Westport Historical Society Hosting an Art Stroll, May 28

Learn about three murals by one of Westport’s leading artists, the late Robert L. Lambdin, during a May 28th walking tour hosted by the Westport Historical Society in partnership with the outdoor clothing and gear designer Patagonia.

The “Lambdin Stroll” kicks off at the Patagonia store in the old Westport Bank & Trust Co. building, 87 Post Road East, at 6:30 p.m. and concludes at WHS headquarters, 25 Avery Place, a walk of about three-tenths of a mile. Kathleen Motes Bennewitz, Westport’s Town Curator, will discuss how the three murals, commissioned by Westport Bank & Trust in the 1960s, relate to the history of Westport.

“This is an example of the Society, the town and its merchants working together to celebrate a great Westport artist,” said Edward F. Gerber, president of the Westport Historical Society. Gerber said he was grateful to Patagonia for opening the store after business hours to accommodate the tour.

“Lambdin was chosen by Westport Bank & Trust in part because of his previous accomplishments creating murals for the Depression Era Works Progress Administration,” Bennewitz said. His trio of WB&T canvases are historically accurate tableaux representing different aspects of Westport during the 1800s. The two murals at Patagonia – “Hotel Square” and “Shipping on the Saugatuck” – show a street scene along Post Road East where the old YMCA building now stands and Jesup Wharf, site of the present Taylor parking lot. “Hotel Square” also shows the area of Post Road East where the WB&T/Patagonia building now stands. Bennewitz says the bank commissioned the two murals to “modernize” the lobby of the bank’s austere neoclassical headquarters. The third mural, “Saugatuck in the 19th Century,” is a composite showing life on the river and in the village of Saugatuck throughout the 1800s. It was commissioned for the bank’s Saugatuck branch on Charles Street when it opened in 1970 and is currently on display at the Historical Society as part of its “Saugatuck@ Work” exhibit, which runs until June 14.

Lambdin had a successful career as an advertising and magazine illustrator before he was picked by the WPA to paint murals for two Westport public schools. He also won commissions to do murals for the Bridgeport Post Office, the old Bridgeport Brass Company and the Black Rock Bank and Trust Company in Bridgeport. One of his school murals, “The Pageant of Literature,” now hangs in the Westport Public Library. He was known to extensively research the history of his subjects before starting his murals. Lambdin lived in Westport from 1918 until his death in 1981 at the age of 94.

Westport Bank & Trust had a long run in town before it was merged into Lafayette American Bank in 1996. WB&T was founded as Saugatuck Bank in 1852 by Horace Staples and later moved from its Saugatuck location to Staples’ National Hall just across the river from downtown. In 1924, after several name changes, the bank, now called WB&T, moved to a new Flatiron-style building that still stands at the intersection of Church Lane and the Post Road. In 2004, Lafayette’s owner, Hudson United Bancorp, sold the building to a developer, and in 2006, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places as “the Westport Bank & Trust Company Building.”

“Lambdin Stroll,” Thursday, May 28, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. There is a $25 donation which includes a catered reception generously donated by AMG catering and events. Reservation are suggested: (203) 222-1424. Westport Historical Society, 25 Avery Place, across from Town Hall. For more information about the WHS go to www.westporthistory.org.