Howard Taylor, the first and only director of the Museum of Fine Arts, has
been a leading proponent of the arts in San Angelo since he first arrived
here in 1983. However he did have a museum life before San Angelo, one which
he will be drawing upon for a talk he is presenting at the museum on Thursday,
March 10th at 5:30 pm, "The Life Aquatic of Howard Taylor --- A True
Account of His Misadventures in a Former Realm."
For nearly 14 years Howard Taylor worked at the Philadelphia Maritime Museum in Pennsylvnia. In the course of his tenure there he encountered and worked with many famous people in the nautical world including Jacques Cousteau, Peter Benchley and Lloyd Bridges. He also had frequent encounters with other celebrities including numerous foreign heads of state and even Queen Elizabeth. Furthermore, he had a front row seat for one of the most spectacular celebratory events of the 20th Century - Operation Sail '76, which culminated in New York City harbor on July 4th 1976 with the gathering of Tall Ships from around the world and more than 3 million people in attendance. His former museum life was full of extraordinary characters and instances and (of course) fabulous collections of art and artifacts.
Mr. Taylor's Gallery Talk was prompted by one of the exhibits currently on display at the museum, 19th Century Maritime Watercolors, which he will refer to during his discussion. The maritime watercolors, a group of 13 paintings, are a recent gift to the museum from the collection of Joan and Frank Rose. Predominantly by English artists, the paintings include calm, peaceful scenes of sailing ships in harbor, such as Venice, London and Galveston Bay, as well as numerous depictions of the perils of nature with ships battling stormy seas. All fall into the genre of 'Maritime Painting,' a distinct category unto itself.
For the past twenty years, Howard Taylor has been the Director of the San
Angelo Museum of Fine Arts. He is a native of Buffalo, New York. Prior to
relocating to Texas he was the Assistant Director of the Maritime Museum in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He studied at the Columbus College of Art and
Design, Columbus, Ohio, the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton School
at the University of Pennsylvania. He has held numerous offices including:
President of the Museum Council of Philadelphia, President of the nationally
renowned Painted Bride Art Center in Philadelphia, Chairman of the Visual
Arts Panel for the Texas Commission on the Arts and President of the Texas
Association of Museums.
San Angelo Museum
of Fine Arts
One Love Street
San Angelo, Texas 76903
Fax: (325) 658 - 6800
Phone: (325) 653 -
3333
e-mail:
museum@samfa.org