IRVINGTON — The Third Annual Indiana Plein Air Painters Association will take place at the Bona Thompson Memorial Center, 5350 E. University Ave. on Saturday, May 6 beginning at 9 a.m. Participating artists will meet on the front lawn of the center for distribution of the maps marking the historical landmarks in Irvington. Artists will move to locations throughout the area and begin painting. At 3:30 p.m., they will meet back at the center for an informal wet painting show and sale. If it is raining, the artists will set up their easels in the lobby. The sale is free and open to the public.
Then, on Sunday, May 7 at 2 p.m. Ray E. Boomhower, the senior editor of Traces of Indiana, will be on hand to talk about Abe Martin and his creator, Irvingtonian Kin Hubbard. A former reporter, Boomhower is the author of numerous books on Indiana’s history. His presentation will follow a brief business meeting of the Irvington Historical Society.
The Irvington Historical Society’s current exhibit at the Bona Thompson Center is Kin Hubbard and His Friends, detailing the life and humor of Indiana’s favorite humorist, and an Irvington resident, Kin Hubbard. This exhibit includes materials recently acquired from a private collection.
For 26 years, the Ohio-born cartoonist, humorist, and journalist, Frank McKinney “Kin” Hubbard produced a new drawing and two humorous, but unrelated observations on everyday life for the Indianapolis News. His “Abe Martin” feature appeared six days a week. Hubbard may have lived in Irvington on the east side of Indianapolis, but Abe Martin is remembered as a Brown County resident, known for his folksy philosophy.
Hubbard’s cartoons were nationally syndicated in 1910, eventually appearing in some two hundred U.S. newspapers. The humorist Will Rogers, a close friend of Hubbard declared that he was “America’s greatest humorist”.
The Bona Thompson Center is located at 5350 University Ave. The museum is open Saturdays and Sundays from 1-4 p.m. Admission to the museum is free. Free parking is available on the street.
