Ronald’s paintings of the Everglades have been our focus as we prepare for the exhibition, “Native and Natural: Seminoles and Tropical Landscapes.” The veracity of his style prompts me to reflect on the forces and beauties of Nature. My thoughts extend to the enormity of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan—events that were more than the heart and mind could reasonably handle. And now the specter of a nuclear meltdown haunts the television screen recalling the horrors of Hiroshima, Cold War anxieties, and kids “ducking and covering under their desks. The torrents of sea water sweeping away Japan’s attempts at establishing permanency on this Earth made us confront our follies and our sheer powerlessness against the forces of Nature. That Read more…




