The Hurston Museum works in collaboration with the Zora Neale Hurston Institute for Documentary Studies at the University of Central Florida.

Together, the two entities work to develop an Eatonville curriculum, which will be the basis for community-wide education, lifelong learning and will provide a dynamic cultural context for UCF students. They also work to ensure Hurston's multi-disciplinary approach to documenting and preserving the culture of people of African ancestry becomes institutionalized within the American academy.

The collaboration is made possible by the dedicated support of program director, Professor Anthony Major , under the leadership of Dean Jose Hernandez UCF College of Arts of Sciences.

Therman Statom and the Glass House Project
Therman Statom presented an outdoor exhibit entitled “Living Artfully.” This unique glass house installed in front of the Hungerford Elementary auditorium was on display during ZORA! Festival ’09.  Statom began construction of this exhibit in summer 2008 with a group of Eatonville school children who were participants in the Summer Performing Arts Workshop (SPAW) presented by the Association to Preserve the Eatonville Community (P.E.C.)

About Therman Statom

Therman Statom – sculptor, glass artist, and painter – is probably best known for his life-size glass ladders, chairs, tables, miniature houses, and box-like paintings, all created through the extraordinary technique of gluing window glass together. He paints portions of these sculptures in vibrant colors with an absolute air of spontaneity and often attaches found objects to them. Sometimes he fashions his own blown or cast glass objects for inclusion with these sculptures.

Statom thrives on the creation of daring, often playful, site-specific installations, having produced over a dozen for museums and galleries across the United States since 1980. These temporal works have been constructed in such cities as Cincinnati, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Toledo, and Washington, D.C.

The Thomas House Restoration Project

Rick Lowe served as curator for a restoration project for the historic Thomas House, the oldest home in Eatonville. He transformed the home using his arts unique perspective where he has turned depressed homes in challenged neighborhoods to pieces of artful expression.

About Rick Lowe
In 1993, Rick founded Project Row Houses, an arts and cultural community located in a historically significant and culturally charged neighborhood in Houston, Texas.  In 2006, he spearheaded Transforma Projects in New Orleans, a collaborative effort to engage artists and creativity in the rebuilding of the City after hurricane Katrina.

Rick has served in the Houston community as a member of SHAPE Community Center, the Municipal Arts Commission, board member of the Greater Houston Visitors and Conventions. He is a board member of the Menil Foundation. He has served as a board member of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and a host of other organizations. Rick has served as artist-in-residence at universities throughout the United States, and has lecture internationally.