RACIALIZED AUTHENTICATION: Constructing Representations of the Florida Highwaymen Amanda Koontz Anthony* University of Central Florida This article explores how art world professionals and cultural publicists construct representations of a group of “rediscovered” black artists, who painted from the end of the Jim Crow era to the present. Examining their writings, statements from interviews, and their interactions with audi- ences at public events, I show how they represented the artists as both exotic self-taught artists and achievers of the American Dream. I introduce the term “racialized authentication” to frame a branch of racial rhetoric through which the various actors draw from both traditional racial stereotypes and new racism ideology to construct authentic artists. In conclusion, I address how these findings have implications for the integration of contemporary research on race and socio- logical studies of art worlds. Starting at the end of the Jim Crow South, a loose association of black artists began selling affordable landscapes door to door and along the highways of Florida. The artists created a distinctive style, speed-painting brightly colored wind-swept palms on beaches. Particularly with the boom of Florida real estate and tourism starting in the mid-1950s, the artists had a ready audience of homeowners, tourists, and local businesses. However, many of these artists stopped painting or found additional jobs when tourist patterns changed in the 1970s, their works to be temporarily forgotten. A resurgence of interest began in 1995, when an arts acquisition agent, Jim Fitch, “re- discovered” their works and labeled the artists the “Highwaymen.” Stories of the group alternated between emphasizing their natural instincts and talent as self-taught artists with touting their successful achievement of the American Dream through hardwork. One of the first books on the group, released in 2001, defined an official list of 26 black artists, all men but for one woman. As of today, many of the artists once again make a living selling their works at arts and crafts festivals, online, and other various arts venues. From a sociological perspective, the resurgence of interest in the Highwaymen resulted from various actors crafting representations of the Highwaymen as authentic artists. 1 These actors fall into two groups, based on their occupations. The first group consists of individuals whose business consists of classifying art, artists, and defining their importance; while the second group includes those whose professions are not exclusively devoted to defining art or artists, but their endeavors nevertheless can affect the publicity and reputation. Occupations classified within the first group, for the *Direct all correspondence to Amanda Koontz Anthony, Department of Sociology, University of Central Florida, 4000 Central Florida Blvd, Phillips Hall, Orlando, FL 32816-1360; e-mail: Amanda.Anthony@ucf.edu The Sociological Quarterly ISSN 0038-0253 The Sociological Quarterly 53 (2012) 394–421 © 2012 Midwest Sociological Society 394