In 1912 New Rochelle was a fast growing suburb. Already in 1899 New Rochelle had incorporated as a city. While New Rochelle was one of the earliest communities in the area, having been founded by the Huguenots in 1688, New York City residents first discovered New Rochelle in large numbers with the advent of the steam boat, especially the one that took them to the pleasure gardens at Glen Island and the Neptune House resort. Soon, planned resi- dential areas like Rochelle Park (1885) and Rochelle Heights (1905) sprang up. New Rochelle’s popula- tion doubled between 1900 and 1910 and would double again between 1910 and 1930.

The village the Huguenots had founded with large tracts of farm land was rapidly being sub-divided into residential communities. A system of trolleys, com- muter railroads, and later the parkways made New Rochelle easily accessible.

The New York area had always been friendly to artists. In the 19th century painters of the Hudson River School settled here. Many artists traveled to Europe and began to paint in the style of the im- pressionists while others were more influenced by traditional Beaux Arts training. Meanwhile, with the turn of the century, the highly influential real- ism of the Ash Can School promoted the idea that art didn’t have to portray just beautiful objects.

In 1913, a large show of contemporary art at the Armory in New York City showed a wide variety of paintings. These included paintings by the cubists and surrealists which would cause quite a stir, and would also divide the art world for the most part into realists and those who wanted to something else. New York City was also the hub of the magazine and advertising world and many commercial artists found work there while living in the suburbs. New Rochelle had a particularly large and vibrant art community starting in the late 19th century with artists as early residents of some of the planned residential parks. New York was a center of magazine publishing and many illustrators of the day also came to New York and settled in New Rochelle.

Artist Ernest Albert moved to a house in Rochelle Park that is now the Elks Club. Illustrator Orson Lowell resided across the street from him. Frederic Remington moved to New Rochelle in1891 and lived here until 1908 on an estate designed by renowned architect Alexander Jackson Davis. Edward Kemble and Rufus Zogbaum were other early artist settlers. Joseph C. Leyndecker, who sold his first cover to The Saturday Evening Post in 1899, moved here and built a large house in 1918 that is now the Mount Tom School. Cartoonist F. Burr Opper moved to the area now known as Residential Park. Clare Briggs, a very popular cartoonist with cartoons appearing in 180 daily papers, lived in a large Tudor house near the Wykagyl Country Club, which he joined in 1914. A series of golfing car- toons soon followed.

By 1914 there were so many artists in New Rochelle that the local paper referred to the “artist colony”. It has been said that that 90% of the illustrations in The Saturday Evening Post were produced by artists from the city in the early years of the 20th century. Indeed, its most famous illustrator, Norman Rockwell, moved with his family to a boarding house in New Rochelle in 1913. Rockwell, although only 17, already had illustrated a children’s book. He first rented a studio on North Avenue then quickly plugged into the New Rochelle art community, sharing Remington’s former studio with the cartoonist Victor Clyde Forsythe, who worked for The Saturday Evening Post and created the Joe Jinx comic strip. By 1916 Rockwell’s work was on the first of what were to be many covers of The Saturday Evening Post.

Rockwell spoke of his early years in New Rochelle, recalling that “he often saw Cole Phillips the celebrated pretty girl artist, or Clare Briggs, the well-known cartoonist” or Leyndecker on his way to his commute to New York City. New Rochelle was also home to the Thanhauser silent movie studio and Terrytoons the animation firm that created early cartoons such as Mighty Mouse.

For years there had been informal meetings in the studios of various artists, often with guests invited out from New York City. In 1912, however, Alta Salisbury West, an esteemed artist who had studied at the Corcoran School of Art and in Europe, proposed that a more formal group be formed – the New Rochelle Art Association. The original group of artists included Charles F. Ayer, Frederick Dana Marsh, Remington Schuyler, Herman Lambden, George T. Tobin, Armand Booth, Leon Schafer, Lucius Hitchcock and Orson Lowell. Mrs. West became the first president. Part of the impetus was apparently a concern about the quality of several civil monuments and structures being planned by the city.

The Art Association produced its first public exhibition in 1914 as part of the celebrations surrounding the opening of the new Carnegie Public Library on the corner of Pintard Avenue and Main Street which included both a large and small public exhibition room.

This first exhibit included both paintings by New Rochelle Art Association members and a few pieces by other area artists, some of who were no longer living. The exhibit was front page news in The Standard Star, which described many of the pieces in great detail saying, “It is a show that would

look well in the best art galleries of New York, and many of the pictures are suitable to be hung in the National Academy and other shows of equal impor- tance.” The place of honor in the show was given to the recently deceased Frederic Remington, with a large oil painting entitled “The Snow Trail.”

