From 1904 to 1942, on Chestnut Ridge Road in Bethel Conn. lived Art Young (1866 - 1943) - considered the “Dean of American Cartoonists”. On his property, he built The Art Young Gallery - a fulfillment of a childhood dream - as a way to show his work, show the work of others, as well as preserve his legacy after his death. Unfortunately, due to lack of financial resources, and declining health, the
property was sold. The voluminous collection of his artwork (he had saved nearly every piece he had ever drawn, and had agreements with publishers that all his artwork be returned) was passed to his heirs. Look at a majority of his political/social cartoons from 1910 until his death and they are just as relevant, and thus maybe even more poignant, in our times. And so, without further ado, the Bethel Historical Society, and The Bethel Museum, announce the reopening of The Art Young Gallery, just over a mile from the original location, in a building Art Young would have visited in his day. For who better than his friends and neighbors, the family to which he always returned, to lift him up once more and keep his dream alive?
