East Boston Friends of the
Library (FOL) members kick
off a fundraising effort to get
all the historic paintings titled
“A History of Shipping” by
Frederick Leonard King. From
left, Susan Brauner, Madeline
McComiskey and Jane Poncia.
The East Boston Friends of the Library (FOL) kicked off a fundraising effort with the goal of raising $50,000 to begin restoring the group of historic paintings titled “A History of Shipping” by Frederick Leonard King. The kick off was held Monday night at the Meridian Street branch.
In April the FOL reached a compromise with Boston Public Library (BPL) administrators on how to display the group of paintings by King in the new library being constructed on Bremen Street.
During conversations with BPL administrators, FOL members discussed the restoration of the King paintings.
Recently, Oliver Bros. Fine Art Restoration advised FOL members that the paintings need cleaning, backings, repainting, and frames. FOL members held off investing in the restoration project until the future of the paintings was clear.
“We talked about what Oliver Bros. Restoration demonstrated to us when we visited their shop,” said FOL member Madeline McComiskey. “We explained the process is extensive because these paintings are in very bad condition. This is a great beginning and hopefully can raise enough