Charitable Painting Group Featured at Town Hall

The “Art on Loan” program, highlighting local artists on the meeting room walls in Barnstable Town Hall will feature a new set of works by the Wednesday Painters Group, November 7 through December 2.  

Some of the work reflects work from when the group recently spent time out at the Halfway House at Sandy Neck Beach.  The exhibit includes the works of Jack Ahlin, Bill Belden, Connie Casey, Dorothy Domenichelli, Tricia Daley, Louise Foster, Herbert Holden, Jack Lynch, Sherri Starr, Margaret Stevens, and Frances Wood Sullivan.           

The group was founded in the early 1990’s by the late Richard Rourke.  After his death, his widow asked Herbert Holden, a founding member of the group and former advertising artist, to assume leadership, a volunteer position he has held for almost twenty years.

The artists meet on Wednesday mornings at the Cotuit Federated Church from September through May.  Each brings his own materials and subject matter and may work in any medium.  There is a $5 charge for each three hour session, which ends with a ½ hour group critique.  Herb describes the experience as a “social event with a little painting thrown in”.

Over the years, the charges for the sessions have totaled to over $13,000, which has been donated to numerous Cape Cod charities.  Several of the artists have donated their works to community events, raising additional, sizeable amounts of money for other nonprofit organizations.