Andrew R. Janson, Tallahassee, Hollywood, Hollywood Hills, 1926.
Andrew Janson worked as an artist and naturalist for the state of Florida for over twenty-five years. An Eagle Scout from New York City, Janson was, years later, the principal illustrator for Boy Scouts of American handbooks. In 1926 he helped organized the Boy Scouts of Hollywood (Florida). That year he prepared a map of Florida showing counties where various Florida produce were raised. The map, prepared for the Hollywood Bureau of Research, reproduced in size proportionate to output, a picture of each produce, i.e., beans, lettuce, tomatoes, made in the county. Janson worked briefly as a technical director for a Hollywood, Florida movie studio working principally on films featuring Harold Lloyd. In May of 1941, now working for the Florida State Museum, Janson designed the cover of Slash Pine Cache, a yearbook of the Florida School of Forestry, published by forestry students at the University of Florida in Gainesville. The books’ theme was private forestry in the south, with Janson’s cover design depicting a typical cutover slash pine section in Florida. During World War II Janson prepared camouflage plans for military airports in Jacksonville and Ocala. His record of Florida state employment included two years with the state museum, six years with the Florida Park Service, where he was illustrator for the Florida game commission’s magazine, Wildlife, and eleven years as illustrator with the Florida Geological Survey. Before coming to Florida Janson did illustrations for scientific publications of the Iowa State University and painted backgrounds for full scale wildlife dioramas in the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. He was listed in Who’s Who in American Art. Born: New York City, 1901. Died: January 20, 1963, Tallahassee. Education: Syracuse University, forestry School; post graduate work at Columbia University and University of Southern California. Membership: Art Center of Tallahassee, 209 East Call (formerly the Delson Art Center), director, 1950-1951.
