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Singer’s artwork at Butler Salem
SALEM — The Salem Branch of the Butler Institute of American Art has quietly reopened.
Kathy Earnhart, director of public relations for the Butler, said it had resumed operations during the Italian Fest in late August.
She said no announcement was made.
The hours remain the same, she said. The branch is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. The branch at 343 E. State St. is literally in the heart of the city.
The building had been closed for about 16 months because of water that had apparently leaked from the wall of an adjoining property into the Salem branch. The Butler in June filed a lawsuit to recover $57,115 in repairs.
Butler Director Dr. Louis Zona said Tuesday, “It’s frustrating. We monitor that wall. Our security person checks every morning and calls us.”
The good news is that a program that salutes the career of Youngstown artist Clyde Singer is on display.
Zona said the exhibit will continue through October.
The Butler Institute in Youngstown and the Canton Museum of Art had been showing portions of “Clyde Singer’s America” in late 2007 and in 2008.
The show highlighted the late painter’s works that captured daily life: crowds on the street, people shopping or drinking in bars.
Singer was also a curator and assistant director at the Butler and an art columnist for The Vindicator for almost 60 years.
The show was to close at the Salem branch with Singer’s later works, and now it will.
Zona said Singer didn’t drive, but he would travel to New York City where his brush captured the colors of the bustling city.
In his later years, Singer developed cataracts but didn’t want to have surgery, Dr. Zona said. The result, Dr. Zona added, was that the “colors in his painting were a little muted.”
Singer eventually had surgery and was pleased with the results.
wilkinson@vindy.com