Among the members who were especially noted were Ernest Albert, “one of the greatest scenic artists in all the world” for a painting called “Purple”, M. H. Lowell, representing “the old school”, Ernest Albert Jr. for a painting entitled “Ten above
Zero” (which also showed that year at the Art Institute in Chicago), Herman Lambden, Alta West Salisbury, Remington Schuyler, George T. Tobin, George Glenn Newell and F.Edwin Church.

That exhibition was just the first of many at the library. While the library was at the Main Street location, the Art Association provided an almost continuous series of exhibitions. There were both group shows, generally featuring a particular media, and ones featuring various individual artists, most of whom were Association members. Shows in the first few years included one devoted to the work of Frederick Dana Marsh and one to Milton Mayer, and a group show of the Association of Women Painters and Sculptors of New York City.

A few years after the founding of the Association, in the spring of 1917, World War I was declared. Artists were expected to volunteer their services to the war and there was active recruitment of artists from the field of magazines and advertising. Wellknown illustrator Charles Dana Gibson headed up an army of unpaid artists at the Division of Pictorial Publicity.

Many members of the New Rochelle Art Association including Orson Lowell, Victor Clyde Forsythe, J. C. Leyndecker, and Maginel Wright Enright, (sister of Frank Lloyd Wright), contributed to the war effort by creating posters for recruitment, liberty bonds, improving public relations, etc. Victor Clyde Forsythe (who had mentored Norman Rockwell and would later become well known for his western art) worked for the United States Shipping Board, Emergency Fleet Corporation, producing cartoons which appeared in publications that were distributed to the workers in the shipyards.

He said that at first he produced “high brow” stuff, but then discovered that “to draw popular cartoons, representing the workmen, not as heroes, but as humans, had the better effect”.

The volunteering war artists met together at regular dinners at the Salmagundi Club, often inviting soldiers and sailors to tell the artists of the things they seen so that they could better visualize the war. At one of these dinners, Charles Dana Gibson spoke saying, “the artist is no longer regarded as an effeminate being with long hair and flowing tie, but a fighting man, and he is now being treated as a ‘regu- lar fellow’ and his war work is appreciated.”

Soldiers’ Gratitude Plaque

The first project resulting from the First World War was a bronze plaque that was originally located at the head of the Main Street New Rochelle Public Library’s stairs and is now located in the City Hall Rotunda. This celebrates an interesting but rather obscure bit of World War I history.

Fort Slocum, located on David’s Island in New Rochelle, was the main recruiting examining and reception point for all of New England. When the army announced that because of the passage of the draft, no volunteer enlistments would be accepted for the army after December 15th, 1917, over ten thousand prospective inductees descended on New Rochelle. They had no place to stay and due to miserably cold weather and rough seas, no way to get to David’s Island. They were put up in various local institu- tions and local merchants saw that they got clothed and fed. (The New Rochelle population at the time was about 30,000.)

At one point it looked like the army would make them go home, though most did not have money for return tickets, but happily the powers that be prevailed on those in charge of recruitment to process those men already in New Rochelle. This plaque was conceived as a thank you gift to New Rochelle by the recruit Richard R. Pavlick of Boston who immediately began soliciting contributions from the men. He would not accept more than ten cents from any individual so that all could participate equally. By December 17th he had collected almost $500.00.

The New Rochelle Art Association was consulted and a committee was formed which received a number of design propos- als The design chosen was by former New Rochelle resident Frank Tolles Chamberlain, a Prix de Rome winner and nephew of Miss Wyant, a New Rochelle painter. The bronze panel was dedicated onMarch 15, 1919.

The Inscription on the tablet reads:

“This tablet is erected by the volunteers of the Na- tional Army in grateful appreciation of the kindly welcome and hospitality extended by the people of New Rochelle from December 10th to 20th, 1917. Coming in such numbers that the Recruiting station at Fort Slocum could not provide accommodation for them, these thousands of men found food and shelter in the homes and public buildings of the city while awaiting reception into the service of the nation.”

Colophon

Sometime during these early years the distinctive logo or colophon of the New Rochelle Art Association was designed by Fred G. Cooper. It first appears on the program for the Sketch Show of 1921. Its exact form has evolved over the years, but it remains largely as originally designed.

During the 1920s the New Rochelle Art Association continued to exhibit regularly. There were so
many members that each show tended to be devoted to subsets of the membership. There were shows

for illustrations, for painting and sculpture, for drawings and graphic arts, architecture (which often featured mural painting designs and other architec- tural ornamentation), and one devoted to arts and crafts. In between the group shows, smaller shows

were held featuring a particular artist (often recently deceased), or a particular medium. Many shows included work by well-known artists outside the organization. Many shows also featured a lecture related to the theme of the show. Each exhibit was lovingly described in both the morning and evening papers, with many works critiqued and described

in detail. Some of the language reminds one that there were fewer entertainments available then.

