Tag: Larry O’Toole

Gloucester City Owned Art collection archive is browsable online! soft launch November 2024 #GloucesterMA

Posted on by Catherine

Art and culture have been laced throughout Gloucester’s history. City staff, departments, partner organizations, artists, and volunteers have kept detailed inventory checklists and care of a world class municipal art collection decade by decade for more than a century. Several lists were managed by American art luminaries. Here is a City Hall example from 1937, “A Catalogue of Murals and Decorations in Gloucester Done by Gloucester Artists in the Employ of the Federal Art Project”.

1937Download

And another.

from the GLOUCESTER CITY ARCHIVES collection – selection from City Hall Art bookletDownload

The 250th anniversary formed a committee for the arts. Mayor Alper reinvigorated the City Hall collection display in 1977, “Gloucester Arts & Humanities”. The Waywell inventory dates from the 1990s. When the City updated all its ordinances in 2000,  the Committee for the Arts was formally added.  In 2005 then CFTA Chair Kate Bodin and former CFTA member John Ronan drafted a prescient and comprehensive art policy celebrating all forms of creative expression. Since 2000, 6 inventory lists have been compiled—by volunteers and/or commissioned.

A major inventory checklist and report completed in 2006 was a dual project orchestrated by the City Archives (link here) and Committee for the Arts that focused on City Hall. Although the report did not include artwork measurements and was a work in progress, it was another decade’s invaluable record to build upon.

The Art of Gloucester City Hall, 2006. See printable PDF of inventory below (some attribution errors). A written evaluation was included which I’ll add in.

  • Bethany Jay (principal writing and research)
  • Information on Gloucester City Hall compiled by Sarah Dunlop, Jane Walsh, and Stephanie Buck of the Gloucester Archives office. Supplemental materials were written by John Ronan. Mayor John Bell.
  • Gloucester Committee for the Arts- John Ronan, Judith Hoglander, Dale Brown, Christine Lundberg, Steve Myers, Sage Walcott
The Art of Gloucester City Hall, 2006 —Download

Committee for the Arts member, Eric Schoonover, took on the task of the first database and digitized record–CDs, later joined by Marcia Hart, with ladder in tow to double check the inventory status and measurements which was not on the 2006 report. Several excels and docs followed and were shared widely. Under successive administrations led by Mayor Kirk and Mayor Romeo Theken, an open access inventory and available online gallery was an expressed goal for multiple city and partner grants, the city’s tourism efforts (a precursor to Discover Gloucester), the City’s two cultural districts, HarborWalk, Gloucester Arts & Cultural Initiative, public arts projects, free apps and platforms.

In 2018-19, Williamstown Art Conservation completed a conservation and full inventory report for the City mural collection, triage and stabilizing–for the first time including works not on display. (author note: I will add the PDF here)

Flash forward to 2024, the Gloucester art collection archives is available anew in an online art gallery through Art Work Archive (www.artworkarchive.com). Keep in mind that this is a work in progress. Some of the artwork information is incomplete or a placeholder. I’m sure cross-checking with the original documentation will continue and help with corrections, and more works will be added.

For example, the monumental murals by Lawrence “Larry” O’Toole (1909-1951) installed in 1982 in O’Maley Middle School are listed “Untitled” in the archive pages. They’re not untitled. They were originally commissioned by Ben Pine for the Gloucester Fisheries Institute and YMCA circa 1940-48 and illustrate fishing industry and vessels common in Gloucester. I interviewed Ron Gilson who confirmed the history and my research. DPW inspected and measured them almost 10 years ago and Williamstown Art Conservation Center, of course, when they did their evaluation. Titles are:

  • Larry O’Toole, Returning to Harbor, Twin Lighthouses
  • Larry O’Toole, Tuna Fishing with Spears
  • Larry O’Toole, Schooner with Rod Fishing
  • Larry O’Toole, Seine Fishing with Seagulls Overhead
  • Larry O’Toole, Trawling

Puzzlingly, the Mulhaupt series across from the O’toole’s are on display out of order at O’Maley and could have fit sequentially if the two series were switched at installation in 1982.

