Dear Members & Friends,
I am excited to be asked to serve on the Friends of T.C. Steele Board of Directors. My spouse and I are longtime residents of central Indiana and have spent much time in the areas where our “Hoosier Group” artists lived, worked and painted. My career is as a healthcare executive, but I (we) have developed a passion for American Impressionist Artists (particularly mid 19th Century to late 20th.)
We are also longtime members of the Columbia Club where I serve on the Board of Directors and the Historic Preservation Foundation. In that role I have come to learn more and more at T.C. Steele, as we have a number of his iconic pieces in our clubhouse that I look forward to sharing with you. Over the past couple of years, I have also developed an academic appetite to learn more about the lives of our “Hoosier Group” painters… Particularly T.C. Steele. I have read numerous histories and biographies (most recently Rachel Berenson Perry’s: William Forsyth, the Life and Work of an Indiana Artist). This was following several texts I read on Steele, his home and life. It is fascinating to me how these men persevered as artists during such troubling times and broad lack of interest and understanding in their works.
It is my hope that my interest and study of these artists will add a hand and voice to our collective work as a board to promote and grow our mission and vision for the Friends of T.C. Steele.
I look forward to our days ahead and hope to interact with you in the months and years to come!
Sincerely,
Mark Rowlands