HOME   EXHIBITIONS   PROGRAMS   MUSEUM EDUCATION

Surfing Florida: A Photographic History
A Traveling Exhibition and Book Project

Schmidt Center Gallery March 17 - May 12, 2012                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Opening Reception: March 16, 2012        

galleryview1

Surfing Florida: A Photographic History comes at a time when surfers throughout the world are beginning to seriously document this vital
sport and lifestyle through books,museums and surfing history organizations. While Florida is part of this movement, it is also challenged
by its reputation for lackluster surf. Yet, because of the inconsistent surf, surfers from Florida share an insatiable hunger for waves and
an aggressive approach to the sport that has resulted in an incredible number of world titles for Florida’s competitive surfers and a deep
cultural history. Surfing Florida seeks to foster the movement to archive and document Florida surf history through collaboration, association 
and contributions from all corners of Florida’s statewide surfing community.This project is made possible in part by a grant from the Florida
Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Konica Minolta is providing technical and production support for a
Surfing Florida book.

gallery view 2

First image :  Schmidt Center Gallery rendering by Maria Fuentes
Second image :  Schmidt Center Gallery Public Space rendering by Maria Fuentes

Surfing Florida seeks your participation!

Learn more about the proposed exhibition and book

surfline.com “Surf News” feature on the project: Click here

Surfing Florida is an exhibition and book project that will present the history of Florida surfing and surf culture including its international dimensions. Florida surfers know that despite consistently marginal surf, the Sunshine State has produced an amazing talent pool that successfully competes globally and that the state has also contributed to the innovation and growth of the equally world-wide surf industry. Its time Florida got its props, including a book on the shelf next to the many California/Hawaii centered publications.

While it is important for the Surfing Florida project to credibly represent the state’s core surfing community, the project also seeks to communicate to less informed audiences about core values and accomplishments of the state’s many surfing communities. The project also coincides with and contributes to preservation and academic efforts that are emerging in America and overseas as modern surfing history approaches it’s 100th year. For instance students at FAU and UCF are receiving academic credit to assist in project research.

Surfing Florida has been in development for well over a year and to date over 25 professional surf photographers have agreed to contribute their images for the exhibition. A modest grant from the Florida Humanities Council has brought scholars from four universities to assist in weaving surfing’s larger themes – nature/religion, environmental activism, surf music, maritime history - into the specifics of Florida’s surfing chronology. Public lectures and film programs will be presented along with the exhibition.

The project is still in a content development stage and welcomes your information about and contributions of photographs, memorabilia and high quality surfboard collections. A statewide effort via “Got FL Surf History ??” post cards are aiding this effort.

We are interested in the community angle, grom shots, epic swells, memorial events, paddle-out ceremonies, benefit events, contests and clubs. We are also considering an impossible listing of every Floridian who has played a significant role in the sport, either in or from the state, whether surfer, shaper, manufacturer, shop owner, activist, politician, etc. To provide materials for consideration, suggest a collection, or nominate a related individual or organization, contact Rod Faulds, Director University Galleries at wfaulds@fau.edu or 561-297-2661.

Surfing Florida: A Photographic History is organized by the University Galleries at Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton. Paul Aho, a lifelong Florida surfer and shaper who actively competed as a teenager is the project’s editor and curator. Aho is an artist and a world-traveled surfer. To achieve the initial research and gathering of materials Aho has divided Florida into seven geographic regions.

As a traveling exhibition, Surfing Florida: A Photographic History will combine a thematically organized historical panel style exhibition combining digital reproductions of vintage photographs and interpretive texts along with many original photographic portfolios of the state’s best known surf photographers and most significant historic photo collections. Selected vintage photographs and media stations will round out the traveling portion of the exhibition. While the traveling exhibition will not include surfboards and other surfing related artifacts, each exhibition venue will be encouraged to work with surfboard collectors in their region to showcase surfboards and other materials appropriate to the size and resources of their exhibition facility.

To view a list of the many people we are working with, seeking to work with or have had contact with, click here. The list does not include all of the contributors to surfing in Florida that may be represented in the exhibition. We welcome your suggestions of collectors and experts that we should know about. To view those already on-board and enlisted by Florida regions, Click here.

