Martha's vineyard art association

Founded in 1954, it is located on Martha's Vineyard at Edgartown, Massachusetts at what is now known as the Old Sculpin Gallery. Painter Ruth Appledoorn Mead (1894-1994) was the moving force behind organizing the MVAA. From 1933, she and several friends began gathering regularly to paint by an Edgartown shack, which was across the street from the boat-building shop of Manuel Swartz Roberts. At first they had no thought of exhibiting their work, but when Manuel Roberts offered to sell them his building for several thousand dollars, Mead spearheaded the purchase and the organizing into an exhibition Association. Material provided by the Old Sculpin Gallery in 2005 states that "Ruth Mead's teaching, lively paintings, and her vision and leadership set a high standard for the arts on the Vineyard that continues with the work of the Martha's Vineyard Art Association today." Source: Scott Wilder, art researcher.