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**NEW! BOOK SIGNING 2012**
News Release Contact: Center for Florida History (863) 680-3001 FSC’S Lawton M. Chiles Jr. Center for Florida History Welcomes Back Robert Butler with the Release and Signing of Highwaymen Artists LAKELAND, Fla. Feb. 2, 2012 - Florida Southern College's Lawton Chiles Center for Florida History, in a special book signing hosted in conjunction with the release of his new book, Highwaymen Artists, welcomes Florida Highwayman Robert Butler on Thursday, February 2, at 7 p.m. in the gallery at the Sarah D. and L. Kirk McKay Archives on campus. Butler will be offering to attendees Butler's 43rd Anniversary Edition of his book and will be on hand to autograph the books and answer questions. “We are very pleased to have Robert Butler back on campus. Highwayman artist Robert Butler's exhibit, Florida Landscapes is also currently on display in the gallery at the McKay Archives,” noted James M. Denham, Director of the Lawton Chiles Center for Florida History. Highwaymen Artists is the story of the Highwaymen from the perspective of Robert Butler. The book is very unique in that it includes 44 of the approximately 200 never-before-shown Robert Butler paintings that were lost in a horrific fire in Lakeland, Florida, February 10, 2008. An acclaimed Florida wildlife artist, Robert Butler, in an interview with Florida Trend magazine during the 70s, coined the phrase “ecoscapes” to describe his paintings, which recorded an accurate scientific and esthetically pleasing rendering of nature. This new thought and approach would permanently affect both his art and the focus of his career as an artist. It would also lead him into a coalition with conservation organizations of countless numbers throughout southern Florida and instigate his documentation on canvas of every major ecosystem in the state. In 2004, Butler was inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame, along with the other 25 Florida Highwaymen. Butler‟s complete autobiography will be coming out later this year. Please plan to stop by and meet the artist/author and obtain your autographed copy of his new book, Highwaymen Artists, as well as view his art exhibit. The book signing is free and open to the public. For more information please call the Lawton M. Chiles Center for Florida History, (863) 680-3001. About Florida Southern College Florida Southern is a four-year, private, co-educational liberal arts college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The college offers more than 40 undergraduate majors and a master of business administration degree accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Located in Lakeland, Florida, the college is home to the largest, single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture in the world.

News Release

Contact: Center for Florida History (863) 680-3001

FSC’S Lawton M. Chiles Jr. Center for Florida History Welcomes Back Robert Butler with the Release and Signing of Highwaymen Artists LAKELAND, Fla.

Feb. 2, 2012

- Florida Southern College's Lawton Chiles Center for Florida History, in a special book signing hosted in conjunction with the release of his new book, Highwaymen Artists, welcomes Florida Highwayman Robert Butler on Thursday, February 2, at 7 p.m. in the gallery at the Sarah D. and L. Kirk McKay Archives on campus. Butler will be offering to attendees Butler's 43rd Anniversary Edition of his book and will be on hand to autograph the books and answer questions. “We are very pleased to have Robert Butler back on campus. Highwayman artist Robert Butler's exhibit, Florida Landscapes is also currently on display in the gallery at the McKay Archives,” noted James M. Denham, Director of the Lawton Chiles Center for Florida History. Highwaymen Artists is the story of the Highwaymen from the perspective of Robert Butler. The book is very unique in that it includes 44 of the approximately 200 never-before-shown Robert Butler paintings that were lost in a horrific fire in Lakeland, Florida, February 10, 2008. An acclaimed Florida wildlife artist, Robert Butler, in an interview with Florida Trend magazine during the 70s, coined the phrase “ecoscapes” to describe his paintings, which recorded an accurate scientific and esthetically pleasing rendering of nature. This new thought and approach would permanently affect both his art and the focus of his career as an artist. It would also lead him into a coalition with conservation organizations of countless numbers throughout southern Florida and instigate his documentation on canvas of every major ecosystem in the state. In 2004, Butler was inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame, along with the other 25 Florida Highwaymen. Butler‟s complete autobiography will be coming out later this year. Please plan to stop by and meet the artist/author and obtain your autographed copy of his new book, Highwaymen Artists, as well as view his art exhibit. The book signing is free and open to the public. For more information please call the Lawton M. Chiles Center for Florida History, (863) 680-3001. About Florida Southern College Florida Southern is a four-year, private, co-educational liberal arts college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The college offers more than 40 undergraduate majors and a master of business administration degree accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Located in Lakeland, Florida, the college is home to the largest, single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture in the world.