History unveiled in scout project
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POLSON — “It’s a national treasure. It belongs to all of us.” With those words, Lake County commissioner Bill Barron welcomed what he called “a great piece of history” to the Lake County Courthouse on Monday, Dec. 19.
A painting of St. Mary Lake in Glacier National Park now adorns the atrium at the courthouse after Polson-area resident Ethan McCauley, 12, presented the restored work as his Eagle Scout project.
McCauley said he raised $11,000 to have the painting restored and framed. It was one of 15 that hung in Glacier Park Hotel from 1913 to the early 1950s when it was discarded after being damaged.
Kalispell art restorer Joe Abbrescia said water from broken pipes had damaged the canvas paintings. He has restored seven so far, and four hang in the Hockaday Museum in Kalispell. The restoration work involved mounting and retouching the paintings, which were rolled up and kept in a garage for a number of years before they were rediscovered.
Local grocer Robert Brown found them on the hotel’s front lawn with other debris, took them home and put them in his garage. His son put them in his garage when Brown died, and then Brown’s granddaughter, LeeAnne Goldhahn, found them when her father died.
McCauley read about the restored art works in the Hockaday Museum and decided to get working toward bringing one to Lake County.
Some 15 to 20 individuals, businesses and organizations helped him raise the funds, McCauley said. He thanked them along with his parents, Chantel and Bob McCauley, his grandparents, Linda and Doug Wold, and his uncle, Clay Wold, for helping.
Although some have speculated that the art was created by John Fery, Abbrescia noted that the pieces are unsigned. (Railroad baron Louis W. Hill hired Fery to create artwork for the hotel.)
“I believe they were preliminary pieces until they got oil paintings,” Abbrescia said, noting the 15 paintings were created with water-based paint.
