Marjory Reid Honored by Salisbury Family Services

Marjory Reid’s paintings are exuberant, full of light, color, and movement, like the artist herself. This year Salisbury Family Services will celebrate Reid at an exhibition and cocktail reception at the Salisbury School. There will be a dinner afterward at Scott and Thao Mattlock’s barn to raise money for the venerable institution. This event, honoring the popular former Indian Mountain School and Hotchkiss art teacher and now full-time painter, will help SFS to raise money to help people help themselves. 

Reid spoke with Compass  in her studio full of finished paintings and works in progress at her country farmhouse on Bunker Hill in Salisbury. The youthful octogenarian reminisced about her long life as an artist. Raised in Long Island when it was still rural, she studied art at Oberlin and Rhode Island School of Design. Like many fledgling artists then, after college, she moved to New York City. She recalled living in a fifth-floor walk-up there as a young, idealistic painter telling herself that she’d never be a teacher. Eventually, marriage and three children put her into a life where teaching was a good option. She taught school in Cincinnati while also studying at the Cincinnati Art Academy under E. Paul Wilhelm (who became a mentor). Eventually, the family moved to her then- husband’s hometown, Salisbury. 

That was more than 50 years ago. Reid started the arts program and taught art at Indian Mountain School from 1968 until 1986, followed by 14 years of teaching at Hotchkiss. She recalled her years of teaching art and art history at Hotchkiss, “Anyone who teaches art has to be a practicing artist. I loved what I taught, and I went beyond what was necessary for my courses. I love teenagers and felt proud to be teaching at such a high-quality school,” she said fondly. Reid, who has been a full-time painter since she left Hotchkiss in 2000, was nominated in 1995 by her former IMS students for “Special Recognition as an Outstanding and Influential Teacher.” 

Reid’s work is abstract, reminiscent of de Kooning (but with more color). She describes her work as “nature reduced to shapes, colors, lines, drips, textures, and splashes — with an attitude.” Bernay Fine Art in Great Barrington is currently representing her. In their statement about her, she is quoted: “Each painting is an exploration; a puzzle to be solved. It’s a playground of subtle details and textured surfaces — a combination of poured paint, spontaneous gestural marks, and sanded surfaces that evolve over time into layers of colors, light and form.” Reid has exhibited throughout the U.S. and has done residencies at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation in Taos, N.M., and she has received several grants and awards. 

Salisbury Family Services is a nonprofit organization that offers support for any Town of Salisbury resident in need.Salisbury includes the communities of Lakeville, Amesville, Taconic and Lime Rock. SFS helps people purchase homes and pay for fuel, daycare and summer camp, and they provide a food pantry among many other services. It is supported in part by the Town of Salisbury and local foundations, but it relies on individual donations. 

“Celebrating Salisbury’s Own: Marjory Reid,” cocktails and exhibit will be on Sat., Sept. 28, at 5:30 p.m. at The Salisbury School, 251 Canaan Road, Salisbury, CT.