Celebrating the 75th Birthday of the Curry Frescoes

Students gathered in the auditorium of Westport’s King’s Highway Elementary School to mark the 75th birthday of two frescoes painted in the auditorium by John Steuart Curry. Diane Yormak, a volunteer working with the Westport Schools Permanent Art Collection, described the history of the frescoes. Art teacher Tim Soper devised a project to introduce his students to the fresco technique. The two Curry frescoes, “Comedy” and “Tragedy,” each measuring 15 feet high by 8 feet wide, still reign as the crown jewels of the schools’ art collection. In 1934, during the Depression, Curry, a Westport artist, offered to paint frescoes in the newly built school’s auditorium. Curry donated his services and, although money was tight, the town raised the $1,000 needed for the materials and to pay a technician to apply the plaster. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Larry Untermeyer for WestportNow.com