NORWAY – Covered in layers of dust and hidden in storage for many years were two locally significant paintings recently donated to Western Maine Art Group President Tally Decato and Vice President David Sanderson by Key Bank Vice President and Branch Manager Terry Twitchell.

Western Maine Art Group Executive Director Aranka Matolcsy said the donation and its acceptance exemplifies the group’s mission to provide opportunities for artists and artisans and to provide broad community access to original arts while partnering with the community to build a prosperous cultural future.

Twitchell believed it was important to get the paintings out of storage and back in the view of the public and said WMAG was the most logical group to preserve the works.

“This is a wonderful example of another way in which the arts can be supported. Keep art in front of eyes, dig it out of storage and find an individual or group like the WMAG to facilitate access to it once again,” said Matolcsy, who added that the WMAG can help people with surplus art by facilitating sales or preserving it the permanent art collection at the Lajos Matolcsy Arts Center on Main Street.

Twitchell was given the George “Shavey” Noyse (1863-1945) mountainscape pen and ink by Jim Philips, who was president of Norway National Bank. Noyse was a contemporary of George Howe, with whom he founded a group called the Young Boy scientists. Renowned Norway Artist Vivian Akers was one of the first members.

Twitchell is not certain of the origin of the Nellie Walker cityscape watercolor, other than it had been in the basement of the bank from the time he started working there in 1974.

Walker was the aunt to local art dealer Harry Walker and has been identified by the Maine State Historical Society as one of Maine’s pioneer women artists. The Western Maine Art Group owns another of Walker’s works titled “The Isle of Shoals,” which the group acquired through a large bequest of fine arts from the estate of Richard Durnin in April of 2007.

For more information on the ways in which the WMAG can facilitate the resurrection of art pieces that have long been in storage, contact Matolcsy at 739-6161 or [email protected].