In 2021, the Wall Street Journal featured an article about WPA era art and online catalogue resources. Gloucester’s are largely absent, for many reasons. I shared the article news here (3/25/2021) and wrote:

Judith Dobrzynski highlights WPA murals and a renewed online resource* for “Arts in Review” the Wall Street Journal.

“During the Great Depression, federal programs funded the creation of thousands of murals in post offices, hospitals and other locations across the country, many of which can now be viewed online.”Judith H. Dobrzynski. The Staying Inside Guide: Big-Deal Art in Plain-Spoken Venues. Wall Street Journal. March 23, 2021. *A few of the WPA murals completed in Gloucester had been included in an earlier iteration of the website, in some cases misattributed. Gloucester is not mentioned in the article.

The reviewer highlights Coit Tower in San Francisco as one renowned example.

“The New Deal murals inside Coit Tower in San Francisco are also well-known. Painted by some two-dozen artists in 1934, they are social realist panels about life in California during the Depression, with titles like “Banking and Law” and “Meat Industry.” Their story, with a detailed layout, is available in a San Francisco Recreation and Park Department brochure.”Judith H. Dobrzynski for WSJ

The reverse ratio is evident here: Gloucester selected four artists who completed scores of masterworks* for specific public buildings. Monumental stunning mural cycles were commissioned under the auspices of Federal Arts PWAP and WPA-era programs from 1935-42 for Sawyer Free Library, City Hall, the High School on Dale Ave (now Central Grammar apartments), Hovey, Maplewood, and Forbes elementary schools. As schools were closed, disposed, or repurposed, murals were rescued and re-sited within City Hall and later O’Maley.

The City of Gloucester artists were significant muralists and painters. In truth, venerated. They captured stories of Gloucester and became a celebrated part of our history and artistry. When considered as a whole, the Gloucester murals rival WPA era collections completed in big cities. The density of murals are as concentrated as any found in larger cities, like Coit Tower in San Francisco, though spread out among buildings rather than one tower, or one structure, as with Harlem Hospital.

Gloucester’s post office nearly landed a commission, but fate intervened. I’ll save that for the Part 2 post.

Gloucester and greater Cape Ann artists were commissioned for murals beyond Gloucester and Massachusetts and served key roles on selection panels and planning.

Gloucester is not mentioned in this WSJ article or few major compilations.

“Though painted by nationally known and successful artists at the top of their game, the works have suffered from a perfect storm of anonymity.” Catherine Ryan, 2012

City Owned Art Work Archive online gallery

What is new about this 2024 city owned inventory online gallery is that 1) a wonderful creative director, Anna Chirico, was hired to photograph and inventory the collection. Fun fact, Chirico of course has helped her mom, JoAnn, with goodlinens studio on Main Street in Gloucester (goodlinenstudio.com), and 2) Kate Shamon Rushford, Gloucester’s arts, culture, and events coordinator was hired for a part time position within Community Development dedicated to projects like this one. Shamon Rushford is pursuing a Gloucester presence online through Bloomberg Connects Arts and Culture online, too.

I recommend that the city’s .gov website maintain exclusive pages as well, because what’s new and trending in arts engagement is not static or exclusive.

Gloucester DPW has utilized 3D photography for jobs (City Hall after the fire), and city departments including Community Development/Engineering make use of arcgis subscriptions. These resources on the .gov site would help with virtual tours and printables. It’s important to keep city ownership of the content. Gloucesterma.gov went to Discover Gloucester. As long as the content is retrievable, dedicated pages can be available on the .gov site itself regardless of technological or fad obsolescence.

GLOUCESTER PUBLIC ART | MURAL MAP HERE

Printable Press Release

Read more: the City’s Press Release about the NEW online gallery for city owned art hosted on art work online below.

