30 years of PAC and the Lillian Fendig Gallery

The Prairie Arts Council is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year and has devoted the year to Lillian Fendig. Its exhibits have had a Lillian-Fendig connection, but none so obvious as their major exhibit of the year, a showing of a collection of about 100 works of the gallery's namesake. The art comes from about a dozen collections, including many from the permanent collection of the Prairie Arts Council. 

After the Rensselaer Library moved out of their home at the Carnegie Building in 1992, several citizens stepped up to save it from demolition. The Prairie Arts Council, the Jasper-Newton Foundation, and the Chamber of Commerce were the first occupants of the building after the Library moved.

Lillian Fendig was born Lillian Bossom in London England. She exhibited artistic ability early and went to an art school as a high-school student. During World War II she met Ralph Fendig, who was stationed at a hospital in England. In 1948 she came to the United States and married Ralph. She continued her career in art and was recognized as one of Indiana's finest artists. 

Most of the paintings in the exhibit are water colors. She did many landscapes and floral arrangements.

She also designed clothing and the exhibit has some of her designs. I remembered seeing these before and I found them in an earlier post.

Ralph's brother Frederick owned a guest ranch in Arizona that Ralph and Lillian often visited. Many or most of Lillian's pictures with a western theme were painted as a result of these visits. This portrait was done in oil.

This picture of basketball players is one of two that is owned by the Rensselaer Central School Corporation.

Many of her paintings are of buildings and towns, often in England.

The picture below was loaned by a nephew of Ralph who lives in Louisville, Kentucky. His father Phillip Fendig entered the U.S. Foreign Service after leaving Rensselaer and was posted in several foreign countries. You can learn a bit more from the obituary of his widow.

In addition to her paintings, the Prairie Arts Council has a series of her prints and also the blocks from which the prints were printed. These were done by Lillian for Christmas cards. The prints are quite small, a few inches by few inches, but have impressive detail in them.

This is a remarkable exhibit for a small city and if you have any interest in art, check it out. The gallery is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays, on Tuesdays from noon until four and on Thursdays from two until six. The show continues until September 28,

The Fendig family was an important family in the history of Rensselaer. It has no descendents living in Rensselaer. For a brief summary of the family and their impact on Rensselaer, see here, here, and here.

(Two Fendigs have been featured in the annual Weston Cemetery Walks, in 2019 and in 2022. No Fendigs will be featured in this year's walk, but there will be eight interesting people presented when the event takes place on September 16.)