Early Years at Falmouth Artists Guild on Display
in the Landrau-Partan Gallery of the Falmouth Art Center
from January 3 – February 3
The Opening Reception for the show is Friday, January 10, from 4 to 6pm
In anticipation of our organization’s 60th anniversary, this is a show of work by 20 artists who participated in the early years of the Falmouth Artists Guild –now known as Falmouth Art Center – in the 1950s and ‘60s. Four of the artists are still participating in the Art Center: Louise Lane, San Lyman, Anne Downs and Milt Williamson. Our anniversary is celebrated from the date we received 501c3 non-profit status in 1966.
A Brief History of Falmouth Artists Guild
The Falmouth Artists Guild – now called the Falmouth Art Center – had its beginnings in the early 1950s with an informal gathering of people painting and studying art together with Angelo Cangiamila, an illustrator and engineer at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Mr. Cangiamila, known as “Cangy,” held classes in the garage of his Falmouth Heights home. As the group expanded, they moved into the town’s Recreation Center on East Main Street.
Next door to the Rec Center was a town-owned 1760s building known as the “Poor House,” which had served as a place for the town’s indigent residents since the early 1800s. The town had abandoned the building in the early 1960s.
In 1963, the artists of the Falmouth Artists Guild negotiated to lease the Poor House from the Town of Falmouth for $1 a year. The Artists Guild occupied the building for almost 40 years.
In 1998, the town asked the Artists Guild to vacate the Poor House for structural repairs. Then Selectmen decided to use the Poor House for town offices and asked the Artists Guild to leave permanently.
The Artists Guild used various sites in town for exhibits and classes, including Falmouth Mall, Falmouth Community Television and the Community Center, before leasing basement space on Main Street.
In 2004, developer Chris Wise gifted a parcel on the corner of Gifford Street and Dillingham Avenue to the Guild. Mr. Wise built the Dillingham Place apartments on the adjacent lot. The Artists Guild fundraised to construct a community art center on the land. They broke ground in the fall of 2008 with use of the main floor commencing in 2009. Constructed in three stages, the building’s top floor was completed in 2016.
In addition to a painting by Mr. Cangiamila, the following early members of the Artists Guild will have works in the Founders show: Edie Bruce, John Bruce, Bud Carey, Zada Clark, Claude Croney, Ann Downs, Joe Downs, Beverley Edwards, Robert Gunning, Charmay Hays, Phyllis Kendrick Howard, Joan Kanwisher, Louise Lane, William Littlefield , San Lyman, Mary Mavor, Jean Ryther, Jeanne Swan, Jon Swan and Milt Williamson.
There are several members involved in the 50s and 60s who are still involved at the Art Center, including Ann Downs, Louise Lane, San Lyman and Milt Williamson.
In addition, the children of many of the other artists are still living in Falmouth or nearby and are expected to attend the reception.