Boston Globe article about the City’s new online gallery by Cate McQuaid is here.

Press Release – City of Gloucester Art Collection online 2024Download

IN WAR AND AFTER: The Art of Combat Veterans curated by Ken Hruby at Rocky Neck

Posted on by Catherine

The creative response to military service is vast.

Several Gloucester and Cape Ann artists and writers were veterans officially engaged as combat documentarians and/or military artists, like Larry O’Toole (1908-1951), marine artist, official USCG artist and WWII Veteran.

Ron Gilson visiting Larry O'Toole oils commisioned ca1945 by Ben Pine for YMCA and Master Mariners moved to Essex Shipbuilding- then O'Maley ©c ryan.jpg
Author and historian Ron Gilson viewing Larry O’Toole murals at O’Maley Innovation School, originally commissioned by Ben Pine ca.1945; after fire and demolition, temporarily relocated to Essex Shipbuilding Museum ; rescued and returned to Gloucester by Raye Norris. When he was a teenager, Gilson helped O’Toole with general art handling-studio assistance such as readying and moving these murals.

 

Addison Center’s 1866 portrait of Ulysses S. Grant is to the left upon entry in City Hall. (On the right is a 1946 memorial commission by Marguerite Pearson to 5 WWII marines: Sherman B Ruth, Ralph Greely, Wilfred Ringer, John M. Sweet, and Robert M. Maguire.)

Others created art in response to their service experience like fine artist, Robert Stephenson (1935-2013).

Good Morning Gloucester readers have been following an indeliable original illustrated series, Stories from Vietnam, with illustrations and writing by David Hussey. The Gloucester Writers Center established a Veterans Writing Workshop in the fall of 2013 and published a compilation book, The Inner Voice and the Outer World, launched in December 2017.  Cape Ann Veterans Services brought copies of the children’s picture book, Veterans: Heroes in Our Neighborhood, and super volunteer readers, into local Kindergarten, first and second grades to read aloud in the classes. Copies of the book were gifted to the classroom libraries. (Veterans: Heroes in Our Neighborhood ©2012 is by Valerie Pfundstein with illustrations by Aaron Anderson and foreword by John Vigiano Sr., a Marine Veteran and retired FDNY Captain, who honors his sons’ memories –both lost on 9/11– by volunteering his time and resources to Gold Star families and wounded heroes.) Gloucester native and Gold Star mother, Anita Coullard Dziedzic, helped support this outreach through Cape Ann Veterans Services, to honor her son Sgt. David J Coullard.

© c ryan Bradley Smith poet and veteran
Artists-veterans throughout Cape Ann. Bradley Smith, poet, veteran

NEXT MONTH, Rocky Neck Cultural Center will present a visual arts group exhibition featuring artists who are currently active or served in the military curated by fine artist and veteran Ken Hruby:

IN WAR AND AFTER: The Art of Combat Veterans, Curated by Ken Hruby
May 17 – June 24, 2018

Courtesy photos credit info and press release below from Rocky Neck.

  • Mourning the Loss of a Comrade, GySgt Michael Fay, USMCR- Served in Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan
  • Walking in Two Worlds, US Army Signals Linguist Cara Myhre, Served in Iraq, Afghanistan
  • Haunting Memories, Lt. Col. Deveon Sudduth, US Army, Served in Iraq
  • Ready for Ga Noi, Sgt. Robert Louis Williams, USMC, Combat Artist, Served in Vietnam
  • Woman Marine, GySgt Michael Fay, USMCR, Served in Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan
  • Through The Elephant Grass, Sgt. Robert Louis Williams, USMC, Combat Artist, Served in Vietnam

PRESS RELEASE – “The Rocky Neck Art Colony (RNAC) proudly presents “IN WAR AND AFTER: The Art of Combat Veterans”, a multi-media, juried exhibition of over sixty works by more than thirty combat artists from the military services and by veterans making art from their experiences in zones of combat…Congressman Seth Moulton of the 6th congressional district of Massachusetts, himself a Marine Corps veteran of four tours in Iraq, states of this exhibition, “The ‘incommunicable experience of war,’ as Oliver Wendel Holmes once described it, indeed often defies explanation by words alone. That veterans can share some of their experience through art can help us all better understand what they went through. And as a veteran myself, who returned to war with a camera after I left the Marines, I know how cathartic art can be for those of us who were there. The work of combat artists is important for civilians as well, to deepen their understanding of the lives of our service men and women, and their families. “In War and After” is an a very important exhibition for both communities.”