Here is how one early show, a “Sketch Exhibi- tion” was described in the local paper:

If so minded, any reader of The Star may step out
of bleak, lowering December weather and into the midst of an autumnal scene of a few weeks ago; or,
as simply, transfer to the land of serape and som- brero – New Mexico – with its vivid tints and sharp contrasts of light and shade; or vault to the heaving bosom of the sea, with alert yachtsmen; or fast in the necromancy of a spell cast by some witching female figure with bland eyes and provocative lips, or do any of many other things, equally remote and alluring.

Still, there were times the artists did not feel properly appreciated, especially when it concerned their pocketbooks. The Standard Star loved a 1924 show, writing, “In the gleam of the lights that flooded the spacious library Hall there met a gather- ing of people representative of the most exclusive elements of Westchester County society and of the most significant figures in the artists’ colony of this city.” However judge George Bellows had a rather different view, bemoaning the fact that while New Rochelle paid the highest per capita income tax of any city in the country, its wealthy residents weren’t supporting the arts by buying the paintings in the show in any quantity.

The organization often operated as a museum for the city. A show in November 1921, for example, featured paintings and sculptures loaned by local pa- trons. It was considered significant enough that The New York Times covered the show saying, “About $50,000 has emerged from the private collections of the locality”. The show included four examples of work by Winslow Homer.

The Association had good relations with other institutions in the city, in particular the Garden Club and the Woman’s Club, who often contributed to their receptions or offered space in their build- ings. In fact the first sketches for the Woman’s Club House, by William F. Dominick, appeared in a 1922 Association show.

In 1925 the Association organized a poster exhi- bition which included posters that had been part of a lawsuit in England. These were a series of posters featuring scenes from the British colonies done by Captain Spenser Pryse for the British Empire Exhi- bition, but had been rejected because some of the subjects were too scantily clad.

In 1925, the Association lost one of their notable illustrators - Edward Penfield. A Memorial Exhibition was held in his honor. He was consid- ered the “originator of the poster in America” and for six years designed all the posters for Harper’s Magazine. After leaving Harper’s he did freelance work, working on murals and publishing books of travel sketches, and illustrating books and stories. Many examples of his work were displayed.

While, for the most part, the work that appeared in the shows seems to have been somewhat conser- vative in style, the members of the association were aware of current movements. They went out of their way to look for examples of work from overseas, and shows might include work by artists from London or Munich or Scandinavia. A 1926 show included work by Reginald Marsh. In 1927 they even hosted a show billed as a “Modern Show”. This show had work by Arthur Covey, Lois Lenski, and Elsie and Elizabeth Driggs. Particular praise was given to a large scale canvas by Joseph Stella of a white heron. However, although the Association was modern, it was not too modern, as The Standard Star reporter said: “The exhibition is not of the extreme type which caused such a furor some years ago when “The Nude Descending the Staircase” was the target for a thousand jokes and the entire movement proved quite unintelligible to many. Thus modern art has been through the fire and it is found that today it has retained the originality and daring, which have formed the basis of the whole modern movement, but has discarded extreme symbolism and cubism, although there are paintings in the exhibition which show how the modernist finds expression through these means if it suits his purpose.”

The following year they had a special section of the display area where they put “the more modern trend of paintings.” A 1928 show garnered a full page spread in the local paper with photos of many of the artists and their art. This show was also cov- ered in The New York Times and was so popular that special trains ran out from New York City so that students could attend the show. Exhibitors included some of the stars of the illustration world includ- ing four invited artists: Ernest Watson, Federick R. Gruger, Franklin Booth and Percy Crosby. Member artists were no less illustrious and included Freder- ick Dana Marsh, Courtney Allen, George T. Tobin, Donald Teague, Leslie Zauner, J. C. Leyendecker, Dean Cornwall, Water B. Humphrey, Orson Low- ell, Norman Rockwell, Revere Wistehuff, George Brehm, Charles Williams, Robert W. Stewart, C. J. Munro and Harold Anderson.

Throughout the 1920s the Association contin- ued to grapple with how modern they should be, with the illustrator shows displaying mostly fairly traditional work while the artist and sculpture shows occasionally got a little more daring as evidenced in this comment from The Standard Star in 1928:

We do not envy the task the judges have before them for, with the exception of one of two compositions which point sharp nailed fingers into the still some- what mystic future, and two or three which are just pulling their toes out of the already fading past, the majority of canvases claim a strikingly even status with each other.

1928 saw the passing of another luminary, artist Cole Phillips, and a Memorial Show was put togeth- er. Cole Phillips did many cover illustrations for the magazines of the day and was known for his fade away style. He was instrumental in working with the Chamber of Commerce on the book New Ro- chelle The City of the Huguenots featuring paintings by local artists. The show included approximately sixty works including both finished paintings and sketches and included the painting of a mermaid which he did for the Chamber of Commerce’s book.

1929 saw the production of a very popular show on Scandinavian advertising posters. As part of the activities Adolph Treidler gave a lecture on “Posters and how they are designed, painted and printed”. Treidler was a well-known poster artist himself, hav- ing produced the first poster used for the Liberty Loan.

Another 1929 show included thirteen drawings by N. C. Wyeth and C B Falls’ Animal Alphabet.

In 1926, largely at the behest of Cole Phillips, a book was put together by the Chamber of Com- merce advertising the advantages of the city with beautiful full page plates produced by eleven dif- ferent artists. The booklet was one of the first of its kind and was copied widely.

Commemorating an older war, but not completed until 1925 is the small memorial to the Spanish- American War. A committee headed by Orson Lowell of the New Rochelle Art Association, and A. E. Thorne of the citizens’ committee selected Frances Adams Kent (Lamont), a Westchester artist and member of the National Sculpture Society to design the plaque which is mounted on a large boulder near City Hall just off North Avenue.

Russell Addison Young was a philanthropist and supporter of New Rochelle Hospital. A committee headed by Orson Lowell selected sculptor Edmond P. Quinn to create a tablet recognizing Young’s con- tributions. It was displayed first at the library and then installed at the hospital. The tablet featured a profile portrait of Young.

In 1930, a Memorial Exhibit was held for New Rochelle’s Clare Biggs, a cartoonist whom The Standard Star said was “the most widely-read car- toonist the world has ever known.” His strip Mr. and Mrs. was carried by two hundred syndicates and he was estimated to have ten million readers.

In addition to his strips, he had book collections on some of his favorite subjects including golf cartoons, which featured friendly caricatures of his buddies from the Wykagyl and Siwanoy Clubs.

In the early years of the 1930s the effects of the crash seemed to be minimal. Each show was pro- nounced to be “the finest yet” and some pictures were priced in the thousands of dollars. One show had “Dryads” by renowned impressionist Childe Hassam, while another featured watercolors by Eliot O’Hara who wrote the first of what would be six how-to books about watercolors that year. There continued to be shows which regularly featured clever and amusing paintings by Norman Rockwell in the Illustrators section.

The painting section meanwhile was still domi- nated primarily by realist works like F. C. Frieseke’s “Practice Hour”.

Lectures often looked beyond the usual and includ- ed, for example, one by Louis Paul Jonas, sculptor and taxidermist. He was a pioneer in showing animals in their settings - often as groups of animals and his work appears in many museums of Natural History. He designed groups by using smaller mod- els which were then used by museums that could not afford the real animals. A model for “Grizzly’s Last Stand” appeared in one of the New Rochelle shows.

In 1931 the Illustrator’s Section featured a paint- ing by J. C. Leyndecker showing Santa on a ladder trying to soothe a fierce bulldog which appears to have taken a bite out of his suit.

At the same show Norman Rockwell showed a picture of an old fashioned portraitist and another painting of a Hollywood hopeful, while Orson Lowell showed some of his Life covers.

In 1932, a hugely popular show of comic art was held. The Association president said the show “was put on deliberately to combat what some pessimists have alluded to as the present period of depression.”

The comic art show included work by three New Rochellians: Ad Carter of Just Kids, F. Burr “Fred” Opper of Happy Hooligan and Russ Westover of Tillie the Toiler. There were also some political car- toons in the show. It was such a success it went on to the Cleveland Museum of Art.

In 1933 the Association put on an Old Mas- ters Exhibition, with thirty-four pictures totaling $500,000 in value. It included the earliest known portrait of George Washington, some Dutch and French artists and several English artists including portraits by Lawrence, Reynolds and Gainsborough and a Turner landscape.

The 1933 Illustrators Show included two works by Leyendecker and three by Rockwell including one about which the paper said, “Don’t say any- thing about it but we also discovered a dead man
in the exhibition. He’s lying over in one corner in an awkward position and there’s a revolver nearby. There was nothing we could do about it so we left him there. You can find him without a bit of trouble if you want to look but you’ll sleep better if you don’t.”

The shows continued to be very popular and the library estimated that they received 10,000 visitors a year. In 1933, members of the Association had a very positive outlook and spoke of getting their own quarters while also maintaining their relationship with the library.

At this time the Association had the first of its fundraisers to raise scholarship money. Each artist painted a small picture or donated an existing one, all framed and more or less the same size (though there was some sculpture too). Patrons paid a small fee ($5) to entitle them to one of the pictures, but which one, was determined by lot at a party where the names of the patrons were placed in one hat, and the names of the painting in another, and then one card was drawn from each hat. They raised enough money to cover a year’s tuition at the Phoenix Art Institute for a high school senior. Eighty-nine members participated.

