CLARK, ROSIE
cooper, ruth teal
Ruth Teal Cooper (1926-1973) was an artist and arts instructor in McDowell County throughout the 1950s and 60s.
She was an active advocate for arts education, taught art at McDowell Junior High, adult arts education at MTCC (on State Street), and private classes for adults and children in her home on Park Avenue. She was also an original member of MACA its founding year, 1972.
She was a private student of Freda Widder Ledford and Eugene Healan Thomason.
She passed at age 47, in 1973, leaving a rich legacy of art and arts education in McDowell County.
Seven years after her passing Mr. Walker J. Cooper (Ruth's husband) hosted "The Ruth Teal Retrospective Exhibit" in spring of 1980 to celebrate her art and life.
This was also the formal opening of the McDowell Arts Center Gallery at 101 West Court St (we've moved a few times). There are a few Polaroid photos below where a photo of the painting of Mr. Barn's Barn can be seen hanging in this show.
In Fall of 2022, our friend Patin Howard gifted MACA four original RTC paintings for our Permanent Collection. One of those paintings was Mr. Barn's Barn, a 1958 oil, which happened to have a provence in our records from that 1980 gallery show.
We hope to share more with you as we find out more ourselves about the legacy of art that shapes who we are and where we are going. Thank you Ruth, for bringing art education to McDowell County Schools.
Below is a photo of "Mr. Barn's Barn" Ruth Teal Cooper, 1958. Oil on masonite. 12x16. From the MACA Permanent Collection. A gift from Patin Howard, 2022.
She was an active advocate for arts education, taught art at McDowell Junior High, adult arts education at MTCC (on State Street), and private classes for adults and children in her home on Park Avenue. She was also an original member of MACA its founding year, 1972.
She was a private student of Freda Widder Ledford and Eugene Healan Thomason.
She passed at age 47, in 1973, leaving a rich legacy of art and arts education in McDowell County.
Seven years after her passing Mr. Walker J. Cooper (Ruth's husband) hosted "The Ruth Teal Retrospective Exhibit" in spring of 1980 to celebrate her art and life.
This was also the formal opening of the McDowell Arts Center Gallery at 101 West Court St (we've moved a few times). There are a few Polaroid photos below where a photo of the painting of Mr. Barn's Barn can be seen hanging in this show.
In Fall of 2022, our friend Patin Howard gifted MACA four original RTC paintings for our Permanent Collection. One of those paintings was Mr. Barn's Barn, a 1958 oil, which happened to have a provence in our records from that 1980 gallery show.
We hope to share more with you as we find out more ourselves about the legacy of art that shapes who we are and where we are going. Thank you Ruth, for bringing art education to McDowell County Schools.
Below is a photo of "Mr. Barn's Barn" Ruth Teal Cooper, 1958. Oil on masonite. 12x16. From the MACA Permanent Collection. A gift from Patin Howard, 2022.
DAVIS, HASKELL
DODD, JENNIFER EAST
DODD, JOYCE
GREENLEE, NINA
Status: On View, McDowell Arts Council Association, Permanent Collection
Department: Folk Art, Historic Art
Artist: Nina Greenlee
Title: Snow Birds
Place: United States (Artist's nationality:)
Date
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
Credit Line: Donated by Patin Howard, 2022.
Reference Number: 2023.01
Department: Folk Art, Historic Art
Artist: Nina Greenlee
Title: Snow Birds
Place: United States (Artist's nationality:)
Date
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
Credit Line: Donated by Patin Howard, 2022.
Reference Number: 2023.01
GREENLEE, NINA
Status: On View, McDowell Arts Council Association, Permanent Collection
Department: Folk Art, Historic Art
Artist: Nina Greenlee
Title: Untitled
Place: United States (Artist's nationality:)
Date 1962
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: (20 × 16 in.)
Credit Line: Donated by Patin Howard, 2022.
Reference Number: 2023.02
Department: Folk Art, Historic Art
Artist: Nina Greenlee
Title: Untitled
Place: United States (Artist's nationality:)
Date 1962
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: (20 × 16 in.)
Credit Line: Donated by Patin Howard, 2022.
Reference Number: 2023.02
LIND, DR. VIIU
MCCURRY, HOWARD
mcdowellarts.org/howardmccurry
REEL, HOYT
"Conquering Heroes" is a 1989 signed lithograph print of an original watercolor work by Hoyt Reel (1926-2012) of Marion, NC and Dumfries, VA.