Few people are aware that when US military forces go to war, some of them carry, in addition to their weapons, their sketch pads, graphite pencils, watercolor brushes and cameras. These are combat artists, tasked to not only serve the combat mission but to record that mission in ways only an artist can.

Continue reading “IN WAR AND AFTER: The Art of Combat Veterans curated by Ken Hruby at Rocky Neck” →

Larry O’Toole Amazing map and Historic murals at O’Maley School #GloucesterMA

Posted on by Catherine

Five monumental Larry O'Toole paintings circa 1948- reinstalled O'Maley School circa 1971 - Gloucester MA DPW crew Mike Hale, Joe Lucido, Phil Curcuru, Mike, and John inspecting 2018 wit

photo above- Five monumental Larry O’Toole (1909-1951) paintings circa 1948 were rescued and reinstalled O’Maley School circa 1982. Gloucester MA excellent DPW crew Mike Hale, Joe Lucido, Phil Curcuru, Mike, and John inspecting 2018 with ©c ryan.  Thank you DPW! City art is routinely checked. Photo by Phil Curcuru below- note the artist’s distinct “L” signature

Larry O'Toole signature photo by Phil Curcuru Gloucester MA DPW #5 installed at O'Maley painting pre dates 1951.jpg

If you haven’t seen the series of five murals painted circa 1945 by fine artist and muralist, Larry O’Toole (1909-1951), that were rescued and installed (decades ago) at O’Maley Innovation Middle School, perhaps you’ve noticed a poster of his brilliant pictorial map around Cape Ann.

O’Toole published editions of the map in 1947 and 1948. Reproductions of “A Salty Map of Cape Ann: Gloucester-Magnolia-Rockport-Pigeon Cove-Lanesville-Bay View-Annisquam” the 1948 blue version are available at Cape Ann Museum shop.  The delightful map includes inventive and intricate details and local nods: a shout out to Ben Pine’s* wharf, “All maps like this have a sea serpent;” schooners like the Henry Ford and Gertrude Thebaud (again Pine); historic sites and characteristic scenes not to miss “Artists and Seagulls”; and upcoming landmarks to look forward to like the Annisquam Bridge slated for completion in 1950. The numbered border framing elements could have been inspired by Virginia Lee Burton.close up zoomable map (sold) can be found here 

 

Gloucester, Massachusetts Capt. Ben Pine, the man who raced the schooner Gertrude Thebaud against the Canadian schooner Blue Nose for the fisherman trophy, one of the three men who made
Ben Pine office, 1941, Howard Liberman FSA/OWI photograph

Ben Pine* portrait by FSA/OWI photographer, Howard Liberman, titled “Gloucester, Massachusetts. Capt. Ben Pine, the man who raced the schooner “Gertrude Thebaud” against the Canadian schooner “Blue Nose” for the fisherman’s trophy, is one of the three men who made Gloucester. The others were Tom Carrol and Ray Adams.” (author’s note: Ray Adams was a gal so the compliment is for two men and one woman…).

Art can be seen on the walls throughout the Gloucester Mariner’s Association in Howard Liberman’s faint photos from 1941. I’m looking for more interior shots. Some of the art could be O’Toole’s, who completed commissions for Pine.

Carved fish models at the Gloucester’s Mariners Association (Fishermen’s Institute)

Howard Liberman FSA photo Gloucester Mariners Association.jpg