However by 1934 the depression had definitely reached New Rochelle. The library budget was cut by 27%, meaning that there was no longer money for the expense of an attendant. The Association considered cutting the popular hobby show, but ultimately the American Legion offered to come up with the $25 to cover the cost of the attendant at thirty cents per hour for six hours a day.

One presumes shows continued on through the thirties, but perhaps as a result of the library cuts, few clippings are filed by the library, though there is a newspaper photograph and article about a medal that was designed for the awards at the 1939 show.

In 1943 the United Services Organizations (USO) contacted the Society of Illustrators for volunteers to sketch servicemen at USO centers. Since many of the Society’s members were also Association mem- bers the idea caught on at the Association. The soldiers were stationed at Fort Slocum on David’s Island and were entertained at the Masonic Services Center which is where most of the portraits were made. Sketches of the servicemen were done on site which were then sent to the loved ones of their choice. Photostats were made of all the portraits and are stored in scrapbooks at the New Rochelle Public Library.

Each portrait was sent with a cover letter which gave a brief explanation of the project. Amusingly the letter not only asks for an acknowledgment of receipt of the artwork, it also gives suggestions for proper framing, writing: “This drawing is fragile and it cannot be cleaned if soiled: it should be protec- ted under glass. We would suggest that in selecting a proper frame, a natural, wood molding with
waxed finish, about one inch in width, be selected.”

Thirty two artists were listed on the letterhead as being part of the project. Not content to just sketch the soldiers they could access easily in New Rochelle, the artists made several weekend excur- sions to military hospitals to sketch injured soldiers. The first of these morale missions involved flying to

New River, North Carolina. Fifteen artists sketched 161 marines in the course of a few days. On a second trip, a group traveled to the Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia to draw veterans of Iwo Jima and other battles. Fifteen artists, nine of whom were from New Rochelle, did 137 portraits in one weekend. On another trip, a group went to the Norfolk Navy Base in Virginia and did 146 portraits. On this trip they worked entirely in the wards for the first time.

Finally, there was a trip where fourteen artists traveled to Magnolia Gardens outside Charleston, South Carolina where there was a naval hospital. On that trip they produced 140 portraits. Eventually the portrait project was repro- duced in other parts of the country and even some overseas locations. Ultimately by the spring of 1945 over 100 American artists had donated their talents in creating over 10,000 portraits. The New Rochelle Art Association completed over 4,000 of these. The Art Association received a citation from the US Army Second Service Command in recognition of this project.

Besides the regular shows there were some interest- ing lectures in the post-war period. In 1946, Harold Von Schmidt, a Saturday Evening Post artist, and the founder of the art correspondence school the Famous Artists School (which for many years em- ployed Norman Rockwell) came and talked about how to do color lay-in work. Later that year there was a lecture on commercial art by Dean Cornwell who showed preliminary work for the Eastern Airlines murals at Rockefeller Center. Questioned about modern art he said there were three types, “mechanical skill, effected incompetence and in- competence ‘when they just don’t know what they are doing’.” He also didn’t like art critics much, say- ing he thought they should just describe the work, and not pass judgment.

In 1946 for the first time separate prizes were given to professional versus amateur artists. This separation was never mentioned again, suggesting that the experiment was abandoned.

In 1947 Eugene Savage gave a lecture titled “The Expanding Metaphysics in Art”. It is unclear if the reporter understood what the talk was about, but it appear that he was explaining or defending surreal- ism and the symbolic meaning of basic geometric shapes which he said were an outgrowth of emphas- izing the spiritual in art, and a rejection of the “per- fect specimen of beauty”.

In 1948 and 1949 the Association along with the Music Teachers Council sponsored two big Arts and Crafts fairs. The fairs included many demonstrations and were hugely popular. The second fair, which was held at the Woman’s Club, featured sixty paint- ings, the presentation of the Adolph Grant award for best painting, and the Julliard String Quartet, (which had been founded just a few years earlier), among its highlights. The event also included a game of musical easels where seven artists painted what was suggested by a piece of music. Results ranged from traditional to very abstract.

In 1950, well-known water colorist Dong King- man gave a talk and also showed his film “Art in Action”. Later that year Harry Sternberg discussed silk screen painting, a new medium which the WPA had brought into prominence. An announcement was made that arrangements with Artists Equity Association would allow even more nationally known artists to lecture and demonstrate at the Association meetings for next season.

In 1951 the Art Association made a big splash when they staged the 39th Winter Exhibit at First National Bank on the corner of Main St and Lawton Street. The show included artists who had

previous association with New Rochelle, not just current NRAA members. The New York Times headline read “Philistines Open Arms to Artists as Bank Becomes Gallery for Day”. The New
Rochelle Garden Club provided flowers. Apparently the bank president had heard they felt they

weren’t getting enough visibility at the library lo- cated “on the edge of town” and offered his space as well as $500 in prize money and the opportunity to touch a $5000 bill. Fell Sharp, president of the Association was quoted as saying “It came as a great surprise, artists are more accustomed to being thrown out of banks on their ears than being invited inside this way.” Mr. Roth, an Association mem- ber, said “We are trying to kill the glass-eye and marble-wall atmosphere in banking. This Bohemian Art show will help.” The show included paintings by Reginald Marsh and the late J. C. Leyendecker. Over a thousand people attended the reception. The affair seems to have been somewhat complicated since it only spent the weekend at the bank and then had to be moved to its regular quarters in the library.

At about this time the Association added a new activity to its evening roster of demonstrations and lectures. This was the panel discussion where they invited a panel of artists or critics to discuss a topic. The first of these panels discussed “What makes a picture a masterpiece?”

Modern art as we know it finally seemed to be getting accepted in 1954 as president Lumen Mar- tin Winters gave a talk about the relationship of Ital- ian renaissance art and Picasso, Matisse and other modernists. Some interesting art events were or- ganized, such as one where silhouette artist Ugo Mochi was presented with a medallion to celebrate his new book and article in the magazine Natural History, and dances inspired by Mochi’s gazelles were performed by Broadway dancer Virginia (Tiny) Shimp.

In 1956 Miss Molly Guion did a portrait demonstration. She was a well-known artist who had spent several years in England painting portraits of high society including many in the Royal Family. She was also a direct descendant of one of the origi- nal Huguenot families that settled New Rochelle.

In the meantime the big Painting and Sculpture show, which had become a juried show, became so big that they had to go back to the bank and have them host the sculptures portion of the show. The show may have been particularly popular that year as they were able to arrange to refund the fees for anyone who was rejected from the show. Another attraction may have been the award money offered - $2000 total. Six hundred visitors were at the open- ing reception and ultimately at least seven thousand saw the show. Membership rose to 325 that year including the fifty new sculptors who joined the association.

Starting in the 1960s and throughout most of the 1970s there was a regular series of shows with October for oils, November for Watercolors, Pastels and Crafts, December as a Priced to Sell Show, January either for new members or an open show, February for Drawing, Prints and Sculptures, March for Figures and Portraits, April for a Juried Show, and May for an “Anything Goes” show that encouraged experimentation. One interesting event, held in conjunction with most of the shows, was a dinner with the judge or judges which anyone in the Association could attend.

The panel discussions which were begun in the previous decade continued on such topics as “Pros and Cons of Modern Art” (The Association newslet- ter said of that particular event, “This should prove to be an evening requiring referees.”)

Sketch nights became a regular occurrence, usu- ally led by artist and later president A. Shore Packer. During the 1960s there were some new activities including a studio home tour for the benefit for the Association. The tour visited Helen Beling, sculptor, Herman Roth, silversmith, Esther Perry, potter,
Lee Perry (architect), Molly Guion Smythe (paint- er), C. Paul Jennewein (sculptor), Lily, Irene and Alice Gross (two painters and one sculptor), and Herman Roth (silversmither and jeweler).
Another new activity was a program to rotate art through the mayor’s office on a monthly basis.

Two very successful fundraisers were held at Temple Emanu-El in Mount Vernon. At the 1965 event one hundred and twenty-five pieces of art were sold netting $5600 for Association members and a $4000 commission for the temple.

In 1963 all the first place winners from a year’s worth of shows displayed their work together at the Ruth White gallery on 57th Street in New York City to generally favorable reviews.

In 1964 there was a small group show by four invited artists “all of whom paint in the modern manner.” The artists were Frances Harkavy, Pearl Mandell, Margo Krouwer, and Edward Stoloff.

In 1964 the Association celebrated its 50th an- niversary with a big juried exhibition open to all Westchester artists. The current president Robert Sabato was quoted in The Standard Star: “This show represents a new phase in the activities of the New Rochelle Art Association, which has been part of the New Rochelle cultural scene for the past forty years” The show was held at the Huguenot YMCA on Division Street which had more space than the li- brary. There was a $3 entry fee for members and $4 for non-members. There were $100 prizes in four categories – Oil Painting, Watercolor, Graphics and Sculpture, with several judges for each category.

Sculpture continued to be a very popular me- dium and a 1964 sculpture show at the Huguenot YMCA had forty-nine pieces. There was an even bigger open juried show in 1966 just for sculpture and large ceramics held at 1st Westchester National Bank and again in 1967 with a top prize of $400. Truly modern art appeared to have finally been accepted when the association held a 1965 show
for abstract or non-objective work. However there was still room for tradition, with Helen Van Wyk demonstrating portrait painting in a traditional style, albeit using polymer colors instead of oils. The following year watercolor painter and teacher Edgar Whitney gave a demonstration.

