Virginia Artists Rally to Support of Modern Moses

How a Colonial Project was Revised By Ambassador Weddell
and Won Success Under a Richmond Youth's Guidance

Now that the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is so quickly coming into being in all its beauty and potential usefulness, the question asked on every side is, "Who will be the curator?"

It is a question, too, which very soon will have to be answered. The building situated on the Boulevard will be completed in August and the opening of the museum to the public is due to take place in October at the latest.

A large element of Virginians are convinced that the artists themselves know a great deal regarding the necessary qualifications of a curator. These artists, they say, feel that it is far more practical to select a man who already has proved his value than to choose somebody because the individual is "highly recommended." That is why almost all the painters and sculptors of the Commonwealth are hoping that Thomas C. Parker, director of the Richmond Academy of Arts and one of the original trustees of that organization, will be named to the post. Virginia artists look on Tom Parker as a veritable Moses who let them out of the bondage of isolation into a Land of Promise.

Virginia people have always been keenly appreciative of all forms of art. In earliest days they imported books and paintings from Europe and sat for the leading portraitists of the period. They devised a type of architecture which for gracious dignity is unexcelled, and they are responsible for the first theatrical performance produced on this side of the Atlantic, for it took place in Williamsburg. But even in that golden era of culture, Virginians themselves did not create many of the fine things they so much enjoyed.

At the turn of the century few people took active interest in painting, architecture, the graphic arts or the crafts. Within the last decade, however, there have been many evidences of an awakening, until organized activities now are lifting their heads everywhere, like flowers in the spring time, and Thomas C. Parker is the gardener.

As definite proof of this renaissance, the Richmond Academy of Arts was revived in 1930, after having been in a state of coma for a century and a half. It is to all intents and purposes the same "Academy of Sciences and Fine Arts of the United States of America" established in 1786 by the young Frenchman, the Chevalier Alexandre Marie Quesnay de Beaurepaire. The original project was prostrated by the French Revolution, not to be resuscitated until Alexander W. Weddell, now ambassador to the Argentine, administered a powerful restorative in the form of his practical enthusiasm.

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One of the first activities of the now thoroughly awakened academy was the creation of the demand for an art museum, which brought about a gift of $100,000 from the late Judge John Barton Payne, who died recently. The gift provided that the Commonwealth contribute an equal amount. As conditions rendered the latter impossible, former Governor John Garland Pollard, ever a friend of art, undertook the task of raising the money by private subscription, and in due time succeeded. The result of his labor and that of the generosity of Judge Payne have now taken tangible form in the beautiful new museum of fine arts.

But what of the Richmond Academy of Arts since Mr. Weddell caused it to open its eyes on the brave new world? Where is it and what has it done? The galleries are located at 1110 Capitol Street, looking out on Crawford's equestrian Washington, who for some very good reason of his own is pointing a finger toward the South. The academy is but a stone's throw, too, from the immortal Houdon's statue of the Father of His Country. It is open to the public free of charge every week day from 10 to 5 o'clock and each Sunday afternoon from 2 until 5 o'clock.

Is it patronized, you ask? Most certainly, for no less than 3,000 men, women and children go there every month, which is remarkable when it is rememberd that in the beginning only a few hundred visitors attended in a similar period. The total number of visitors to the galleries in 1934 was 26,014, more than double the attendance in 1933. Mr. Parker declares that there was a normal division of local people and visitors from other places, especially from all parts of Virginia. In the latter months of the year there was a notable increase of tourists from various sections of the country.

That the director was determined they should have something to see after he got them into the building, once the home of Richmond's elite, is proved by the fact that 155 different exhibitions have been shown in the galleries since the academy took on modern form. The total number of piece--pictures,- sculpture,- crafts- and- other media--has been more than 10,000.

One of the outstanding achievements of the academy in 1933 was the assembling by Mr. Parker of a series of special exhibitions made available to clubs and other groups, all free of charge except transportation. Largely as a result of these exhibitions, art organizations have been formed in several of the smaller cities and towns of Virginia, where local artists have been made to feel that now there is some incentive to work. The director has given talks to these groups and to many others, especially women's clubs, both senior and junior.

This revived institution in the capital city provided the first gallery in the State sponsored for the development of educational progress made possible by means of a continuous series of exhibitions of paintings, sculpture, graphic arts, crafts, decorative and industrial arts. Under the supervision of Thomas Parker, the first local and the first all-Virginia shows have been conducted, as well as each subsequent one. These exhibitions have enabled hundreds of Virginia artists to present their work and many thousands of their fellow citizens to enjoy it.

There was no means of ascertaining the number of artists in Virginia, the media in which they worked or what organizations existed solely or in part for the promotion of art until last winter when, with the aid of the Civil Works Administration, a survey was made. All the information had to be dug out and it proved an exhausting task. One single illustration of its worth is shown in the increase in the number of local artist. The first year of the academy there were between twenty-five and thirty in Richmond, while now there are 350. The list for all Virginia, now in possession of Mr. Parker and the only one in existence, is proportionately large. An artist is classified as Virginian if a native of the Old Dominion, whether or not a resident, and all who make this State their home.

It has not always been easy to induce the older and better known artists to send their pictures to exhibitions, but the director has met with great success in this endeavor, with the result that each of the Richmond and Virginia shows, respectively, has been truly representative of the best work.

Because of his thorough knowledge of Virginia conditions, Thomas C. Parker was made executive director of the public works of art project for Virginia, and was recently appointed by the department on the section of painting and sculpture of the United States Treasury to conduct a mural competition for the courtroom of the Post Office Building in New Bern, N. C. The PWA project work in Virginia was done in association with Mrs. George Sloane of Warrenton as chairman. Men in international reputation have acted as jurors in various competitions conducted by the academy.

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This youthful Thomas Parker, who has gathered together and co-ordinated the art interests of the State is a product of John Marshall High School, where he graduated in 1923, after which he went to the University of Virginia to study art and architecture in the McIntyre School of Fine Arts. On his return to Richmond in 1927, Tom Parker became associated with Charles M. Robinson, architect, with whom he remained until beginning work with the resuscitated academy. Having been director of the Art Center Club for several years, an organization formed by Miss Julia Wooldridge, head of art in the city schools here, and later absorbed by the academy, it was natural that he should become associated immediately with Mr. Weddell in organizing the latter.

Because of his work in the State art development, Mr. Parker is now recognized as one of the leading figures in museum work in this section of the country. It has been solely under his supervision that the work of Virginia artists has received national recognition, as well as having been seen by so large a public at home.