The Surfing Florida project is supported by many community volunteers. The oral history component of the project, an effort to develop deep first hand content and preserve history, is a collaborative effort of the University Galleries, FAU; the FAU Department of History; the University of Central Florida History Department’s RICHES Program; and the Cocoa Beach Surf Museum. Other academic departments at FAU that are contributing to the program include the Department of Music and the School of Communication and Multi-Media Studies, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters.

Thank you to the Surfers Journal for a complete set of bound volumes of their acclaimed publication for the project’s research efforts and the FAU Libraries collection. Special Thanks to BigBuddhaBaba, Los Angeles and Crispin Porter + Bogusky, miami and Boulder for project development support.

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

Images (Starting from top left):

First row : Daytona Beach, 1939. This early photo, shot during the first East Coast Surfing Championship includes Dudley and Bill Whitman, considered the State’s first surfers and board builders along with Gaulden Reed. Photo: courtesy Patti Light for the Gaulden Reed Archive.

Florida has certainly produced a lion’s share of world class talent, including multiple world title holders Kelly Slater, Frieda Zamba and Lisa Andersen. Centered here is a young Slater, now nine-time world champ, with (l to r) Todd Holland, Scott McCranels, Rich Rudolph, Matt Kechle and Charlie Kuhn. Photo: Tony Aruzza, all rights reserved.

The Smyrna Surfari Club, 1960s. Likely the oldest club in the state, New Smyrna’s Surfari Club remains vital by putting purpose into practice – providing scholarship support for local youth, mentoring its own and positioning Smyrna as a player in surfing’s hierarchy. Photo: courtesy, Smyrna Surfari Surf Club.

Second row : A day in the water is still a day in the water. Miami Beach shows its mid 1960s lets go surfin’ enthusiasm. Photo courtesy: Bill Whiddon.

Gary Propper, Huntington Beach, 1965. Propper defeated west coast stars Dewey Weber and Tom Leonardo to win the 1966 East Coast Surfing Championships. Not only was he the East’s first champion, he was the first East Coaster with a named model. Photo: Steve Wilkings.

Carlyn Park, Jupiter in late 1960s. Photo coutesy The Palm Beach County Surf History Project.

Row three : Mike Tabeling, Chuns Reef, Hawaii, 1968. Tabeling and other Florida standouts of his generation made their mark in Hawaii. Tabeling was the first Floridian to win an international contest during a visit to Peru in the mid-60’s. He later quit contests for decades in favor of a life of travel and adventure. Photo: Steve Wilkings.

Jeff Crawford, 1984. The central coast of Florida has produced exceptional surfers from generation to generation, earning international recognition in the media and contest circuit. Among the standouts in the 1970s was Jeff Crawford, who along with Kelly Slater, was one of only two east coast surfers to ever win the prestigious Pipeline Masters. Crawford took the crown in 1974, after having placed third in the Duke Classic in 1973. Photo: Permission of Tony Arruza, all rights reserved.

Jeff Crawford, winner of the 1974 Pipeline Masters. Crawford, along with Kelly Slater, is one of only two east coast surfers to ever win this prestigious contest. Photo: Jeff Divine.

Row four : Mimi Munro, age 14, winning 3rd place in the 1966 San Diego World Contest. Mimi remains an advocate of the art of noseriding and runs a surf camp mentoring the next generation in her hometown of Ormond Beach. Right photo: Leroy Grannis, both photos courtesy Mimi Munro.

Karina Petroni, from Atlantic Beach, sampling some Indo perfection. Petroni was the only female from North America on the 2008 World Championship Tour. Photo: courtesy karinapetroni.com. Bruce Clelland (r), Jax Pier, 1966. Clelland and others got things rolling in North Florida. Photo: David Silver, courtesy Mitch Kaufman.

Photographers are at the heart of the Surfing Florida: A Photographic History project. In the 60s and 70s, M.E. Gruber took over 5,000 images, shooting mostly in the Palm Beaches. The archive is now entrusted to The Palm Beach County Surf History Project. Photo: Courtesy The Palm Beach County Surf History Project.

The University Galleries, FAU acknowledge that all of the images on this page have been provided with express written permission by photographers and collections who hold exclusive copyrights.