Peer into the fascinatingly creative life of Jack Lewis during a months-long exhibit at the Rehoboth Art League
In 2021, Nancy and Russ Suniewick, longtime friends of Jack Lewis and executive producers of If You Lived Here, You Would Be Home Now: A Film About Jack Lewis and Bridgeville, DE, generously donated to the Rehoboth Art League an outstanding collection of 52 paintings and various documents of the late artist. The range of work from this collection dates from the circa-1930s to the 1980s and includes portraits, domestic and foreign scenes and a self-portrait.
Born in Baltimore, Jack Lewis received a degree in art from Rutgers University in 1935. He arrived in Delaware in the late 1930s and was part of the Works Project Administration’s Civilian Conservation Corps. He first served as a painter in Leipsic and then, briefly, in Lewes, where he recorded, through his art, the activities of men working on mosquito control on the Delmarva Peninsula. His artwork debuted in 1936 at the V.I.A.Summer Art Exhibition, where he continued to exhibit for many years.
LASTING IMPRESSIONS Jack Lewis’ legacy of works are both vast and impressive, as his career spanned more than five decades as an artist, author, illustrator, entertainer and teacher.
When the Rehoboth Art League was established, he was given the first one-man show at the new organization. He was both an active exhibitor and an art instructor at the Art League for more than five decades. He had also regularly entertained at membership meetings with his accordion and his legendary Strolling Marionettes. Jack Lewis was the author of several books of prose and illustration on subjects in the mid-Atlantic region and beyond.He taught art in Delaware public schools and at various institutions. In the 1990s, he was the subject of a documentary filmed for PBS.
Everyday Life, Everyday People: The Work of Jack Lewis will be on display at the Rehoboth Art League from January 6 to March 5. CS