Local Artist Donates Painting to Derby Benefit
Santa Anita’s Thoroughbred to be Raffled at The Park Theatre Event
Jerome Varnum, a New Hampshire native son, grew up in a large family on a horse farm in
Peterborough. His interest in drawing and painting began in his early school years and has
continued throughout his life. Although he studied painting formally, he is largely self-taught
and is known throughout the Region from his exhibitions at Sharon Arts Gallery, Jaffrey Civic
Center, The Toadstool and others. Most recently, his painting of the ‘green monster’ at Fenway
Park was included in the annual Monadnock Arts Auction in February.
The 20” by 30” painting of a jockey and his horse was “a natural for the Theatre’s Kentucky
Derby Benefit,” Varnum commented. He supports the Theatre project and was pleased to find a
way to contribute toward it. Attracted to detail, nature and color, Varnum renders a unique and
intimate glance of the world in each of his paintings. In this particular painting the face of the
jockey is obscured. It is the face of the horse, clearly racing to win, that dominates the moment.
Caroline Hollister, board president, said, “The Derby committee was thrilled to receive his
donation. It will be part of the decoration for the party as well as a prize for some lucky guest”.
The frame for the painting was donated by Tom Seaver of Seaver & McLellan Antiques of
Jaffrey.
Jerome Varnum’s painting is the second piece of artwork donated to the Theatre for the Derby
Benefit. Molly Vogel of Dublin contributed a collage of Kentucky Derby memorabilia that will
be a collector’s item for Derby fans. “The project is truly fortunate in the support it continues to
receive from the community and in the generosity of so many,” Hollister added. The Kentucky
Derby Party is Saturday, May 1 from 5 to 7 o’clock at Woodbound Inn and Resort. A wallsized,
large screen television system has been provided by Elegant Settings and will give guests a
view of the race “as if they were standing at the rails,” Hollister added. The Park Theatre
Kentucky Derby Committee members are Joyce Gregg, Cathie Runyon, Judith Collier, Susan
Emerson, Carolyn Howard and Miki Osgood. There will also be a prize for the best hat and
roses for the winner.
Support from the business community for The Park Theatre has grown with New Hampshire’s
Community Development Finance Authority $500,000 award in tax credits for the restoration of
the Theatre. Thirteen businesses have donated nearly $250,000 since the start of the year. Those
businesses supporting the Theatre through the program are Atlas PyroVision Productions, Battle
Road Press, Baybutt Construction Managers, Belletetes, Devin and Sons Plumbing and Heating,
Full Circle Consulting, Hampsey & Grenier, James C. Moore Builders, King Manufacturing
Company, Monadnock Disposal Services, Moore Pike Enterprises, National Grange Mutual
Insurance Company, Ocean Bank and Red’s of Jaffrey.
Jaffrey’s Park Theatre was a vaudeville and movie house for 50 years. When sold, it became a
warehouse for bicycles and baby carriages. Four years ago 838 donors from 11 towns and 13
states across the country purchased the building and charged 8 area residents with restoring and
reopening this art deco treasure in the heart of downtown. These residents formed a nonprofit
corporation, conducted engineering and design assessments of the building, undertook a
fundraising feasibility study in 8 neighboring towns and northern Massachusetts, and will soon
begin a capital campaign for $2.6m to reopen this cultural icon.
