By Tommy Fulton
Invocation, Song and Pledge
Ken Robinson called the meeting to order. Larry Sindel led the song. Ben Cummings gave the invocation.
Announcements
Peyton Mattei promoted the Five Rivers Delta Boat Tour
Tommy Fulton encouraged members to continue to give to the CART Project for Alzheimers.
Program: Cart Blackwell, Architectural Historian/Mobile Historic Development Commission. “Of Color & Light: An examination of Life & Career of Artist/Designer Clara Weaver Parrish”, introduced by Eddie Brister.
Mr. Blackwell spoke for the third time to the Mobile Rotary Club. In his examination of the life of Clara Parrish, he described the fascinating life and works of one of Alabama’s most accomplished artists. Ms. Parrish was born in Selma in 1861. Her family was very influential in the founding and development of Selma. She was very accomplished in art, and showed it early with influences from such renowned artists as James Whistler.
During the 1890’s, after moving to New York with her husband, Clara began promoting women artists, while serving as an officer in the Woman’s Art Club of New York. She eventually had two daughters, both of whom died very young. Following the death of her sixteen month old daughter, she developed an interest in mosaic, mural and stained glass design. She was also one of the first artists to show the relationship between blacks and whites in the South during the late 1890’s and early 1900’s.
As Mr. Blackwell showed in his extensive slide show, she became most well-known for her stained glass windows which are displayed in churches throughout Alabama and also in the Northeast. She was featured in thirty World’s Fair exhibits before she died in 1925. Her will established the Weaver-Parrish Memorial Trust, which provides aid to the needy of Selma and Dallas County to the present day.