That said, tension between modernists and tradi- tionalists came to the fore when in 1965 there was a bit of a kerfuffle regarding an outdoor show (6th Annual Westchester Outdoor Art Festival) organized by local gallery owner Woodi Ishmael of the Greene Gallery. “Famed illustrator and artist” C. C. Beall, a New Rochelle Art Association member, complained in The Standard Star that the work shown be- longed to “the tin cup school of art”. Letters flew back and forth in the paper as artists who were in the show disagreed and praised the New Rochelle citizens who attended and seemed to enjoy the show. Robert Ceston, an Association artist who was in the show, was “appalled” by Mr. Beall’s attack, saying “Mr. Beall is obviously a member of a bitter clique of commercial rather than fine artists who have never adjusted to the tidal wave of great progressive American art, the demand for which was created by their own stale techniques.”

He continued, “As a five-year member of the New Rochelle Art Association of which Mr. Beall thinks so highly, I can assure you that the shows run by the New Rochelle Art Association are hardly stimulating, the atmosphere being more suited to Aunt Martha’s coffee Klatsch rather than an art exhibit – and ditto for their paintings – save for a few good artists like Buchman, Mandell, or the Sabatos.” He also said that Mr. Beall’s comment that “abstraction is the work of children was ‘the joke of the century.’” The official word from the New Rochelle Art Association? There was “no feud” between the organization and the outdoor art exhibition promoted by Theodore H. Greene according to President Martha Gangel who added, “We are a dignified, 51-year-old non-profit group and I’d like to let it go at that.”

Meanwhile the New Rochelle Art Association, perhaps showing their conservative leanings, announced that romantic realist artist, Samuel Ed- mund Oppenheim, would demonstrate a portrait at the YMCA on the closing date of the festival. Oppenheim was a respected artist who had exhibit- ed at the White House, the Chrysler Museum of Art and many galleries and was definitely no modernist.

The eclectic nature of the Association is hinted at in the winners of the 1965 juried show where “Young Mermaid” by Monique Winston, a sculp- ture, won Best in Show, but intriguingly a painting entitled “Shame of Selma” by Lilli Gross won best painting.

October 1966 John Groth gave a talk. He is known best as an artist-correspondent who recorded “the drama and beauty of the world as well as the miseries and gore of its battlefields”. He covered the fall of Berlin, the Korean conflict, and the Jack Ruby trial. He illustrated War and Peace, Heming way’s Men Without Women, and Exodus among other books. He also did Esquire cartoons. His pictures of doctors and nurses at work during the Korean War were a far cry from the relatively cheery portrait that would later be provided by the TV show MASH.

During the 1970s the local paper seemed to lose interest in art with a few exceptions. As in the previous decades, the Association remained deter- mined to accept all kinds of arts and lectures and activities reflect an interest in both modern and traditional art.

The juried show continued to be a popular event too large to be held at the library. It was held at a variety of locations including the Greek Orthodox Church on North Avenue, the Sports building at the College of New Rochelle and the brand new mall. At a 1977 juried show at the mall, the most popular piece was a collection of match stick con- structions by Ben Zabinsky, including a replica of Thomas Paine Cottage.

Demonstrations continued to be popular. Among the artists who gave demonstrations were: Cliff Young (a muralist for NASA and painter of many government portraits), Everett Raymond Kinstler (portrait painter), David Stone (past president of Society of Illustrators), Maury Med- wic (who showed how to use latex molds and fill with hardened plastics), David Immerman (oil portrait painter), Tipi Halsey (who demonstrated batik), Marilyn Bottjer ( who discussed rug hook- ing), Margaret Garri (cloisonné artist), and Albert Handell (pastel artist).

New activities included a regular film series with both films about artists and experimental films. In 1973 an art show featuring New Rochelle past and present went on to be exhibited at City Hall.

In 1976 a sketching expedition was organized to various newly declared Landmark Sites in the New Rochelle area. The paintings that resulted were to be hung first in the library, then at the museum at Wildcliff. There were plans for them to travel to three branches of the Westchester Savings Bank, New Rochelle Hospital and perhaps even to Albany, but no descriptions of those trips were found.

In 1977 there was a panel discussion where the question “What makes a prize winner?” was dis- cussed. Panelists were Helen Trotzky, Jospeh Krasn- ansky, Barbara Bisgyer and Pat de Haan (the latter representing avant-garde oils). Bisgyer said, “First you want emotional impact. Then you analyze the art.” Trotzky said she looked for something with a universal feeling reflecting its time. De Haan said a good judge gets past their own style. Everyone on the panel (all artists themselves) thought artists made better judges than trendy gallery owners and curators.

The 1970s saw some big architectural changes for New Rochelle. The Mall had been opened in 1968 and at least at first provided community spaces that were well used. In 1977 there was the groundbreaking ceremony of the Main Street Walk- way. The activities included A. Shore Packer doing instant portraits and Paul de Tagyos doing carica- tures. Plans were also in the works for a new library which was opened at the end of the decade.

