America's Everglades ~ Appleton Museum of Art

Everglades Exhibit

Appleton Museum of Art

traveling exhibit

Appleton Museum ~ Ocala, Florida ~ 2019

This expansive wilderness collection represents the many years Clyde spent exploring the Everglades' remote regions and experiencing its changes. It is a diverse and complex territory that reveals its beauty in many ways. His photographs reveal wild and natural places where few humans have ventured, and the images capture remarkable solitude and wonder. The Everglades is one of the most extensive wetlands in the world and the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States. Shaped and sustained by seasonally flowing shallow water, the Everglades is home to dozens of threatened and endangered species, massive flocks of wading birds, recovering populations of alligators, crocodiles, and millions of insects. Exceptional for its diverse combination of abundant plant and wildlife communities, varied habitats, and remote wilderness, the Everglades has, perhaps most importantly, become a beacon for conservation.

 "Clyde Butcher's remarkable photographs give us access to nature we rarely see or experience. They not only reveal the intimate and majestic beauty of the Everglades–and the need to save this fragile environment–they also remind us of the abiding kinship we mortals share when we work together to preserve these magnificent places. Butcher's art is a national treasure." –Ken Burns, Emmy Award-winning filmmaker

Appleton Museum

The Appleton Museum was the first museum to exhibit America's Everglades. We had worked hard to create an exhibit that honored Clyde's photography and also educates people about the ecosystem. We were excited to see what the exhibition looked like after the cumulation of three years worth of work in creating America's Everglades. The Appleton Museum did an excellent job of exhibiting the work. They are a great bunch of people to work with and made the opening an enjoyable experience. 

L-R Clyde, Conny & Scott, April, Jackie, Kayla, Robert

We invited Conny and Scott (Connie worked on research), April (our curator for all of Clyde’s exhibits) along with our grandkids, Kayla and Robert, to join us at the opening. 

Clyde with Docents

Jackie with Docents

Clyde with Docents

Clyde with Patricia Thomlinson, Curator of Exhibits

Kayla photographing the exhibition before the opening

~ The Opening ~

A large format camera is available to travel with the exhibit

Clyde and me giving a Keynote

It was so long since we’d seen George and Marylyn I couldn’t help but give them both a big hug!

Clyde and me with George and Marylyn Schaffer

Marylyn and George Schaffer, our old friends stopped by to say howdy. They were our close friends and came to work for us in the very beginning of our company. They worked for us for many years, then moved to north Florida. It was so wonderful to see them again after all these years.

Clyde and me with Anthony

Front: L - R Kayla, my cousin Lee, Clyde

Back: L - R Robert, Jackie, Anthony and me

Anthony is my cousin Lee’s son. After he graduated from college he came to work for us and was our very first employee at the Big Cypress Gallery. It was a rugged life when we first started, but he hung in there and helped us begin the adventure of owning a piece of property in the middle of a million acres of wilderness. It was so good to see him after all these years. 

After the exhibit festivities were over we all got together for dinner.

The exhibit was a wonderful experience and the museum did a great job. So, between the friendly openness of the museum folks and our friends from the past, we had a great time!

To learn more about the Appleton Museum of Art CLICK HERE

To learn more about Clyde’s traveling exhibits CLICK HERE