CAPE ELIZBETH —  One hundred works from the late Dahlov Ipcar’s personal collection will be on view for the public in a magnificent exhibit which opens Saturday, July 29, in an exciting new exhibition space on the grounds of Fort Williams Park.
   Rachel Walls Fine Art is located on two floors in a building, built in 1909, that was once house the Bachelor Officers Quarters of the Coast Artillery corps stationed at Fort Williams during the first and second world wars. It is located at 1000 Shore Road, on part of park’s 99 acres of rolling hillsides overlooking Casco Bay.
   It is in this elegant brick building with white trim, on a high hill overlooking the vast countryside of Fort Williams Park, that Rachel Walls’ dream has become reality —   she has her own gallery featuring the personal collection of Dahlov Ipcar.
       Walls grew up in Cape Elizabeth, graduating from Bates College in 1999 with bachelor of arts degrees in both American cultural studies and women’s studies. She spent the next 11 years developing a prestigious career curating, designing and organizing exhibits for well known museums and programs across the country as well as developing her interest in architecture.

When it came time for Walls to have have her own gallery, how she came to choose Ipcar’s personal collection for her inaugural exhibit, is a tale that began when Walls was 8 years old.  She already loved Ipcar’s children’s books when the artist came to Pond Cove School through a visiting artists program. Walls remembers how the artist encouraged her to be her creative self. A bit later she received an invitation to visit Ipcar’s farmhouse in Georgetown, the experience she’s never forgotten. 

 A skiing accident in 2010 brought Dahlov Ipcar into Walls’ life again. Walls was seriously injured and had to re-learn to speak and write. When one of her doctors suggested looking at children’s books, she gravitated to the Dahlov Ipcar books she had loved as a child. And after much work, Walls regained her speech and writing skills, all the while never losing her interest in creativity and visual beauty.

By 2015, Walls’ was representing Ipcar professionally and the plan to exhibit her personal collection was well underway when the artist passed away  this Feb. 12 at the age of 99.

The goal for the Ipcar exhibit, said Walls, was to show Dahlov’s personal collection to the public and in choosing the location for her gallery, “I felt showing Dahlov’s work in this setting would not only highlight her work, showing all the mediums she worked in from 1929 to 2016, but also expose more individuals to the natural beauty of Fort Williams Park — its views, trails, and gardens.”

       “I am not as interested in selling art as much as I am interested in educating the public about Dahlov’s art and seeing that it is shown in museums,” Walls explained.

In 1939, Ipcar had an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, showing works that she created in her youth. From then until 1989 MOMA used the example of Ipcar’s exhibit as the basis of their educational program for young people. They included children’s art exhibits among their offerings and designed interactive activities to go with them, all it was all pioneered by that first exhibit of work by the youthful Ipcar.

“I am hopeful that Dahlov’s work will … inspire other young artists to create. An exhibit I am working on for next fall at Bates College showing Dahlov’s work will have an educational component in the public schools of Lewiston,” Walls said.

      Some exciting Ipcar works which the public can see at the Rachel Walls Fine Art in Cape Elizabeth have not been shown before. They include: “Portrait of my Father,” oil on canvas (1944); “Regatta I” gouache 1980; “Regatta II” gouache (1980).” “Garden of Eden,” cloth collage (1961) is a masterpiece of unusual texture and design. “Veldt Patterns” oil on linen 1958 is an interesting early work. “Cat in Rocket” watercolor (1971) is unusual with a touch of humor.
        A unique tapestry in multi-color needlepoint — also never-before shown to the public — is worth going to see. Several beautiful watercolors from an early book that Dahlov illustrated  titled “The Little Fisherman,” by Margaret Wise Brown, are in the exhibit. Watercolors “Little Fisherman’s Catch” and “Evening on the Fishing Grounds” fhe book were exciting to see.
        A selection of soft sculptures is also included in the exhibit like, “Okapi 6” (1990) and “Mythological Sea Horse” (1974).
        A few paintings which have been exhibited before can also be seen, like “Harlequin Jungle,”oil on linen (1972),”Garden Guardians,” oil on linen (2012) and “Grendel’s Nest,”oil on linen (2007).
        By appointment, selected prints and some works will be available for purchase, but  Ipcar’s personal collection will not be broken up, Walls said.
        Don’t miss this exhibit. It offers some special surprises in Ipcar’s range of creativity. It is beautifully hung and was a labor of love created by the gallery ’s owner. It is up through Jan. 7, 2018. 

A very attractive catalogue of the exhibit with family photos and works in the exhibit is available at the gallery.

Rachel Walls Fine Art is open seven days a week, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., free of charge.

FMI: www. rachelwallsfineart. com or call 207-536-0014.

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