There is a new home for an iconic painting of Staples High School band members by Westport artist Stevan Dohanos—Staples High School.
At unveiling (l-r) Caroline Elizondo, Michele Mechanic, Jim Marpe, James D’Amico, Kathie Bennewitz, Christie Stanger, and David Roth. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Photo by Kerry Long
“The Band Played On (The Big Game),” drawn for an Oct. 19, 1946 Saturday Evening Post cover, depicts five members of the 1946 Staples High School band. In recent years, it has been in the first selectman’s office at Westport Town Hall.
The painting will hang in the Staples auditorium lobby throughout Staples Players’ run of “The Music Man” on Friday and Saturday, and on Nov. 13, 18 and 19, alongside the promotional posters for the 2001 and 2016 Staples Players’ productions of “The Music Man” that were inspired by the painting.
Taking part in an unveiling of the painting in its new home were members of the Friends of Westport Public Arts Collections Committee (WestPAC), which conserved the work, along with First Selectman Jim Marpe, Staples High School Principal James D’Amico, Town Curator Kathie Bennewitz, and Staples Players Director David Roth.
Limited Edition prints of the Dohanos painting are available for purchase during performances and online here.
Proceeds of the sale will benefit Friends of the Westport Public Art Collections, Staples Music Parents Association and the Westport Historical Society. Tickets to “The Music Man” are available here.
