Community Calendar

Visitors to Carrabelle can check out some fascinating history this October at the Camp Gordon Johnston WWII Museum with a special exhibit on Operation Torch, the Allied campaign in North Africa that served as a critical testing ground for amphibious landings and armored warfare tactics that would later be employed during the Normandy Invasion. The exhibit will be on display Tuesday, October 6 through Saturday, October 31, with the museum open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 am to 5 pm. Admission is free, with donations gladly accepted.

The exhibit features historic photographs, maps, and authentic artifacts from the North African campaign, including weapons, currency, and helmets. A special highlight is a Top Secret copy of the operational plans for Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily, prepared in Tunisia during the final days of Operation Torch. Visitors can also discover Camp Gordon Johnston's own connection to Operation Torch, when the camp's 61st Medical Battalion deployed with the First Engineer Special Brigade.

Located at 1873 Hwy 98 West, directly across from Carrabelle Beach, where beach assault training took place in 1942–1943, the Camp Gordon Johnston WWII Museum offers visitors a chance to see history up close while exploring one of Carrabelle's unique local attractions.

Coming to Carrabelle This December: Visitors will have another opportunity to explore history when the Freedom Truck mobile museum rolls into Camp Gordon Johnston December 3–6. This national mobile museum offers an interactive experience designed for all ages, making it another unique attraction for visitors planning a trip to Carrabelle this winter. Save the date!

For more information, contact Camp Gordon Johnston Museum at CampGordonJohnston.com, (850) 697-8575 or museum@campgordonjohnston.com. Funded in part by the Franklin County Tourist Development Council.

4th International Conference on Innovations and Advances in Cancer Research and Treatment

Now in its sixth year, Florida Climate Week (FCW) is a powerful celebration of engagement, education, and collective action focused on environmental challenges facing our state. Unlike a traditional conference, FCW is a free, community-powered initiative featuring more than 120 independently organized events.

Virtual sessions will be hosted throughout the week on Whova, FCW's official event app and web platform, while in-person events will take place across South, Southwest, Central, Northeast and North Florida. Explore the full schedule of events at floridaclimateweek.org/schedule-of-events.

Natalia Andreeva invites you to step into a world where light dances, emotions stir, and canvases come alive with enchanting brushstrokes. In her series of paintings, Andreeva illuminates the profound connection between art, light, and the depths of human experience.

Discover a remarkable selection of paintings, drawings, and sculptures by pioneering American women artists in this Major Exhibition from the Huntsville Museum of Art – Sellars Collection. The exhibition highlights the achievements of women artists who painted and sculpted during the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries, offering a captivating glimpse into a pivotal period in American art history.

Image: Agnes Millen Richmond, A Young Friend, 1922, oil on canvas

A special Founder’s Collection exhibition will share early Art in Gadsden works of art now found in private collections, and the stories that go back to the earliest days of Gadsden Arts.

Enjoy the second Artists Guild exhibition of 2025, on view in the Gadsden Arts Center & Museum’s Bates Community Room through June 7, 2025. On display is artwork by Jan Austin-Hicken, Douglas Bondurant, Deborah Bullock, Michael Burchfield, Anthony Butkowski, Amy Cober, Kathy Ferrell, Ellen Fournier, Theresa Francisco, Thomas Friedman, Debbie Gaedtke, Echo Kidd Gates, Sal Guastella, John Isaacs, Stan Kitching, Sandra Lipner, MJ Lord, Kristin Manos, Janice Ecinja McCaskill, Hui Chiu McClure, Michele Moffett , Kent Putnam, Jill Quadagno, Linda Rabon, Maria Renzulli, Ann Robinson, Stephen Bennett Smith, Debra Spitler, Karen Stewart, Mary Liz Tippin-Moody, Georgia Turner, Amy Von Chamier, Lisa Waxman, and Erika Zambello.

Image: Michael Burchfield, Emily’s World, 2021, oil

Joel Thornton
September 12 – December 12, 2026
Munroe Family Community Gallery

Joel Thornton, a Tallahassee-based artist, brings together a vibrant body of work shaped by many years of dedicated practice and ongoing artistic study. Born in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, Thornton discovered his love of painting in his youth, guided by his mother, who inspired him to create and cultivated his passion for the arts. After setting aside painting to build a career and raise a family, Thornton rediscovered his passion for painting. His paintings span portraits of both iconic figures and people from his everyday life, animals, and vibrant landscapes, all unified by his expressive use of color, attention to form, and deep interest in storytelling.

Image: Joel Thornton, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, 2022, oil, 20 x 24 inches

Art and our Environment
September 25 – December 12, 2026
Zoe Golloway Gallery

This exhibition brings together the work of five distinguished Florida artists,
Beth Appleton, Mark Messersmith, Bob Bischoff, Jesse Aaron, and Bessie Harvey, whose work illuminates our evolving relationship with the natural world. Beth Appleton (b. 1949) creates intricate cut-paper assemblages shaped by a lifetime of observing Florida’s shifting landscapes. Mark Messersmith (b. 1955) is known for his vibrant, layered paintings that merge wildlife, lush vegetation, and human impact into dramatic narratives, often extending beyond the canvas with sculptural frames. Bob Bischoff (1950-2023) became known for creating large, public stained-glass installations with his wife Jo Ann Bischoff. Together, these artists’ work forms a compelling exploration of the beauty, fragility, and resilience of the natural world, inviting viewers to reflect on the connections between art, place, and the environment.

Image: Beth Appleton, Hurricane Charley, paper, watercolor paint, 2006, 28 x 22 in

America’s Everglades: Through the Lens of Clyde Butcher
September 25 – December 12, 2026
Sara May Love Gallery

This exhibition presents the America’s Everglades, the most acclaimed body of work by Clyde Butcher, and celebrates the life and legacy of Harry S. Truman, the visionary who dedicated the Everglades National Park and expanded our National Parks system.

Clyde Butcher is one of America’s foremost landscape photographers and a leading voice for environmental conservation in Florida. His accolades include the National Medal of Arts in 2022, the highest honor given to artists and arts patrons by the United States government, and Florida Artists Hall of Fame recognition in 1998, the highest honor given to an artist by the State of Florida.

Through his monumental images of the Florida Everglades, Butcher captures the quiet beauty, mystery, and resilience of one of the nation’s most treasured natural landscapes. His photographs reveal the delicate balance of life within this vast wilderness, inspiring viewers to reflect on the importance of preservation and the enduring relationship between humanity and nature.

Support for this program is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, celebrating NEA America250: Arts Projects Honoring the National Garden of American Heroes.

Funding for this program was provided through a grant from the Florida Humanities with funds from The Mosaic Company. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this (publication) (program) (exhibition) (website) do not necessarily represent those of Florida Humanities or The Mosaic Company.