Photo provided A painting from T.C. Steele’s 1892 collection ‘Vernon’ sits on display at the Jennings County Historical Society. Prints of this painting are available for sale at the Historical Society’s museum.
JENNINGS COUNTY — As Rachel Berenson Perry, the former fine arts curator of the Indiana State Museum, has written multiple books about artist T.C. Steele, there’s no better person to host a program about this influential artist.
On Sunday, the Jennings County Historical Society with Perceptions, Yoga, Mindfulness & Art will welcome Perry for a special program about Steele. This program also coincides with an exhibition of reproductions of Steele’s works that will be held through Sunday.
“We had some board members who had reproductions of T.C. Steele works and most of them are around Vernon or the Muscatatuk River,” Jennings County Historical Society board member, program committee chair and assistant county historian Lou Malcomb said. “And so they wanted to show these so we had them loan us their reproductions and they’re on display now.”
According to the Jennings County Historical Society, Perry organized and curated all of the art exhibitions from 2003 to 2011. She has written many articles for American Art Review, Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History with the Indiana Historical Society, as well as books like “T.C. Steele and the Society of Western Artists 1896-1914” in 2009 and “A Biography of T.C. Steele” in 2012.
Malcomb said Steele visited Vernon in the 1880s and painted many scenes during his time there that locals will recognize. For example, his “Street of Vernon” painting shows an 1880s Montgomery Street, with people outside buildings and cattle in the road.
“… that was the reason I was interested in the program because a lot of the scenes people have told me, ‘oh I recognize where that is,’” Malcomb said. “And I thought that we should have Rachel Perry, kind of the best known person I know about T.C. Steele’s works because she’s written several books and a few articles about his art, and so I wanted her to come and talk to us about his time in Jennings County.”
During the program, Perry will deliver a short presentation about Steele’s trips to Vernon and will answer questions. Some of her books are also on display in the exhibit, which had opened on Aug. 13.
“I’m excited because I want to ask her questions about some of the research that she did on Steele and her art background is quite extensive,” Malcomb said. “So it’ll just be interesting to hear what she has to say.”
The program begins at 2:30 p.m. at the Historical Society’s North American House Museum and light refreshments will be served. The program is free to attend.
The Jennings County Historical Society is open Wednesdays through Fridays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
