An article about…

The NHP&CC artist and president, Frederick Lester Sexton (1889-1975) To read this great article, click here.

1961 was a special year for the NHP&CC. It was our first exhibition at the John Slade Ely Center.

 The 1961 New Haven Paint & Clay Club catalog

The NHP&CC celebrated its 60th annual spring juried exhibition during the last three weeks of April in 1961. It was a momentous event for the Club, with its inaugural outing at the John Slade Ely Center on 51 Trumbull Street in New Haven, Connecticut. The people of that city had just obtained use of the facility’s renovated first floor through the generosity of Dr. Ely’s late widow and former NHP&CC member Grace Taylor Ely. Under supervision of her estate, the Ely Center was charged with a mission to exhibit works of art, and to hold art classes, lectures and recitals. Along with New Haven residents, the NHP&CC greatly benefited from Grace’s gift, and held its exhibition, rent free, in this space. And during the time period when the Ely Center remained a component of her estate, the Club returned there consistently for nearly sixty years.

The catalog for the Club’s 1961 spring show is a historical gem. It not only documents the Club’s first outing at the Ely Center, but provides a long list of interesting Club details at the time. Notably, it records several perhaps less well-known facts about the Club and its membership.

Like today, the jury’s selection of artworks included in the 1961 show was final. Unlike today though, the jury comprised a total of five selectors for the show, and another five selectors for prizes. That must not have been so easy for either the selectors or the artists, and being included in the show was quite an accomplishment. And unlike today, it took three rounds of inclusion in the Club’s juried shows to obtain an invitation to active Club membership. Although there were fewer prizes awarded in each show back then, they were relatively generous for the time. There were several named awards of $100 ($1000 today), and other sponsored awards of $25, $15, and $10 (again, ten-fold higher in today’s dollars).

The Club had several levels of membership back then, with a large panel of associate members, as well as active, sustaining, patron, and life time member categories. Still, active members were the largest component. There were one hundred and twenty-six active members that year, each paying annual dues of three dollars. This, curiously, is the monetary equivalent of the Club’s annual active membership dues of $30 today. Demographically, about 21% of the Club’s active members resided in New Haven, 28% were within about 20 to 25 miles of town, and more than half were from further, and often much further, away. A quick look at the active membership profile in 1961 reveals representatives from distant areas of eastern and western Connecticut, and from New York, New Jersey, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois, Texas, and California.

In that 1961 show, the jurors selected sixty-three wall pieces and thirteen free-standing pieces of art. These were created mostly in traditional media, but a small number were produced in less frequently used materials for the time. Perhaps many artists juried into the 60th annual exhibition are not so well remembered by most of us today. However, there were several notable exceptions, including a few with quite early ties to the NHP&CC and to other prominent regional art societies. Similarly, the active membership roster that year listed some regionally and nationally well-regarded artists, and at least two members who, at the time, achieved National Academy recognition.

Please have a look at the catalog reproduced here (NHP&CC 1961 Catalog). I think you will be just as impressed by the NHP&CC then as you are today, by its history, its membership, and the variety of work its members and guests display in its shows. I also urge you to browse through the Club’s website for images of so many exceptional works in its permanent collection (Permanent Collection Page), selected by Club leaders during its long and storied history.