WINTER PARK, FL—The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art is excited to announce a collaboration with the Creative City Project to bring the historic Merita neon sign back into public view for the first time in over a decade.
The fully restored 48-foot-long sign will be on view at the 30 South Orange Avenue lot in downtown Orlando through April 1, 2025, as a part of both IMMERSE 2025 (February 21–23) and DTO Live!. The Morse Museum took on the restoration and safekeeping of the Merita sign as part of its commitment to protect and celebrate this unique medium.
In May 1961, the Merita bread factory opened in Orlando along Interstate 4 near Division Avenue. For more than 50 years the waft of fresh baked bread delighted drivers along the route. Following the bakery’s closing, the new owners of the property donated this Merita sign—one of several—to the Morse Museum. These signs joined the Museum’s greater collection, and its efforts to preserve historical signs for future generations. Conservation and safekeeping ensure that these architectural treasures will recall the past and inspire sublime beauty in modern surroundings. At nearly 18 feet high and 48 feet long, the Merita sign is one of the largest objects in the Morse’s collection.
The Morse Museum is home to the world’s most comprehensive collection of works by Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848–1933), including the chapel interior he designed for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, and art and architectural elements from his Long Island estate, Laurelton Hall. The Museum’s holdings also include American art pottery, late 19th- and early 20th-century American paintings, graphics, and history of design objects.
For more information about the Morse Museum, please visit morsemuseum.org. To learn more about IMMERSE 2025, please visit immersefest.com.
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