This is one watercolor painting in a series of 27 called "Civic Center Suite." They were done by Betty Munro in 1974 and 1975.
This is one watercolor painting in a series of 27 called “Civic Center Suite.” They were done by Betty Munro in 1974 and 1975.
They're called "Civic Center Suite." They are 27 watercolor paintings created "on site" during 1974-75 by artist Betty Munro, who put on a hard hat every morning to record the work in progress, construction of Mulroy Civic Center.
Betty thought of the paintings as "one continuous watercolor," a group rather than individual works. She said she'd never consider selling "Civic Center Suite" any way but together. "It would be like separating a family," she explained.
The family's not being broken up.
The Spring, a gallery in Fayetteville, says it has arranged to sell the watercolors – which have been exhibited there since November – as a group, the gift of an anonymous donor.
"The donor will be purchasing the entire group of paintings and donating them to a local organization that will agree to rotate the exhibition among a number of Syracuse venues," according to Patsy Scala, program director of the Spring.
Patsy said the sale will be handled through an account the donor has at the Central New York Community Foundation. The gallery is a 501 C-3 organization.
Munro paintings will be shown at The Spring through Feb. 20 by appointment. Her paintings not in the series are for sale.
Betty Munro is retired. She's 91 and lives in Madison, Wisc., where she grew up. She moved to Syracuse with her husband, the late John Munro, an attorney, in 1966. She had been a high school art teacher in Illinois.
In Syracuse, she turned to watercolors, which she considered "more fun. You never know what's going to happened when she start painting," she once explained in an interview. She often worked outside, painting the city scenes - Hanover and Clinton Squares, the zoo, City Hall, Columbus Circle, among others – as they unfolded before her.
The artist recalled when she arrived at the Civic Center construction site that first day "everyone and everything was moving. I felt a need to record the excitement and action with my brush." She considered the series her major work. The paintings were displayed at the center when it opened, and again during the 10th anniversary of the project.
Meanwhile, The Spring has to look for a new, permanent home in the Faytteville area. The current building, 200 Brooklea Drive, has been sold. The gallery has to move by the end of the month. It's been there since September 2008.
"Red Hots" news
Pastor Craig Herrick of First English Lutheran Church on James Street passed on an interesting letter from Joseph Gudelsky, an owner of Barkers Red Hots, a hot dog restaurant in an Atlanta, Ga. suburb.
One day last month, Joe said, two regulars, Cindy and David Moorad, came in for lunch. When they checked out, they handed the cashier $10 and asked it be sent to First English Lutheran to support its "Hot Dogs in the Kingdom" program.
The church has a free outdoor hot dog roast on the last Friday of every month, snowy or not. I reported on Craig's New Year's Eve roast for the church's neighbors. Barkers had written about it in The Bark, its "tasty newsletter." Joe's letter included the gift.
Folks we'll miss
Clara and Bill Houck were a couple who got along. Theirs was an exemplary marriage in the village of Chittenango, where they lived. Bill, who was 96, died Jan. 29, a Saturday. Clara joined him the next Wednesday. She was 94. They'd been hitched 69 years.
I've written a lot about the Houcks. Clara, a retired school librarian, was the village's resident expert on the author of the "Wonderful Wizard of Oz" books, L. Frank Baum, who was a local guy. She was town and village historian.
Bill had Bill's Fix It shop in the village. One story I did on him was as a ginseng hunter. He carved walking sticks out of pieces of wood he picked up around town. A memorial service for the Houcks is to be at 11 a.m. Saturday in Chittenango United Methodist Church, 205 Falls Blvd.
Dick Case writes Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Reach him at 470-2254, or by e-mail, [email protected].