Ipswich High School - Tiger Yearbook (Ipswich, MA)

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born but residents for many years did much to carry on the traditions of the Ipswich art colony. Mr. Henry Kenyon was one of these. He studied in Paris with Mr. Dow and also exhibited his work in the Paris Salon. When he returned to America after having spent a few years in France and Italy, he was attracted to Ipswich and settled here. Mr. Kenyon’s beautiful oil paintings of landscape and sky when once seen are never forgotten. Another artist of this same group is Mr. John W. Mansfield. After four years of study at Paris in L’Ecole des Beaux-Arts, he came to Ipswich. Every native of this town should be familiar with Mr. Mans- field’s beautiful paintings of Ips- wich marshes and dunes. Residing in Ipswich for several years has been an artist of nation- wide distinction, Theodore Wendel, who likewise studied in Paris and later in Florence and Venice. He has received many prizes and med- als for his fine work. We should indeed consider ourselves fortunate in being able to see an exhibit of his work last summer. Mr. Francis H. Richardson is also of this group. He also studied abroad and received honorable men- tion when exhibiting in the Paris Salon. Miss Elsie Heard, a native daughter of a distinguished Ips- wich family, took up the study of the fine arts, and has done admir- able work as a painter of portraits. Although the Ipswich art colony has diminished since Professor Dow’s time, we still have a few ar- tists who carry on the old tradition. Among the contemporarv artists dwelling in Ipswich are Professor Kimball, a lover of music as well as painting; Mrs. Baylor, a painter of still life ; Mrs. Consuelo Hills, sculptress; Mr. Leon Bracker, a na- tionally-known illustrator; and Mr. Mark Hayes, a recent graduate of Manning High, who took a prize in a Boston competition. Now it is for us, of this genera- tion, to carry on the work so well begun, to observe the beauty which surrounds us, and to love and cre- ate the beautiful ! “NON SCHOLAE SED VITAE DISCIMUS” Gladys Durham “Non Scholae Sed Vitae Disci- mus” — we learn not for school but for life. These years spent in study have been but a background for life. The ability to express oneself comes through the study of lan- guages. History and civics enable one to understand present-day con- ditions. Mathematics is provocative of concentration and mental disci- pline. Athletics and social activi- ties as well are important in that they train youth to cope with what- ever emergencies and situations that may arise throughout life. One learns how to judge his fellow men and to recognize leaders who can be depended upon. Youth of today, perhaps more than ever before, is awake to its responsibilities and the importance of playing worthwhile parts in the age-old game of living successfully. And so, tonight, we, the class of 1931, have come to the turning point of our lives, reaching a crisis which will decide whether or not all the golden dreams of childhood are to be realized. We find our- selves faced with the obligation of carrying on and of realizing not only our own visions, but also those of former generations. It is for us 27

