journal in 1896, “In the muck-filled courts of these sea villages I am finding all the arts of the original inhabitants represented with a completeness never before surpassed in such finds as those of the Cliff Dwellers." About the Events A full listing and details of the various events and can be found online at https://swflarchaeology.org/calusacoast. Events run from April 4 – 30. Most or all are free to the public. They include, walks, talks, paddles, tours, family days and more. The first event is Friday, April 4 at 10:30 a.m. at Koreshan State Park: “The Calusa – Southwest Florida’s Native Society.” It includes a fascinating talk about the Calusa, Southwest Florida's ancient indigenous society! Learn about their rich history, unique culture, and incredible achievements. As a kick-off event, visitors on Saturday, April 5 at 10 a.m. – 2 p.m can view “Art of the Dig: Wells Sawyer’s Watercolors” exhibit and meet the Calusa Coast Team at the IMAG History & Science Center in Fort Myers. In keeping with the theme of this year’s Calusa Coast events, IMAG and the Southwest Florida Archaeological Society host a viewing of watercolors painted by Wells Sawyer. Sawyer was an American painter and the primary artist for the famed 1896 Pepper-Hearst expedition to Marco Island that discovered the world-famous Key Marco Cat and other carvings of the Calusa. Six of Sawyer’s original watercolors depicting the Key Marco artifacts as they were discovered are on loan from the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville. In addition, 25 reproductions of his works are on loan for the exhibit from the Smithsonian Institution’s National Anthropological Archives and University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. This unique exhibit was originally curated by the Marco Island Historical Museum. At the event, you will have the opportunity to meet some of the organizations that are hosting Calusa Coast Events throughout the month. On Saturday, April 26 at 10:30 a.m. is the keynote address by Nicholas G. Penniman IV presenting “The Art of the Calusa” at the Calusa Nature Center and Planetarium in Fort Myers. Penniman has been deeply involved in environmental advocacy - currently as past chair of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, a trustee emeritus of the Everglades Foundation, current board member and chair emeritus of the Conservancy of Southwest Florida and past board chair of American Rivers. He has been a member of the Randell Research Center advisory board for almost 20 years.

Event Links

Website: https://go.evvnt.com/2954575-0

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