Local Resident To Display Art At Stonington Gallery Exhibition

Information via LaGrua Center

STONINGTON, CT – The artistic career of long-time local resident Lee Francis Dadalt will be on display at the LaGrua Center this spring. It is the first time the public will have the opportunity to view the broad array of Dadalt’s artistic talents, as Dadalt, who lived in Mystic most of his life and died in 2007, kept most of his work in his private collection and seldom displayed or sold it to the public.

The exhibition, which was curated by Dadalt’s sister and brother-in-law Denise and Steve McGuire of Mystic and New Hampshire, will be at the LaGrua Center through the end of June.
“The Art of Lee Dadalt” opening is scheduled from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., Friday, May 10. Two special Lyme/Old Lyme days also are scheduled from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on two Sundays - May 19 and June 2. The Lyme/Old Lyme days are in recognition of Dadalt’s career as an art teacher in the Lyme-Old Lyme public schools. He taught in the system from 1973 to 2003, when he retired. Also, on June 5, Denise and Steve will host family, friends and classmates at the center to view the exhibit.

Dadalt always remained true to his philosophy that art - both in the creative process and the completed works - should be fun. He looked forward to inspiring and encouraging young artists as he lived his classroom philosophy and led by example.

The shoreline scenery around Mystic, where he grew up and lived most of his life, as well as the fishing fleet homeported in Stonington Borough, where he was born, provided Dadalt with endless inspiration for his artwork.

“Our objective is to get his artwork into public view,” Denise McGuire said. The McGuires have worked tirelessly for more than a year choosing, categorizing and preparing the artwork for display.

The exhibition will feature dozens of pieces of Dadalt’s work in a broad spectrum of media. The work encompasses luminescent landscapes, color-drenched still lifes, posters, pottery, wood cuts and screen prints. While his favorite medium was watercolor paint, he also created brilliant and inviting pieces in a vast spectrum of media ranging from pencil and acrylic to oil and tempera wash, the latter of which he called “a dying, lost art.”

Dadalt was born in Stonington Borough in 1948 and grew up in Mystic. He attended local Groton schools and graduated from Fitch Senior High School. He studied at Mitchell College in New London before heading to the University of Hartford’s Hartford Art School, where he completed a bachelor’s of fine arts degree in 1972. In 1978, he earned a master’s degree from Wesleyan University in Middletown.

Dadalt’s artwork was well received by art juries. He had many works accepted into juried shows, including the Teachers’ Art Show in Hartford and the Connecticut Artist Annual Juried Show at the Slater Museum in Norwich. He was a regular participant in regional shows sponsored by the Mystic Art Association and numerous summer art shows in Mystic, Norwich, East Lyme and Old Saybrook in Connecticut and in Westerly, Rhode Island. He won numerous awards, including from the Mystic Art Association and Slater Museum in Norwich.

The LaGrua exhibition of Lee Dadalt’s artwork is scheduled to open May 10, from 5 p.m. to 7 pm. Denise and Steve will also host a special Lyme/Old Lyme day on May 19 from 1 p.m. to 4 pm and again on June 2 from 1 p.m. to 4 pm. The exhibition is scheduled to run through the end of June. Please visit LaGruaCenter.org for more information.. The LaGrua Center is located at 32 Water St., Stonington Borough.

https://lagruacenter.org/events/exhibit-opening-the-art-of-lee-dadalt/