Search Page - Florida Department of State

At the time of his death in 1986, John D. MacDonald was the author of 78 books, with more than 75 million copies in print. Combined with hundreds of short works of fiction, MacDonald's career achievements as an American mystery writer remain…

Will McLean

/cultural/programs/florida-artists-hall-of-fame/will-mclean/

Considered by many to be the "Father of Florida Folk Music," Will McLean spent most of his life traveling the state and writing over 3,700 songs and stories. He became known as the "Black Hat Troubadour" because of the black hat he wore everywhere.…

Addison Mizner

/cultural/programs/florida-artists-hall-of-fame/addison-mizner/

Addison Mizner was Florida's leading architect in the 1920s. He established his own Spanish and Mediterranean Revival style that became the architectural signature of Florida, and in so doing, created the ambience that truly transformed the…

Ann Norton

/cultural/programs/florida-artists-hall-of-fame/ann-norton/

Ralph Hubbard Norton

/cultural/programs/florida-artists-hall-of-fame/ralph-hubbard-norton/

Ralph Hubbard Norton, an industrialist from Chicago, retired to West Palm Beach in 1939. With his first wife, Elizabeth Calhoun Norton (1881-1953), he founded the Norton Gallery and School of Art in 1941 to house an extensive collection of major…

Victor Nunez

/cultural/programs/florida-artists-hall-of-fame/victor-nunez/

Victor Nunez has been called a national treasure of regional independent filmmaking. A visionary writer, director, cinematographer and producer, Nunez's gripping work fuses character and place in portraits of his home state of Florida.

Tom Petty

/cultural/programs/florida-artists-hall-of-fame/tom-petty/

Albin Polasek

/cultural/programs/florida-artists-hall-of-fame/albin-polasek/

Regarded as one of the foremost American sculptors of the 20th Century, Czech-born Albin Polasek served nearly 30 years as head of the sculpture department for the Art Institute of Chicago before retiring to Winter Park, Florida in 1949. Polasek…

W. Stanley "Sandy " Proctor

/cultural/programs/florida-artists-hall-of-fame/w-stanley-sandy-proctor/

W. Stanley "Sandy" Proctor is a Tallahassee native who has earned a national reputation as a professional sculptor of the highest caliber. The self-taught artist began his career as a painter, but soon was drawn into the 3-D world, sculpting clay,…

Robert Rauschenberg

/cultural/programs/florida-artists-hall-of-fame/robert-rauschenberg/

One of the truly influential artists of the 20th Century, Robert Rauschenberg created an enormous portfolio of work that today is represented in the permanent collections of art museums around the world.

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

/cultural/programs/florida-artists-hall-of-fame/marjorie-kinnan-rawlings/

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (1896-1953) was a well-known American writer of the 1930s and ‘40s who drew material for her stories from the rugged Alachua County region and, in particular, a small unincorporated community of Cross Creek, situated about…

Burt Reynolds

/cultural/programs/florida-artists-hall-of-fame/burt-reynolds/

A veteran of screen, stage and television, Burt Reynolds continues to foster a deep philanthropic commitment to his native Florida. The actor, producer and director has starred in more than 100 feature films and 300 television programs.

John N. Ringling

/cultural/programs/florida-artists-hall-of-fame/john-n-ringling/

An international celebrity of circus fame, John N. Ringling amassed a fortune through his entertainment interests and business ventures. With his beloved first wife, Mabel Burton, the couple built an elegant Sarasota Bay mansion to house their…

Gamble Rogers

/cultural/programs/florida-artists-hall-of-fame/gamble-rogers/

In his 30-year career as one of the South's most well-known folk musicians, Florida native Gamble Rogers appeared as the headline performer at thousands of concerts throughout the U.S. and Canada. Long before his tragic death in 1991 while trying…