Event details
- When: Saturday, December 5, 2026 at 10:00 AM
- Where: Art & History Museums – Maitland, 231 W. Packwood Ave
- Category: Event
The Maitland Art Center offers a one-hour guided walking tour that leads visitors through its gardens and courtyards. The campus was founded in the 1930s by American artist and architect J. André Smith as a haven for modern experimentation and creative freedom.
Guides trace the story of Smith's life, from his childhood in Hong Kong to his service in World War I to the founding of the center, which he called Espero, a Spanish word for hope. Those experiences and his Episcopal faith shaped the design of the campus, a blend of Mayan Revival architecture with embedded Christian symbolism and East Asian motifs. The result is described as a surreal, immersive environment, at once spiritual, exotic and modern, where more than 2,500 carvings, sculptures and reliefs adorn nearly every surface.
The tour also covers the community of artists who lived and worked there between the 1930s and 1950s, including Milton Avery, Ralston Crawford and Doris Lee, and how the enclave became one of the state's most forward-thinking creative centers. Admission includes the Maitland Art Center Gallery, the Maitland History Museum and the Telephone Museum, and is free for members. The tour is suitable for all ages and recommended for ages 13 and up.
Event listing published by Art & History Museums Maitland:
https://artandhistory.org/event/stories-in-stone-a-walking-tour-of-the-maitland-art-center-30/
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