The new library caused a great deal of angst with the Art Association. The library and the Art Association had been intimately entwined from their beginings, but it was clear that the library had a different vision for the future. Unlike the old library, the new one was planned with very little secure display space. Instead they proposed that the lobby be used. They planned an “Omnipole system” which would allow for about 1000 square feet of display space. There would also a small gallery on the third floor with about 400 square feet available (30 linear feet).

Both these spaces could be made available to the Association, but it was emphasized that “other uses by the Library or other community organizations would also have to be taken into consideration.” In addition, the library suggested that if the association didn’t like the lobby they could donate a display system to the library that would be suitable for the third floor room. The Association was assured that “the needs and interests of the New Rochelle Art Association will be given a high priority in these deliberations.”

In August 1979 a letter to the editor of The Stan- dard Star under the big headline “Library Misses the Boat” appreciated that New Rochelle’s planning of- ficials were “trying hard to make our city, once more, the Queen City of the Sound,” but lamented that “when priorities were set, who decided that the New Rochelle Art Association must go; to make space for what?”

The writer went on to say, “I can’t believe that the residents of New Rochelle, whose tax dollars built and will maintain this library, will be willing to have their 65-year-old New Rochelle Art Association be told that there is no room for it – now, nor in the future.” The library responded that the New Rochelle Art Association “will be able to exhibit and meet at the new library, but that the board cannot reserve a particular space at the library for the exclusive use of the art association.” In a sign of things to come, in October 1979 at the brand new building at last, the New Rochelle Art Asso- ciation managed to get reservations for a monthly meeting, but not for their normal season opening show in the library. A new era had begun. Monthly shows and meetings with a steady series of lectures and demonstrations would no longer be possible.

Peace was made however, and when former presi- dent Lumen Winter passed away in 1982 the lobby space was named the Lumen Winter Gallery in his honor. Lumen Winter’s sculpture “Flame of Knowledge” now stands in Library Green adjacent to the library. And eventually the artists realized there were some real advantages to a location that means that every single library patron sees that a show has been hung.

With the new century the art association made some major changes. In 2000 a vote was taken to eliminate the category of Associate member which was no longer for non-artists who were interested in supporting art and instead had become a class of membership for artists who were not considered good enough to be full members and it only allowed them to participate in one show a year. At the same time the Association voted to add two new classes of membership: Photography and Digital Art.

It was hoped that the changes would both help the Asso- ciation to expand its membership and also to allow for some more interesting and contemporary work that had been an uncomfortable fit in the “Mixed Media” category. At the same time, under the lead- ership of president Charlotte Klein, the Association took a long overdue look at its by-laws which had remained unchanged since 1929 and brought them into the new century to reflect the way the Associa- tion currently operated.

Activities included a demonstration by pastel painter Diana DeSantis, a critique conducted by art- ist David Beynon Pena, and a talk entitled “The art market: strategies for artists” by Beth Gersh-Nesic.

In 2000 the Art Association entered the digital age when artists Lenni Hirsh and Theresa Beyer gave a seminar on how to use the internet, from places to talk about art on line to places to sell it, as well as the basics of how to make a website. Members were invited to bring in a piece of work which was then photographed and put on the first New Rochelle Art Association website that Lenni Hirsh created later that year. The website included a brief history of the Association, art samples of current artists with links to personal sites if they had them, and a calen- dar of events. It was later completely revamped by John Channel and Jesse Sanchez. It now includes video, a changing exhibit of member spotlights and links to the newsletters as well.

In 2001 and 2002 the newly formed downtown Business Improvement District (BID) invited artists of the Association to participate in an outdoor art show on Library Green.

In 2007 the Art Association produced a calendar with images of New Rochelle as a way to promote the city and raise money. The original works of art were displayed at City Hall and a reception was held there. As a community building activity and promo- tion of the city was successful, but fundraising was limited.

In 2008 the Association collaborated with the Garden Club and Chamber of Commerce who had organized a daffodil festival, planting thousands of daffodils all over town. The Association did its bit to “Paint the town yellow”, organizing a yellow themed show that ran in conjunction with the festival.

In addition to its regular shows, the Association organized several shows at locations outside the library. In 2009, 2010, and 2011 small group shows were held at New Century Artists, Inc. in the Chel- sea district of New York City. In 2012 a group put together a show at the Jewish Community Center in New Rochelle.

In 2011 the New Rochelle Juried Show coin- cided with a City Wide Art Fest and its reception, with a local jazz band playing becoming part of the festivities.

The New Rochelle Art Association has enjoyed one hundred years of promoting art in New Rochelle and will continue to look for ways as we head into the next century to add to the community and further the appreciation of art.

Most of the quotations in the text come from either one of New Rochelle’s newspapers or the Association’s News letter and are credited in the text.

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