The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-05-25
Art League Holds Annual Luncheon
 At The SNafieId

| annual luncheon, celebrating the close
 of very successful season. After a
 very enjoyable menu, the clubs his
 tory was sketched by the presidents of 1 each year, a few who could not be present. sending letters.
 The presidents, in the order of their
 service, were: Mrs. Carolyn Blair Dor | emus, Mrs. Frank Kinsley (by letter),
 Mrs. Philip l.. Holzer, Mrs. Fannie
 Rowell (by letter., Mrs. Frank I.
 Hitchcock. Miss Martha Beach, Mrs. John T. Sterling Mrs. H. M. Knapp. 1 Mrs. Anne s. H. Foster (absent
 through illness), Mrs. Herbert H. | Knapp.
 | A musical program was rendered 1 by Bentley's orchestra during the
 luncheon. This included the playing | or the air and accompaniment of the | song which was written especially for 1 the occasion by one of the vice presi- | dents. Mrs. William B. Cogswell of Stratford, and arranged to music by
 Mrs. Henry L. Bishop, the chairman | of the music committee.
 | The arrangements of the luncheon | were in charge of Mrs. Doremus, Mrs. | c. Lincoln Banks decorated the tables which were dainty and spring like
 in a garniture of fSrns and lilies of the valley. At each place was sou- l venlr basket containing ferns and 1 "iid olI d '" DGIIy III DiOOIl, dut1 | long stemmed white carnation, the
 latter contributed by the president.
 Mrs. T. I. Ferguson sold the tickets. 1 Invocation was by Mrs. Joseph | Torrey. A moment was given in
 honor of the memory of her mother,
 the late Mrs. Agnes Taylor, by whose suggestion the league was organized
 by Mrs. Doremus. The company stood silently with boNed heads. | Mrs ROhort n Martfo tho SOnra n n soloist of the South Congregational | church, sang several mum bers accom- l panied by Miss Mabel French. These | were Nymphs and Fauns by Bem-
 berg; An Open Secret, by Huntington Woodman; If l Were You, by John Barnes Wells. She was cordially ap- | plauded
 | Miss Grace Dalrymple Clarke, than
 whom none make choicer selections | for recitations, charmed her hearers
 with three numbers: CorydOn and Act V; Laura Pelucci, and The Con- 1 querer. The audience was deeply moved by the pathOs of the stories and applauded the art of the interpreteE In Retrospect.
 l Mrs. DOremus, as founder, was the | first to be called upon for the earliest record. She noted the fact, cleverly worded, that the league was organ | ized in the summer of 1895. There were sixteen members. Ceramics was | the most important feature of the early work, although oils and water colors played an impItant part. Such well known artists as Prof. Bemis of the Royal Worcester Potteries, Prof. Neimeyer of Yale, Charles Volk- l mar, Mrs. Fanny Powell, Madam La Prince and Mrs. Worth Osgood presi- dent of the national league of mineral 1 painters, were among the critics. Tn ha fo nf loo h l. | tion recently held in the public li- brary art rooms, it was interesting to recall that the first exhibition was held in it's small club room in the Barnum- ples building. That those were ambitious and industrious d
 is assured by the statement that three hundred pieces of china were exhfb- l ited beside sixty oils and water colors. Mrs. Kinsley continued the story by letter, and Mrs. Holzer then told of the progress incident to her own administration. The club which now has it's own studios at 11SS Main street then met by invitation at homes of the members. One of these held at Mrs. w. B. Cogswelrs had for its guest of honor Miss Georgie Under hill. The Hall Home was engaged during this time and the following artists were present at different times. Miss Maud Stumm, c. w. Hawthorne, Douglass Volk, Ernest Knaufft, Miss Emily Mason, Miss Sarah Wood Saf- ford, Mrs. l.. Vance Philips, Mrs Worth Osgood, Marshall Fry and Prof. Thompson of Yale. It was dur ing this time that work was eX- changed with the National League of Mineral Painters and some of this work afterward went to the Pan-Am- erican exposition.
 Mrs. F. I. Hitchcock read an inter- ncfiy dIyri n term of office that the name of the league was changed to admit of broader field of endeaVor and crafts and design were introduced. Among those who gave instruction were the following distinguished artists: Walter Shirlaw, Charles Hawthorne, Doug las Volk, Hugo Froelich, MT. Filter. MT. Volkmar (the potter), Walter Sat terlee, Charles R. Lamb, Miss Althea Hill Platt, Frederick Dielman. then president of the Academy of Design, Miss Amy Hicks, Miss Maud Mascn. Mrs. Vance Phillips, Mrs. Worth Os- good, c. D. Weldon and others.
 Miss Martha Beach had the cour- age to raise the dues of the club ana to forward the endeavor to have a permanent home The same high standard of instructors was continued and the progress was very marked The records of the later years has heen one or Steady progress. IHe league has occupied its own rooms for some years. These were in the Lincoln building for two years until the present spacious ones in the New field building were engaged.
 Mrs. Sterling had a prosperous year but other demands claimed her and Mrs. Foster served out the second one of the term. Mrs. Foster is i'll so was not heard from. She is a dis tinguished miniature painter.
 Mrs. Knapp, the president, is serv- ing for the second term and the third election having served one term fol- lowing Miss Beach. She is tactful and has exceptional executive ability and her associates are warmly at tached to her personally. In her re- port she noted that the league was for a long time the only one of it's kind in Connecticut, and second in membership m to the New York society. She spoke appreciatively of the club song written by Mrs. w. R. Hopson and again of the one written for the present occasion by Mrs. Cogswen.
 In closing all clasped hands about the room and joined with the or