Stanley's Folk Art MuseumStanley Joseph "Barefoot" Papio (1914 - 1982)
Relocated (incl. Museums)
Original location: Mile Marker 101, U.S. Route 1, Key West, Florida, 33037, United States
1972-1982
Most of Papio's extant sculptures are on permanent display at the Key West Art & Historical Society's Fort East Martello Museum. The Museum is located at 3501 South Roosevelt Boulevard, Key West, Florida 33040, and is open seven days a week, 10am to 5pm.
About the Artist/Site
For over three decades in Key Largo, Florida, Stanley Joseph Papio created welded sculptures from repurposed cars, washing machines, and farm equipment at his Iron Works shop along U.S. Route 1, which he eventually renamed Stanley's Museum of Folk Art. Papio was born in Canada in 1914, but spent most of his early life in Illinois. After traveling throughout the United States and working in a range of professions (including amateur boxing and wrestling), Papio settled in Key Largo at the age of 34. Having enjoyed welding during his time in the U.S. Army amidst World War II, Papio opened up his own welding business on a small lot along Route 1 at Mile Marker 101. Papio became known to locals as “Barefoot Stanley” due to the rarity with which he wore shoes on the job—having regularly damaged his footwear from welding sparks, he became accustomed to going barefoot and dealing with skin burns rather than having to continually replace his shoes.
By 1972, Papio had built and installed several sculptures produced from spare metal parts at the site and installed a hand-painted sign which read “Stanley’s Museum of Folk Art,” inviting passersby to view his work for 25 cents. Most sculptures took the form of animals or people, with notable figures such as George Washington and W.C. Fields sitting alongside invented characters with antagonizing titles such as The Two-Faced Woman or Greedy Grit the Contractor. He encouraged locals to leave materials––including old cars, kitchen appliances, and agricultural machinery––at the shop for use in new sculptures. While the Museum and its donated scrap pile initially received few complaints from neighbors (who had been few and far between when Papio first settled in the 1950s), the Upper Keys was increasingly subject to development as the tourist economy grew in the second half of the 20th century. Condominium developers and new neighbors complained about the Museum of Folk Art as an eyesore and regularly attempted to have Papio remove the installation and bring the property up to code. Arguing that he had been a property owner long before the recent arrivals, Papio refused to alter the display and was jailed on six occasions for ignoring zoning laws.
In the final years of his life, Papio’s site became a popular stop for art appreciators in the area, and art collectors and museum workers began traveling from afar to visit. In 1981, three of his sculptures featured in an art exhibition put on by the U.S. State Department titled America Now, which brought his work to audiences in Europe. Encouraged by the works’ increasing popularity, Papio began building a trailer to tour his sculptures across the United States in 1981. Before he could finish the project, Papio unexpectedly passed away from a heart attack in 1982 at the age of 67. His work was subsequently donated by his family to the Key West Art & Historical Society, which received a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts to properly document the sculptures. Today, more than a hundred sculptural objects by Papio are on permanent display at the Society’s Fort East Martello Museum in Key West.
Narrative by Gabrielle Christiansen, 2024
Sources:
- James Smith Pierce, "The Silent Family of Stan Papio," January 1980, https://commons.und.edu/fast-as-spap/64/
- Sharon Wells, letter to Seymour Rosen, June 27, 1984, Collection of SPACES Archives
- Seymour Rosen, overview of Stanley Papio and his scrap metal sculptures, April, 11, 1989, Collection of SPACES Archives
- Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art, "Stanley Papio," catalogue for exhibition Separate Reality: Florida Eccentrics, 1987
Contributors
SPACES Archives Holdings
1 folder: clippings, correspondence
Related Documents
Map & Site Information
Original location: Mile Marker 101, U.S. Route 1
Key West, Florida, 33037
us
Latitude/Longitude: 26.804592 / -80.0565994
Nearby Environments
Post your comment
Comments
No one has commented on this page yet.