Shirley Mellor, WWC Member and former owner of iconic Max's Art Supplies, donated the cost of framing for 3 Bedford Family portraits now hanging at the WWC.
THANK YOU, Shirley!!!
Click Here: Westportnow.com article.
Civic-minded philanthropist (and native Westporter) E.T. Bedford provided the WTIA/WWC with rent-free space at the "Downtown Y" from the 1920s to the 1940s for our own civic-minded philanthropic activities.
When the "Downtown Y" needed to reclaim space, his son, Frederick T. Bedford, purchased the 1881 Sidney Watts property at 44 Imperial Avenue for us, then--in 1950--split the cost of moving, adding and renovating the 1866 Meeting Hall from the Saugatuck Congregational Church (now Bedford Hall).
Original oil portraits of E.T. and Frederick hang at the "New Y."
Meanwhile, on the occasion of the 150th Birthday Bash for what now is called "Bedford Hall,"artist Miggs Burroughs replicated the portraits of E.T. and Frederick T. for use in the celebration.
Then, on the occasion of the 150th Birthday Bash for what now is Bedford Hall, "The Y" gave the WWC an unframed original oil of Mrs. E.T. Bedford (Mary Ann Dungee Bedford, wife of E.T. and mother of Frederick T.)
Thanks to Shirley Mellor, a woman who knows everything about "art," all 3 portraits now hang in elegant frames at the WWC, along with name plates.
