January 10, 2006 - Viva La Florida! - "Spanish Pathways in Paradise" - Opens Jan. 21 at the St. Lucie County Historical Museum

Viva La Florida! - "Spanish Pathways in Paradise" - opens January 21st at the St. Lucie County Historical Museum. This special exhibit highlights the impact of Spanish exploration, encounter and exchange in Florida from the 15th Century through today. For the first time, the Museum will also incorporate bilingual text in this special exhibit for both English and Spanish speaking visitors. The exhibit at the Museum, located at 414 Seaway Drive, on Museum Pointe in Fort Pierce, runs through April 30.

Through a time line of Florida's Spanish history, the Viva La Florida! exhibit explores pre-Columbian objects of everyday life, the impact of Spanish culture on Florida's first people and modern-day Hispanic contributions to art and society. The exhibit features panels prepared by the Florida Humanities Council, pre-Columbian artifacts and Hispanic art provided by the Fundacion Luz Vida Y Ensananza and the Hispanic Cultural Foundation of the Treasure Coast.

The artifact-rich exhibit also includes the tools, utensils, weaponry, religious objects and historic treasures of early Spanish explorers and includes several artifacts on loan from the Mel Fisher Treasure Museum in Sebastian, Florida.

Discover how Spanish pathways forever changed Florida's paradise by visiting the Viva La Florida! exhibit and explore the contributions and consequences of Spanish conquest.

The St. Lucie County Historical Museum features 13 permanent in-house exhibits of St. Lucie County's distinctive heritage, including an exhibit of the area's first people, the Ais Indians; a Seminole encampment, a Spanish "Golden Galleons" exhibit, an 1838 U.S. Army fort exhibit, pioneer livelihoods exhibits, an early 20th century general store and a changing special exhibit gallery. The museum also features the restored 1908 Gardner House and The Pineapple Patch gift shop. Museum hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. and Sunday from noon until 4 p.m. A modest admission fee is charged. For more information, contact Anne Sinnott, Museum Educator, at (772) 462-1891.