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RUTH
APPELDOORN MEAD
1894-1994
Without
Ruth Mead there would be no Martha’s Vineyard Art Association
or Old Sculpin Gallery today! Ruth and her family began summering
on the Vineyard in 1927 as part of a family tradition. In
1933 Ruth and several friends began painting together in front
of a rented shack on the Edgartown harbor, across from the
boat-building shop of Manuel Swartz Roberts. In 1934 they
founded the Martha’s Vineyard Art Association. They had
no thoughts of selling their work; they just wanted to paint
together and learn from each other.
"If
you can paint in watercolor, you can paint," she would
say. Ruth painted in a semi-abstract style in watercolors
and oils. Her favorite themes were sail-filled harbors, scenes
of Gay Head, and arrangements of flowers grown in her own
garden. She did her first painting at 12, graduated from the
Art Institute of Chicago, and earned her Masters Degree at
the University of Chicago.
During
her long career, she taught for 36 years in the Illinois public
schools, conducted children’s classes at the M.V.A.A.
from its beginning, and studied with Joseph Albers and Hans
Hofmann. As part of the early years of abstraction in America
she also painted with Vaclav Vytlacil and Francis Chapin She
often said contemporary and realistic art belong together.
"Learning to appreciate distortion is like learning to
appreciate olives and clams."
In
1953, Manuel Swartz decided he had had enough of boat building
and offered to sell his distinctive building to the Art Association.
By this time Ruth and her group had outgrown another studio
on North Water Street, and she and her friends raised several
thousand dollars to buy the building. Manuel kindly lowered
his price so the Association could afford it. In 1954, the
Martha’s Vineyard Art Association incorporated and bought
the building we know as the Old Sculpin Gallery. It was named
after Manuel, the "old sculpin" whose endearing
nickname was that of a worthless fish caught in the waters
off the Vineyard.
Ruth
Mead’s teaching, lively paintings, and her vision and
leadership set a high standard for the arts on the Vineyard
that continues with the work of the M.V.A.A. today.
EDUCATION:
Art Institute of Chicago
University of Chicago
Studied with Joseph Albers and Hans Hofmann
TEACHING
EXPERIENCE:
Illinois public schools (36 years!)
Martha’s Vineyard Art Association
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