Hoyt grew up in his mother's boarding house on South Madison Street, in Downtown Marion, where he is said to have been a paperboy for the Marion Progress Newspaper.
In that same house, Hoyt met his future wife: Ann Sprouse. Ann rented a room from Hoyt's mother, Eula Reel, while working in town as a court stenographer. Mrs. Reel did not abide a household living in sin, so it wasn't long before the couple married.
They were married on the CBS Television show "Bride and Groom" in late summer of 1953. In the CBS program, couples for the episode would be introduced and interviewed. A vocalist would sing a song for them, and a short wedding ceremony would take place.
Through his marriage, Hoyt gained Nora Sprouse Worthen (1943-2022) as a sister-in-law.
Hoyt was an active member of the American Whitewater Association and kayaked extensively throughout Virginia and West Virginia. He is remembered fondly by the canoeing and kayak communities as a great friend, mentor, and paddler.
His exploits are captured through his beautiful watercolor works, one of which landed the cover of the American Whitewater Association magazine.
Hoyt Reel sold prints of his original paintings through his retirement project: Possum Point Production, Inc. of Nebo.
Before his passing in 2012, Hoyt Reel left his remaining proofs, lithographs, postcards, and prints to his sister-in-law Nora and her husband, Richard Worthen (himself a talented woodworker and lace maker) of Brackett Town.
Nearly 10 years later, during the time of Nora's declining health in early 2021, she and Richard gifted Hoyt's remaining works to McDowell Arts Council Association. The callily jardiniere that we have on display (next to Hoyt's work) in MACA's Permanent Collection also belonged to Nora.
We feel so fortunate to hold the physical collection of these proofs and lithos. You can visit "Conquering Heroes" anytime MACA is open and look through the flip-book of Hoyt's work in MACA's Permanent Collection.
Hoyt grew up in his mother's boarding house on South Madison Street, in Downtown Marion, where he is said to have been a paperboy for the Marion Progress Newspaper.
In that same house, Hoyt met his future wife: Ann Sprouse. Ann rented a room from Hoyt's mother, Eula Reel, while working in town as a court stenographer. Mrs. Reel did not abide a household living in sin, so it wasn't long before the couple married.
They were married on the CBS Television show "Bride and Groom" in late summer of 1953. In the CBS program, couples for the episode would be introduced and interviewed. A vocalist would sing a song for them, and a short wedding ceremony would take place.
Through his marriage, Hoyt gained Nora Sprouse Worthen (1943-2022) as a sister-in-law.
Hoyt was an active member of the American Whitewater Association and kayaked extensively throughout Virginia and West Virginia. He is remembered fondly by the canoeing and kayak communities as a great friend, mentor, and paddler.
His exploits are captured through his beautiful watercolor works, one of which landed the cover of the American Whitewater Association magazine.
Hoyt Reel sold prints of his original paintings through his retirement project: Possum Point Production, Inc. of Nebo.
Before his passing in 2012, Hoyt Reel left his remaining proofs, lithographs, postcards, and prints to his sister-in-law Nora and her husband, Richard Worthen (himself a talented woodworker and lace maker) of Brackett Town.
Nearly 10 years later, during the time of Nora's declining health in early 2021, she and Richard gifted Hoyt's remaining works to McDowell Arts Council Association. The callily jardiniere that we have on display (next to Hoyt's work) in MACA's Permanent Collection also belonged to Nora.
We feel so fortunate to hold the physical collection of these proofs and lithos. You can visit "Conquering Heroes" anytime MACA is open and look through the flip-book of Hoyt's work in MACA's Permanent Collection.
TATLER, WAYNE
THOMASON, EUGENE
About Eugene H. Thomason
Eugene Thomason was born in South Carolina and moved to Charlotte with his family in 1911 at the age of sixteen. By 1920 he had relocated to New York to pursue his interest in art at the Art Students League, where he studied under John Sloan. Soon, however, Thomason met Sloan’s colleague George Luks, who had a tremendous influence on him and who soon became one of his close personal friends. The two started an art school together in 1925 and Luks was a frequent visitor at Thomason’s home in the North Carolina mountains in the 1930s and 1940s. While the pose of the boy in this large-scale portrait is reminiscent of Rodin’s famous 1880 sculpture The Thinker, the rough surface, thick layers of paint, and everyday subject matter all suggest the impact that working with Luks had upon Thomason’s art. Thomason left New York in 1932; by 1934 he was living in Charlotte, where this painting was likely created. He was one of the first artists to have a solo exhibition at The Mint Museum, which displayed a selection of his recent paintings in 1937, just a year after it opened to the public.
