Jack Lewis mural has new home in Lewes

A mural of Southern Delaware beach scenes painted 40 years ago by Delaware artist Jack Lewis now has a home in the Lewes Public Library’s Children’s Wing.

On Friday, May 6, more than a dozen people gathered at the library for a dedication of the painting.

“In the Lewes community in general, the passion people have for history is overwhelming,” said Mike DiPaolo, Lewes Historical Society executive director. He said Lewis, who will be 99 this year, lives in Maine.

For decades, the mural had hung on a wall above teller stations in the Delaware Trust building at Midway, more recently Wachovia Bank. Last year, Wells Fargo Bank acquired the bank and with it, the mural.

Bank officials had other plans for the mural’s wall space and sought an institution that would accept the painting as a donation.

Wells Fargo first donated the painting to the Biggs Museum of American Art in Dover. But after hearing complaints that a painting by a southern Delaware artist would be going to Kent County, Wells Fargo decided not to give it to Biggs.

DiPaolo said Delaware Trust commissioned Lewis to paint the 32-foot-by-29-inch mural in 1971. It depicts coastal Delaware with images of Bowers Beach, Cape Henlopen Light, Lewes Harbor, Lewes Beach, the foot of Market Street and Savannah Road, the Homestead in Henlopen Acres, Indian River Inlet, pilot boats racing and Fenwick Island Light.

Bank officials said finding a place with temperature and humidity control had been its primary concern.

The Lewes Historical Society had expressed interest in the painting but because of its size, couldn’t display it in buildings at the society’s Shipcarpenter Square Complex.

DiPaolo came up with the library as a display venue. The city, which owns the library, agreed to allow the mural to be displayed there.

Satisfied with the arrangement, Wells Fargo donated the painting to the historical society. The mural has been appraised at $34,000.

Patrick Nygren, Wells Fargo senior vice president, said the bank considered several recipients for the painting but in the end, wanted it to stay in this area.

“For us to be here today and see it on this wall, I think we truly did identify the right place for it,” he said.

At the dedication, DiPaolo thanked several historical society members for their role in helping transport, restore, stabilize and install the mural.

“Gene Boemer, who is our wonderful art conservator, restored the mural, consolidated the ends, and put a clear coat on it that will help preserve it for many years to come,” DiPaolo said, adding that Boemer donated his time.

“The historical society is very fortunate to have some paintings in its collection by Jack Lewis. This certainly is a monumental work. To have something of this scale is wonderful for the society,” DiPaolo said.

Lewes Mayor Jim Ford said the city has proclaimed May 2011 as Lewes Historical Preservation Month.

“On behalf of the city, we really do appreciate the opportunity for yet another artifact to come here to town, to enhance the vitality of our historical preservation, which is really one of the ultimate missions of our historical society,” Ford said.

Lewes historian Hazel Brittingham said she remembers Lewis painting when she was a child. “I remember seeing him on my street, Dewey Avenue, with some kind of a makeshift seat and his palette, painting Mrs. Bill Palmer raking her leaves. I’ve told him more than once: he loved the common things. I told him if I ever saw that painting I’d probably drop flat,” Brittingham said.

She said Lewis was part of the town’s scene, having come there in the 1930s when he worked for the Civilian Conservation Corps.

Ed Goyda, Lewes Public Library executive director, said the mural is a welcome addition to the facility. “It’s a beautiful piece of work, and it fits in wonderfully here,” Goyda said.