Vernon Herbert Coleman (April 28, 1898 – June 6, 1978) was a marine seascape muralist artist and art teacher on

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer months. The ...

. He painted more than 100 murals for the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...

Early years

Coleman was born in

Norwich, Connecticut Norwich ( ) is a city in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The Yantic River, Yantic, Shetucket River, Shetucket, and Quinebaug Rivers flow into the city and form its harbor, from which the Thames River (Connecticut), Thames River f ...

and studied at the

Corcoran School of Art The Corcoran School of the Arts and Design (known as the Corcoran School or CSAD) is the professional art school of the George Washington University, in Washington, D.C.Peggy McGloneUniversity names first director of Corcoran School of the Arts an ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

He founded the Cape Cod Art Club (now the Cape Cod Art Association) in

Dennis, Massachusetts Dennis is a New England town, town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, located near the center of the Cape Cod, Cape Cod peninsula. It is a seaside resort town with colonial mansions along the nor ...

which gives an annual award, the Vernon Coleman Memorial Award, in his name. He was the supervisor of art in the Barnstable Public School system for 20 years, retiring in 1964.

Artistic works

Coleman was "a central figure in WPA programs in Barnstable", getting paid $17 a week for his work. He was enrolled in the Provincetown Artists group of the

Federal Art Project The Federal Art Project (1935–1943) was a New Deal program to fund the visual arts in the United States. Under national director Holger Cahill, it was one of five Federal Project Number One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administratio ...

where his style was described as "traditional realism." He was in demand as a WPA artist with one local sponsor stating that he was "very much of a boy scout in his feelings that Vernon Coleman must do these

urals The Ural Mountains ( ),; , ; , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range in Eurasia that runs north–south mostly through Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the river Ural (river), Ural and northwestern Kazakhstan.

.. they won't have anyone but Coleman do them." Many of Coleman's WPA paintings depicted scenes and seascapes from 1920s and 1930s Cape Cod and are inside local public buildings such as the Barnstable Town Hall, Pope John Paul II High School, the Center for Creative Arts, the Centerville Recreation Building, and the

Osterville Osterville is one of seven villages within the town of Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States. The village of Osterville is located on the south side of Barnstable on Nantucket Sound. Osterville is a residential community that includes marshes, ...

Historical Society Boat House. Some of his mural work was painted directly on to plaster making it difficult to relocate. Seven mural paintings found behind "seven layers of wall" at a restaurant undergoing renovation became the subject of a restoration effort. Four murals were stabilized and remained at the restaurant and three were donated to the Osterville Historical Museum for restoration. Another mural in the former Barnstable High School building, was the subject of a $20,000 renovation. In addition to his mural work Coleman also created many oil paintings, some of which are collected in the

Cape Cod Museum of Art Cape Cod Museum of Art is an art museum in the town of Dennis in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States in the center of the region Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner o ...

Personal life

Coleman was married to Ruby Coleman and had one child, Vernon Ellsworth Coleman, in 1926.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coleman, Vernon Herbert 1898 births 1978 deaths 20th-century American painters American marine artists Painters from Massachusetts People from Norwich, Connecticut Federal Art Project artists