Daydreaming

The Marco Island Historical Society (MIHS) presents Daydreaming, Niki Butcher’s Hand-Painted Photography at the Marco Island Historical Museum (MIHM) from March 12 through June 8, 2024. The exhibit is free and open to the public. An opening reception on March 14, 4:30 to 6:00 PM, will include a meet-the-artist and book signing of Butcher’s book, Daydreaming. Exhibit sponsor is Chris Sullivan Luxury Real Estate, RE/MAX Affinity Plus.

The exhibit includes more than 60 images created over five decades by photographer and artist Niki Butcher. Inspired by vintage hand-painted postcards of the 1930s, Butcher invites the viewer to see the historical, beautiful, and sometimes quirky aspects of Florida and the world through the eyes of a thoughtful optimist. 

Butcher has photographed the beauty and uniqueness of places and people throughout the world with her husband, legendary black-and-white photographer Clyde Butcher. A black-and-white photographer like her husband but also a painter, Butcher adds her own imaginative and fanciful touches of color to her photographs.

“I love nature and Florida is filled with these wonderful people and unique places. I wanted to capture them before they disappeared,” notes Butcher. Butcher’s keen eye and artistic insight capture images that illuminate and suspend moments in time and place. From serene scenes of nature to vibrant, sometimes humor-infused scenes evocative of days gone by, her hypnotic images invite the viewer to step closer and daydream right along with the artist.

Niki Butcher is an artist whose mediums include oil paint and photographic film, but she is much more than the supplies she uses. She is a mother, loyal partner and wife, historian, documentarian, conservationist, and passionate protector of the environment. She is an engaged community activist with an overarchingly positive outlook on life. A creative spirit who loves all things Bohemian and quirky, Niki revels in the enjoyment of revealing a hidden story through her artwork. She sees the world in vivid colors and expresses herself through art and dialogue with those she meets.

Growing up in Palo Alto, California, Niki thrived and was inspired by the intellectual and culturally diverse community that formed around Stanford University. Her interest in the arts began when she was in high school, and by the age of sixteen, she had sold her first painting. 

She married fellow artist Clyde Butcher in 1963, and they had two children, Jackie and Ted. In the 1980s, the family moved to Florida, and the couple sold art at local art fairs. Niki was inspired by her love of vintage postcards, architecture and nature, although she often painted more commercially viable subjects to help support the family. 

After the tragic death of her 17-year-old son, it was a stop at a roadside attraction, Orchid Isles, in the middle of Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida, that opened a new chapter in her life. During a solitary walk on the property, Niki began to visualize what could be. She looked beyond the tourist signs and eccentric owner to see the possibility of creating a gallery and home where the rundown orchid farm stood. 

In the early 1990s, Niki and Clyde built their home and gallery in the Big Cypress National Preserve, this unique place where she could capture and document the endangered ecosystems of the Everglades and the slowly vanishing funky, quirky Florida she so loved. Today, Niki has moved from hand-painting with oils to digital painting, but her artwork still embodies the inspiration she receives from the community she has built around herself.

The Marco Island Historical Museum is located at 180 S. Heathwood Drive. The Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free, and the site is handicapped accessible. For general information visit www.themihs.org or call 239-642-1440.