Christopher Still’s Priceless Memories is among the works in a Florida-themed collection at the Harn Museum of Art in Gainesville.
the state. Many of these paintings were the only record of what
once existed. They selected the University of Florida’s Harn
Museum of Art in Gainesville for the gift. The Harn will share
the collection by way of a permanent gallery and study center
in a major new wing that the museum is planning to build.
One of the most notable paintings in the collection is a portrait
of Sam and Robbie Vickers at home by the internationally
acclaimed Tarpon Springs artist Christopher Still titled Priceless
Memories. Still’s painting is filled with objects such as peeled
oranges, a first edition copy of The Yearling and a 19th century
silver Florida Treaty coffee pot that reflects the image of the artist
and the Vickers while he was painting them. The painting’s
background depicts a floor-to-ceiling wall filled with artworks
of Florida. As Robbie and Sam study Thomas Moran’s paintings
of Fort George Island, the original is now at the Harn. The Vickers
have kept a giclée of Still’s work for their home, as they begin
to fill their now empty walls. 9
EDITOR’S NOTE: Margaret Word Burnside, who was the first
female president of the Dunedin Council of Organizations, who has
served on the boards of Dunedin Service League, Dunedin History
Museum, Dunedin Fine Art Center and advisory boards of the art
center and Clearwater-Dunedin Junior League, is the recipient of
the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce’s “Delightful Dunedin Award”
and the Dunedin Historical Society’s “History Maker Award.”
If you have any questions about the people, places or things in the Tampa Bay area, please send them to
“Ask Margaret” at Tampa Bay Magazine, 2531 Landmark Drive, Suite 101, Clearwater, Florida 33761.
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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 | TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE 135