We enjoyed our local Fort Pierce A.E. Backus Art Museum.This was not my wife and I's first visit, and neither will it be our last.Our daughter had their first visit today though...we'll centainly back on October 4th, for the new exhibit's roll-out.We give it a ten out of ten

Love it, had a awsome experience with my kids

While visiting Fort Pierce, we decided to stop at the A.E. Backus Museum & Gallery and found it to be a very nice museum with an interesting story behind the artist. Admission was only $5 per person during our visit, and there is a parking lot directly in front of the museum, so parking and getting inside were both easy. The museum is all on one floor and is not particularly large, but there is quite a bit to see. The staff was very friendly and took the time to explain the layout of the museum, the different areas depicting parts of A.E. Backus's life and career, the artwork that was for sale, and the gift shop. There are numerous signs inside stating that photography is not allowed, so keep that in mind during your visit. One thing I would definitely recommend is watching the approximately 20-minute movie about Backus. It does a very good job of explaining his life, his attitude toward art, his work, and particularly his willingness to encourage and help other artists. I especially enjoyed learning about his relationship with and support of the group of African American artists who became known as the Florida Highwaymen. Backus was an excellent Florida landscape artist, but I found the story of how he helped and encouraged others to be just as interesting as his artwork. We enjoyed looking at the paintings and learning more about both him and Florida art history. Before you leave, make sure you also take a walk around the outside of the building because there is additional artwork there that would be easy to miss. Overall, this is a very nice small museum, reasonably priced, and well worth a visit while you are in Fort Pierce. Enjoy!

Interesting, welcoming little museum for a feeling of Backus' life and art.

Great small museum. We learned a lot about Bean Backus and The Highwaymen. We also learned about the impact he had on the local area and beyond with his art and his open door policy with anyone and everyone. We spent a solid two hours there and it was enough to see everything this time of year. The only thing is they didn’t have a “special”/rotating art exhibit so that may have shortened our time there some. If you’re in the area then I recommend coming here. It’s worth the money and the stop.