Event details
- When: Thursday, February 25, 2027 at 10:00 AM
- Where: Art & History Museums – Maitland, 231 W. Packwood Ave
- Category: Event
Stories in Stone is a one-hour guided tour of the Maitland Art Center campus, leading visitors through its gardens and courtyards. The center was founded in the 1930s by American artist and architect J. André Smith as a haven for modern experimentation and creative freedom.
The tour traces Smith's life, from his childhood in Hong Kong to his service in World War I to the founding of the center, which he named Espero, a Spanish word for hope. Those experiences and his Episcopal faith shaped a campus that blends Mayan Revival architecture with embedded Christian symbolism and East Asian motifs, an environment where thousands of carvings, sculptures and reliefs adorn nearly every surface.
Guides also cover 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 site became one of the state's forward-thinking creative centers. Tickets include admission to the Maitland Art Center Gallery, the Maitland History Museum and the Telephone Museum. 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-3/
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