Historical Landscapes of Florida: Exhibition & Talk at Deering Estate

At the Deering Estate on the southern edge of Miami, Historical Landscapes of Florida brings a decade of field drawing and cultural memory to a public conversation. For 1.5 hours, Rocco Ceo and Joanna Lombard present the award-winning drawings from their ten-year survey of 27 Florida cultural landscapes, tracing coastal hammocks, mangrove edges, limestone outcrops and other terrain that define the state. The program celebrates the 25th anniversary of the book's publication and revisits the inaugural exhibition of the drawings at the Deering Estate in September 2001. The event combines a focused slide-and-drawing presentation with a moderated talk — joined by Rosetta S. Elkin of Practice Landscape and presented in partnership with Florida Humanities — that situates these images within ongoing debates about preservation, sea-level rise and development pressures. The drawings themselves are the attraction: measured landscape studies rendered for archival clarity, not romantic illustration, which make visible the geology and land use histories of marsh, barrier island, pine flatwoods and urban fringe. Visitors will leave with practical takeaways: how archival drawing enhances site stewardship, which Floridian sites face imminent threats, and the ways digital access can broaden community engagement. The organizers are launching an open-access digital edition of Historic Landscapes of Florida, so attendees gain early insight into a growing public archive and a sense of the project’s method — field observation, measured drawing, and cultural interpretation. This program is distinct because it moves art beyond the gallery wall into active conservation work. Deering Estate’s grounds — with their native tropical hardwood hammock, exposed Miami oolitic limestone, and shoreline views of Biscayne Bay — provide a living laboratory: you can stand near the same ecological features the drawings document. For visitors who also recreate at Deering Estate, the exhibition deepens a field visit, turning a shoreline walk into a lesson in geomorphology and human history. Practical info: arrival and gathering begins at 6:30 PM, presentation at 7:00 PM, and a short Q&A follows before the 8:00 PM garden exit. The program lasts about 1.5 hours. Bring a notebook, camera, and comfortable shoes for light walking on estate grounds. The conversation is accessible to a general audience interested in landscape architecture, preservation, and Florida’s threatened places. Whether you’re a local steward, a visiting hiker, or an artist curious about archival practice, Historical Landscapes of Florida at Deering Estate offers a compact, instructive evening that reframes familiar places as cultural artifacts worth protecting. Expect opportunities to speak directly with the authors during the Q&A, ask about specific sites, and learn how to access the digital edition afterward — a practical resource for volunteers, students, and planners seeking accurate visual records that support conservation and thoughtful stewardship across Florida’s changing coastline today.