The “Old” Guthrie

“The Guthrie on Vineland”
5 x 7" watercolor

In Minnesota, it may be impolite to talk about the weather. But hey, I’m way far south of there, so maybe I can get by with it. On August 1949, Minnesota had its earliest snowfall. Say what? I have worn wool (fingerless) gloves while painting on the shore of Lake Superior in July. Say winter plein air painting in Minnesota? I don’t think so, Charlie.

I attended A Streetcar Named Desire at this Minneapolis theater in August 1974. In August 2006 I sat down on the steps of the “old” Walker Art Center, and painted this watercolor of the “old” Guthrie Theatre. I often wonder why, over time, everything around me is getting “old”?

Today, I salute the Guthrie that used to be. Demolition began just four months after I’d done this painting. On a cold day in January 2007, the building was demolished. I remember. I was out somewhere on the Carolina Coast painting winter salt marshes en plein air.

“The Guthrie on Vineland” is available on my web site in the Original Watercolors Collection.