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that Ipswich claimed so many ar- tists. It is no wonder artists are attracted to this historic and beau- tiful town, for there are natural beauties here which must appeal strongly to a person of artistic tem- perament. Our Puritan forefathers, strug- gling to gain independence, had lit- tle time to think of art. Their seeming neglect of the fine arts is often attributed to the harshness and austerity of Puritan nature ; yet as a matter of fact they did not ne- glect art. They were lovers and creators of beauty. Within their old homes we find beauty every- where in such things as the hand- hewn beams, the paneled walls, the simple beauty of the staircase, and even in the slope of the roof. They might not have recognized art as we understand it, yet all these things they did prove our forefath- ers were lovers of beauty. Art as art, however, was some- thing entirely new to the Ipswich tradition, appearing for the first time in the latter part of the 19th century. As late as 1850 house painters also did portrait painting. It is reported that when artists first started painting, the assessors tried to levy taxes on the artists’ sketches, asserting their work was a trade. The French art schools learning of this thought Ipswich a survival of the Da rk Ages, for they did not know a community could live with- out knowledge of the fine arts. Professor Arthur Wesley Dow was the first in Ipswich to adopt art as a profession. After several years of study in the French schools, successful exhibits in the Paris Sa- lon, where he received honorable mention in competition with such men as John Singer Sargent and James McNeil Whistler, and this followed by several years of suc- cessful teaching in colleges and uni- versities, he returned to his native Ipswich and here began his summer school of art. Professor Dow was fortunate in possessing the art of teaching art. Thus his influence was greatest in training teachers of art, and his methods have done much to revolutionize the teaching of art in schools and colleges. For several years his summer school was conducted with great success, pu- pils — both students and teachers of art — coming from all parts of the country. There are still several hundred art teachers who received their training in Ipswich. Mr. Dow’s first classes were held in a little studio in the Caldwell Block, and his pupils were taken in an omnibus to the outlying dis- tricts to sketch. Mrs. MacArthur, late wife of Dr. MacArthur, was a member of this original group. She became an artist of considerable merit. Before her marriage Mrs. Henry Kenyon also studied at the summer school. She has since done excellent work as a painter of por- traits, especially of children. The Misses Bates were also pupils of Professor Dow. They settled in Ips- wich and built their home, “Red- ledge.” Also of this group is Miss Harriet Condon, who has devoted her life to art. Later as the classes increased Mr. Dow took up his quarters in the Old Emerson House on Turkey Shore Road. One year ago the late Mrs. Dow conveyed this property to the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities. It was in that quaint old house that the classes were continued until finally Mr. Dow built his studio on Bayberry Hill. A group of artists not Ipswich - 26

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to find the way through present- day depression. Thus it is all over the world. And yet when we turn to our eld- ers for guidance and advice, we find them comparing us with youth in the good old days — the days when a school master ruled supreme in his little red school house and shuddered at finding individuality and creativeness in youth. Sir Arthur Eddington is quoted as saying, “It may be that the human race is no better than it was two thousand years ago, but it is differ- ent and that in itself is a good thing.” Life in this so-called ma- chine age is different. A rapid de- velopment is shown in the schools. A greater freedom is found in the schoolroom and youth is allowed to nuench its thirst for knowledge. Teachers find it advisable to des- cend to the level of their pupils and to find .glory in training them for participation in life as a social be- ing. Oft in the chronicles of history one finds that the policy of great rulers in governing their people has been to suppress and to keep them in blissful ignorance. But in so do- ing discovery, invention, and crea- tion have been suppressed as well as revolt. Youth has its dreams, its visions, and its ambitions which cannot be put down. We seek through education to understand our present-day civilization and the part which each person plays in the world. Moreover, present-day youth is still at heart religious. However, a great deal of truth and wisdom lies in the words of Doctor Alfred Stearns, beloved principal of Phil- lips-Andover Academy and a noted champion of youth, who has writ- ten, “We must bear in mind that there is a distinct difference be- tween active religious interest and being still at heart religious. The latter is the natural endowment with which we are all blessed by our Creator. For the former we ourselves are chiefly responsible ; and if the youth of the present day has lost its religious interest, it is because of the conditions and influ- ences by which it has been sur- rounded, and for these we of an older generation must bear the blame.” If youth seems pleasure-mad, restless, and strange in its mode of living, you, our elders, must take into consideration the conditions which youth did not create but which it nevertheless must over- come. Always mankind condemns that which it does not understand. Youth is sending forth a challenge for sympathy, understanding, and above all — confidence. Confidence such as Giovanni Gentile, the dis- tinguished educator and philoso- pher, showed in an address given in Italy some years ago. He pleaded with his countrymen for higher moral standards and nobler living. His pleas having been met with much doubt and cynicism, he cried with great intensity of feeling, “I am not speaking to the older gen- eration. The mind of the older generation has broken down. I make mv appeal to youth, and youth will hear and answer me.” He was right. Youth has not failed him. Youth is ever seeking the bright and pure side of life even if it cloaks its feelings. And so, as the years go on, may we walk the straight and narrow path with- out becoming narrow minded. For the present let us the remember the words of a modern poet — 28