Further Reading
From New York to Nebo: The Artistic Journey of Eugene Thomason – August 22, 2014 link
Eugene Healan Thomason the Ashcan Artist of Appalachia by A. Everette James, – January 1, 1987 link
Original works by Eugene H. Thomason in the MACA Permanent Collection. McDowell Arts Council has pieces of its collection on display through out the year on a rotating schedule. You can request to view a piece in person at any time by reaching out to us at [email protected]. MACA is working to represent all items from from our collection are represented on our website, at this time only a portion are available for view.
Eugene Thomason was born in South Carolina and moved to Charlotte with his family in 1911 at the age of sixteen. By 1920 he had relocated to New York to pursue his interest in art at the Art Students League, where he studied under John Sloan. Soon, however, Thomason met Sloan’s colleague George Luks, who had a tremendous influence on him and who soon became one of his close personal friends. The two started an art school together in 1925 and Luks was a frequent visitor at Thomason’s home in the North Carolina mountains in the 1930s and 1940s. While the pose of the boy in this large-scale portrait is reminiscent of Rodin’s famous 1880 sculpture The Thinker, the rough surface, thick layers of paint, and everyday subject matter all suggest the impact that working with Luks had upon Thomason’s art. Thomason left New York in 1932; by 1934 he was living in Charlotte, where this painting was likely created. He was one of the first artists to have a solo exhibition at The Mint Museum, which displayed a selection of his recent paintings in 1937, just a year after it opened to the public.
Further Reading
From New York to Nebo: The Artistic Journey of Eugene Thomason – August 22, 2014 link
Eugene Healan Thomason the Ashcan Artist of Appalachia by A. Everette James, – January 1, 1987 link
Original works by Eugene H. Thomason in the MACA Permanent Collection. McDowell Arts Council has pieces of its collection on display through out the year on a rotating schedule. You can request to view a piece in person at any time by reaching out to us at [email protected]. MACA is working to represent all items from from our collection are represented on our website, at this time only a portion are available for view.
Eugene Thomason (NC, 1895-1972), Two Drawings
the first depicting a grizzled old man and the second depicting a young man with goose, both framed. SS 10 x 7.5 in.; DOA 13 x 10.75 in.
Two Drawings
Eugene H. Thomason (1895-1972)
Pencil on Paper
Gift of Patin Howard
Provenance:
1972 From the estate of the artist
2013 From the estate of Dr. Everette James
2023 A gift of Patin Howard to McDowell Arts Council Association
Accession Number: 2023.03 & 2023.04
Measurements:
height: 13 inches
width: 10.75 inches
the first depicting a grizzled old man and the second depicting a young man with goose, both framed. SS 10 x 7.5 in.; DOA 13 x 10.75 in.
Two Drawings
Eugene H. Thomason (1895-1972)
Pencil on Paper
Gift of Patin Howard
Provenance:
1972 From the estate of the artist
2013 From the estate of Dr. Everette James
2023 A gift of Patin Howard to McDowell Arts Council Association
Accession Number: 2023.03 & 2023.04
Measurements:
height: 13 inches
width: 10.75 inches
"Trading Lot" Marion, N.C."
1965
Eugene H. Thomason
Oil Paint on Wood Panel
On display
Gift of Dr. A. Everett James, Jr. and Jeannette Cross James
About Trading Lot
Accession Number: 2005.01
Measurements:
height:
width:
1965
Eugene H. Thomason
Oil Paint on Wood Panel
On display
Gift of Dr. A. Everett James, Jr. and Jeannette Cross James
About Trading Lot
Accession Number: 2005.01
Measurements:
height:
width:
Untitled
CIRCA 1965
Eugene H. Thomason
Double Sided Watercolor on Paper
On display
Gift of Stewart Browning and Rachel Browning
Longtime neighbors of the Thomason Family, Stewart Browning found this double-sided piece stashed behind his grandfather's piano while clearing his estate.
Accession Number: 1981.82
Measurements:
height:
width:
CIRCA 1965
Eugene H. Thomason
Double Sided Watercolor on Paper
On display
Gift of Stewart Browning and Rachel Browning
Longtime neighbors of the Thomason Family, Stewart Browning found this double-sided piece stashed behind his grandfather's piano while clearing his estate.
Accession Number: 1981.82
Measurements:
height:
width:
WILSON, MARY
