An artists' colony from 1937

The Maitland Art Center is a National Historic Landmark campus in Maitland — the first in Central Florida — built as an artists' colony by J. André Smith in a singular mix of Art Deco and Mayan Revival style. The walking tours here move through the grounds and galleries: carved concrete details with Mayan influence everywhere, the original studios and offices in the main garden, and admission the hosts call reasonable. (One tour's title mislabels the town as Altamonte Springs — the center is in Maitland, about 15 minutes from downtown Orlando.)

Maitland Art Center National Historic Landmark ***** (1937), Altamonte Springs, Florida

This Is Florida

This Is Florida's long tour of the Maitland Art Center, the 1937 National Historic Landmark campus in Maitland. (The video's own title mislabels the location as Altamonte Springs; the center is in Maitland.) (Transcript not stored: no caption track available (Supadata api_error, unbilled).)

Art and History Museum of Maitland, FL

Robocrip

Robocrip visit the Art and History Museums of Maitland, Florida. (Transcript not stored: no caption track available (Supadata api_error, unbilled).)

Maitland - Best Exhibits in Town

Orlando's Best with Brent and Jennifer

Brent and Jennifer of Orlando's Best tour Maitland, about 15 minutes from downtown Orlando and one of Central Florida's oldest incorporated suburbs — including the Art & History Museums campus and its Telephone Museum, where you can see how telephones changed over time.

Key takeaways
  • Maitland overview with the museums as a stop
  • About 15 minutes from downtown Orlando
  • Telephone Museum shows the tech's evolution

The chapel and the telephones

Smith built the Garden Chapel of Saint Francis in 1942, dedicated to his late mother — an open room, a nave and an altar tucked into the landmark campus, presented here by the museums' own channel. The wider Art & History Museums campus adds a surprise: a Telephone Museum tracing how the telephone changed over time, part of the Maitland overview tour on this page.

Know before you go: it's expanding

A September 2025 news report in this set covers the center's major expansion — its first substantial transformation in modern times — moving classrooms out of the historic studios so they can return to an artist residency program. Expect a campus in transition: the landmark core is the draw, and the work underway is literally restoring the colony's original purpose.

Sources: the nine videos on this page — landmark tours, museum overviews, the chapel presentation, and the expansion news report — summarized from their entries in our catalog.

Maitland Art and History Center #maitland #Florida #travel

Easy Street With Jen

Easy Street With Jen walks the Maitland Art Center, a National Historic Landmark built as an artists' colony by J. André Smith in Art Deco and Mayan Revival style, touring the grounds and galleries and noting the reasonable admission.

Key takeaways
  • National Historic Landmark artists' colony
  • J. André Smith's Mayan Revival / Art Deco design
  • Galleries toured; admission called reasonable

Maitland Art and History Museum grounds

laura AroundTown

Laura AroundTown walk the grounds of the Maitland Art and History Museums. (Transcript not stored: no caption track available (Supadata api_error, unbilled).)

6 Things You MUST DO in Maitland, Florida: Unveiling the Magic of this Central Florida Hidden Gem

ChadGallivanter

ChadGallivanter rounds up six things to do in Maitland, the hidden-gem community just north of downtown Orlando — a former citrus haven around Lake Maitland — with the Art & History Museums among the stops.

Key takeaways
  • Six things to do in Maitland
  • Citrus-era history around Lake Maitland
  • Art & History Museums feature in the list

Watch: Maitland Art Center, guided

3 videos · summaries from the actual guides

137 - Art History Center Gardens, Maitland, Fl

Florida Cemetery Channel

Florida Golden Girl tours the main garden of Maitland's Art and History Museums — the original part of the campus that housed the first art studios and offices — pointing out the Mayan influence in the Art Deco detailing.

Key takeaways
  • Main garden tour at the museum campus
  • Original studios and offices stood here
  • Mayan influence in the Art Deco details

The Garden Chapel of Saint Francis at the Maitland Art Center in Central Florida

Art & History Museums Maitland

The Art & History Museums of Maitland present the Garden Chapel of Saint Francis at the Maitland Art Center — built by founder J. André Smith in 1942 and dedicated to his late mother, with an open room, a nave and an altar, inside the National Historic Landmark campus.

Key takeaways
  • Garden Chapel of Saint Francis, built 1942
  • Smith dedicated it to his late mother
  • Part of the National Historic Landmark campus

Maitland Art Center will undergo major expansion

WESH 2 News

WESH 2 News reports the Maitland Art Center — part of the Art & History Museums of Maitland and Central Florida's first National Historic Landmark, founded in 1937 — is getting a major expansion, its first substantial transformation in modern times, moving classrooms out so the historic studios can return to an artist residency program.

Key takeaways
  • Major expansion announced (Sept 2025 report)
  • Central Florida's first National Historic Landmark
  • Classrooms move out; artist studios/residency restored

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