Pranas Domšaitis Gallery of the LNMA invites where the summer never ends

On Thursday, 8 October, at 6:00 PM, the Pranas Domšaitis Gallery of the Lithuanian National Museum of Art (Liepų St. 33) Klaipėda opens Where the Summer Never Ends, an exhibition by American photographer Andy Sweet. Documenting the vivid life of Miami Beach, Sweet captured imagery of his immediate surroundings that powerfully reflects much broader complexities of the American social landscape from the late 1960s through the late 1970s. Exuding summer heat, his photographs capture profound shifts in American society – from the Jewish traditions permeating daily life and the emerging LGBTQ+ community to ongoing racial and ethnic segregation. 

Following its 2024 debut at the Radvila Palace Museum of Art of the LNMA, the exhibition arrives in Klaipėda inviting viewers to soak up the warmth of Miami Beach’s sun-drenched views.  

‘Audiences in Klaipėda are always enthusiastic about photography exhibitions, so we are delighted to present Andy Sweet’s work in our city for the first time. Living in a port city, no one can remain indifferent to coastal beachscape views,’ says Skaistė Marčienė, Director of the Pranas Domšaitis Gallery. 

‘The people immortalized in Sweet’s photography also include Jewish Holocaust survivors from Lithuania – making this exhibition, in a sense, a homecoming. We owe a debt of gratitude to the artist’s family; these photography and video works have now entered the LNMA’s permanent collection and will remain accessible to the future generations. I am delighted that the exhibition arrives in Klaipėda. I believe the views of Miami Beach will take on a new life in our coastal city, reminding their viewers that summer continues regardless of a season,’ the exhibition curator Ugnė Marija Gausmanė presents the event. 

The photographer who preserved the ancient colours of Miami Beach 

In 1977, after earning his MFA from the University of Colorado, Andy Sweet (1953 – 1982) embarked on a photography career. Together with colleague Gary Monroe, he conceived The Miami Beach Photographic Project. Between 1977 and 1982, Sweet worked daily recording the swiftly changing world of Miami Beach. The town comes back to life in the bright-colour giclée prints made from his analogue photographs, accompanied by a video footage discovered in the artist’s family home in 2021. 

In his MFA thesis, he wrote: ‘I want my pictures to reflect truth … that is why I work exclusively in colour. It is not the colours that matter most in each frame – they are only the means to enhance the potential of the media, which already absorbs a lot of reality by itself, to show even more.’ 

The drive to capture authenticity shines through the artist’s emphatic lens as he turns it at diverse communities of Miami Beach. The daily lives of elderly Jewish residents, together with drag performers, and other local figures come together to create a vivid portrait of a town in the midst of transformation. 

An ode to the capital of sun and fun – and to its people   

The photographer never distanced himself from his subjects: his images of everyday life speak to universal human desires: the need to belong to a community or simply to feel needed. Among his most striking subjects were elderly Jewish residents who had resettled to Florida’s South Beach from colder places across the United States. At the time South Beach was home to the largest in the country community of the Jewish retirees, including the Holocaust survivors of Eastern Europe and among them, of Lithuania. The scenes of their life, captured on the oceanfront, on city streets, and at local gatherings, evoke the sense of a vibrant ‘American Shtetl’, seamlessly weaving Jewish traditions into the rhythm of local life. 

When in 1977, Miami became one of the first American cities to pass anti-discrimination protections to LGBTQ+ community, growing numbers of the community residents started moving to Miami Beach. This particular community contributed significantly to preserving the area’s historic architectural heritage, most notably, its iconic Art Deco buildings. 

The exhibition Where the Summer Never Ends will run at the Pranas Domšaitis Gallery through 14 March 2027, inviting viewers to experience the artist’s deep love to his hometown and its people. Exhibition tours and educational activities will offer audiences a deeper look into the stories behind these vivid, colourful frames. For additional information please visit the LNMA website and social media channels.