Rehoboth Art League opens “Doors”
If these doors could talk.
Kicking off its 75th year, the Rehoboth Art League is celebrating the release of the second edition of Jann Haynes Gilmore’s book, “Doors of Fame – A History of the Rehoboth Art League.”
Gilmore was on hand to sign copies of the book, published in 2003. The new edition contains an introduction by Gilmore, a forward by art league Executive Director Sheila Bravo and a special section on the art league’s 75th anniversary written by attorney and historian Dick Poole.
An art historian, Gilmore said the book came out of her research into Ethel Leach, an artist and cofounder of the art league along with the Corkran family. That led her to the art league doors, signed by notable artists and musicians who have passed through the art league over the years. Gilmore identified 285 signers of the doors for the book.
“Some were easy to find, and some weren’t,” she said.
The doors were originally located in the Paynters Studio, Bravo said, and artists were allowed to add their names by invite only. There are three doors: the door on display at the book signing was by artists attending the 1938 ceremony marking the founding of the art league. A second door contains signatures from the 1940s through the 1960s and the third door has signatures from the 1960s to the present.
Besides invited artists, the doors are also signed by past chairmen of the art league's Beaux Arts ball and past chairmen of the art league board, Bravo said. The last signer was former chairwoman Marcia DeWitt in 2011; Bravo said new signers would be added at the art league’s Thursday, June 20 annual meeting.
Among the signers singled out in the book were Howard Schroeder, whose son John attended the May 23 release party, and Anna Hazzard, who Gilmore said was the first woman Realtor in Delaware and the founder of the Paynters Studio. Hazzard is also known for her Rehoboth home that has been converted to a museum.
Attending the book release was Amelie Sloan, Ethel Leach’s niece, lifetime art league member and also a signer of the doors in 1999. Sloan, now 94, has helped preserved her aunt’s legacy – Leach died in 1959 – and, through reading Leach’s diaries, rekindled memories of when she was there at the art league’s beginning 75 years ago.
“My sisters and I were here when it was organized,” she said. “I’ve been here from the beginning.”
Sloan vacationed in the Rehoboth Beach area as a child and then moved down full-time when she married in 1944. She’s still an honorary member of the art league, having been given lifetime membership as a 90th birthday present.
“It’s very much a part of my history and the history of my family,” Sloan said of the art league.
Bravo said the art league is working on a permanent exhibit of the doors, which should be ready by Friday, June 14. The doors were removed from the Paynters Studio in the late 1980s and placed into storage at the Homestead. Bravo said with the exception of special events or loans to museums, very few members of the public have seen the doors.
This year will be the final door signing, as the tradition will be retired, Bravo said. The art league will start a new tradition of honoring its artists and members, although Bravo did not say what that tradition would be.
