Annual Belleville Historical Society calendar offers a nostalgic trip back in time
There are a lot of great things about the new year but the one I look forward to the most is the new edition of the Belleville Historical Society’s annual calendar.
Past years have featured buildings, schools and houses. But last year’s model had paintings from local artists
This year’s model is an encore called “Painting Historic Belleville II.” The 2023 calendar features art from “Painting Historic Belleville,” where local artists paint buildings, streets and houses of historical interest and then donate their works to the society for its Plein Air Auction scheduled for Sept. 16 on East Garfield Street also known as Original Cow Street.
From the cover painting of North Jackson Street by Dave Cornell to the December offering of the Adam Gintz Mansion by Carolyn Karasak-Needles, the calendar is a monthly salute to some of the unique architecture of Belleville.
Local historian Robert Brunkow researches the properties and provides background information on each of the paintings.
Artists are free to interpret, as artists do. So, in the January painting of the Lincoln Theatre artist Gary Karasak enshrined its 100th anniversary with a marquee showing a 1921 debut film, “The Nest,” with “Star Wars 2021.” A 1920s auto model is parked in front of the theater while a Star Wars X-wing fighter flies past overhead.
The colors are magnificent from the blue and white tiles I n the Charles and Emily Schmisseur Residence at 1600 W. Main St., by George Gasparich to the natural colors of East Garfield Street by Susan Rogers to the iconic Brite Way Cleaners sign and building at 1811 W. Main St., by Marilynne Bradley.
Bel-Air Bowl, the Old Post Office, the Masonic Temple and Washington School are also immortalized in the calendar along with Brunkow’s little history lessons on each site.
For example, he tells us that the Governor French Academy at 211-223 W. Main St., occupies four historic properties including one that was built in 1888 for the Belleville Distillery by Bernhard Hartman, president of Star Brewery. In 1919 Oliver C. Joseph turned it into a car dealership.
The calendar costs $10 and is available on the society’s website — http://bellevillehistoricalsociety.org/ — or at some local businesses.
They include Blanquart’s Rusty Gem & Vintage Market, Circa Boutique, Eckert’s Country Store, Eckert Florist, Local Lucy’s and Peace by Piece Boutique and Muttley & Me.
