Talk and Tour of Muraled Homes sponsored by the Center for Painted Wall Preservation

Talk and Tour of Muraled Homes
sponsored by the Center for Painted Wall Preservation

AUGUST 8, 2018 TOWNSEND MA 1 – 4:30 pm
The Center for Painted Wall Preservation (CPWP), a not for profit organization dedicated to the preservation of 18th and 19th century paint decorated walls, will host a lecture and tour of four unique residences with amazing original wall murals, three of which are in private residences.  These untouched beauties represent some of the best extant examples of the itinerant muralists of the first half of the 1800s.
On Wednesday afternoon August 8 Linda Lefko, President of CPWP and co-author of Folk Art Murals of the Rufus Porter School, will take the audience on a visual tour of the walls to be seen in the various venues discussing the various artists represented before the actual tour begins. The lecture will begin at 1 pm at Townsend’ St. John’s Catholic Church Hall, 1 School St. Townsend, MA. followed immediately by the tour of homes.

Well-known itinerant artist Rufus Porter is represented at the Reed Family Homestead in Townsend in an upstairs bedchamber.  These walls show Porter’s unbelievable mastery of landscape painting style.

Another stop on the tour will be the signed murals of Jonathan D. Poor at the Prescott House in Groton MA. Rarely were walls signed so this is an excellent opportunity to see Poor’s original signature. These walls are from the front parlor of the Prescott House and have been donated to the Groton Historical Society. 

One of the surprises of the tour will be The Walter Russell house in Ashburnham MA, a private residence open for this tour. Cattails and fish flakes on the water wall are on the stairway and front bedchamber of the home.  Never previously documented, these motifs are by an unidentified artist, who has an entire body of recognized work throughout Southern NH as well as now MA.

In the incredible third floor ballroom of the Artemas Hemenway Tavern in Pepperell more of Poor’s ebullient work will be on view. The bandstand  the ballroom still maintains memories of fiddlers playing for the uniformed Pepperell Militia and the gaily adorned women. The bench closets still exist around the perimeter of the room for their cloaks. 

Reservations for the lecture and tour are necessary because there is limited space for this unique viewing experience. To reserve your space for the Wednesday Aug. 8 event, send a non-refundable tax deductible donation to CPWP at PO Box 187 Hallowell, ME 04347 or to website www.pwpcenter.org and make a donation with PayPal followed up by sending an email with your name, address, phone and email address to info@pwpcenter.org. 
 
Please note that tour tickets will be sold on a Space Available Only basis at the door. All tickets must be prepaid. Tour tickets and itinerary with map will be given out as you enter the lecture. Plan to arrive early for the event because space is limited.  You must attend the lecture to get your ticket and itinerary.  Any questions, send an email to info@pwpcenter.org.