WPA Art Inventory Project

Ralph Lewis Nelson was born on February 2, 1885, in Coal City, Illinois. After his mother died when he was two and a half years old, he was raised by his aunts and uncles. He attended Baptist College in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and it was there that he received his first formal art training. He also studied commercial art. He studied art at the Cleveland School of Art, Des Moines School of Art, Cochran School in Washington, D.C., and the Art Students League in New York. Nelson worked for newspapers around the country including the Cleveland Press, Washington Star, Washington Times, New York Herald, and New York World. During World War I he enlisted in the Marines where he created publicity and recruiting artwork. He conceived of the concept and design for the Uncle Sam I Want You poster that Montgomery Flagg went on to paint. After the War Nelson moved to New York City and married Bernice Merrill. Throughout the 1920s he worked free-lance, focusing on illustrations and book jacket designs. In 1928 he moved from New York to Wilton, Connecticut. Prior to the WPA Federal Arts Project, he worked for the Public Works of Art Project. He began working for the WPA in 1935, completing 118 easel works that were allocated to many public institutions across the state. He also completed many murals, some of which have been lost. During World War II Nelson painted triptychs for portable altars that were sent overseas. He spent the last 27 years of his life in Bethlehem, Connecticut. For the last ten years of his life he was legally blind but continued to paint. He was an active exhibitor at the Kent and Washington Art Associations and helped found the annual art show at the Bethlehem Fair. He also assisted in the formation of Artists and Writers of Connecticut. Nelson died on May 7, 1967, and is buried in Bethlehem Cemetery, Bethlehem, Connecticut.

Sources: WPA Artist’s Work Card; WPA Biography; Thomas R. Egan, The Sunday Republican Magazine, October 11, 1964; Carolyn Gonzales; “Some Biographical Information on Ralph Nelson,” October 1999; AskART; Social Security Death Index; “Ralph Lewis Nelson, February 2, 1885-May 7, 1967”;Who Was Who In American Art (1986), p. 445; “Schools Will Get Mural Panels Soon,” Hartford Courant, December 18, 1936.

Works of Art Listed in CT Archives’ database from Ralph Nelson:

Spencer Baird Nichols was born on February 13, 1875. He spent his childhood in Washington, D.C. He attended classes at the Corcoran School of Art and the Washington Art Students League. At the age of 17, he received a position as Instructor of Illustration at the League. He worked for the Geological Survey and the National Museum. Before the First World War Nichols was a Chief Designer for Louis Comfort Tiffany Studios, designing mosaics, windows, interiors, and painting. He served in the Spanish American War in an engineer company, and during World War I he served as a camafleur in the U. S. Navy. After the war he illustrated many books including A Christmas Carol, Oscar Wilde’s Little Prince, and a number of poetry books by Alfred Noyes. Nichols along with eight other prominent artists founded the Kent Art Association in 1923. Several works by Nichols were destroyed in a fire that consumed his house and studio in 1932. In 1934 he became the Director of Art at Marot Junior College in Thompson, Connecticut and held that position until the school closed in 1941. Prior to the WPA Federal Arts Project, he worked for the Public Works of Art Project. He began working for the Connecticut WPA in 1936 and completed murals in Kent, Litchfield, and New Milford Schools. For the WPA, he completed 33 works that were allocated to Litchfield High School, Laurel Heights Sanatorium, Hartford Board of Park Commissioners, Long Lane Farm, New Haven Community Center, and the Connecticut State Farm for Women. He was a member of the Washington Water Color Club, Society of Washington Artists, the Salmagundi Club, the National Arts Club, and was an elected Associate of the National Academy of Design. Nichols died on August 28, 1950, in Kent, Connecticut.

Sources: WPA Artist’s Work Card; AskART; “Spencer Nichols, Artist, 75, Dead,” New York Times, August 29, 1950; Karen A. Chase and Kent Art Association.

Works of Art Listed in CT Archives’ database from Spencer Nichols:

Lois North was born in New Haven, Connecticut on May 21, 1908. She attended grade school in New Haven before going on to four years of Mrs. Day’s Private Girls’ School as well as Columbia Summer School. She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Yale School of Fine Arts in 1930. Before working for the WPA Federal Arts Project, she worked for the Public Works of Art Project, the FERA, and the Treasury Relief Art Program. North’s style was described by WPA officials as “flat and decorative sometimes lapping too much into reality for its own good.” Her work was influenced by Early Renaissance painters and Japanese art. She completed a total of nine easel works and one mural. The mural was entitled Life of David Humphreys and was allocated to the Ansonia High School. Her only other allocated work, The Dogwood Tree, was sent to Cedarcrest Sanatorium. After leaving the WPA North moved to Chicago, Illinois where she became the editor and publisher of Music News Magazine. In 1943 she moved to Greenwich, Connecticut, and founded the Lois North School of the Arts. She was the owner and director of Beaupre Creative Arts Center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts from 1956 until 1980. North died on May 31, 1988.

Sources: WPA Artist’s Work Card; WPA Biography; Obituary, New York Times, June 3, 1988.

Works of Art Listed in CT Archives’ database from Lois North: