Commentary: Even in divisive times, there’s one thing everyone can agree on: The unifying power of art. Selecting and organizing the parts of a subject to make them a unified whole was a key to the life’s work of El Paso artist Tom Lea.
“Tom Lea was interested in every part of his subject, drawing inspiration from Leonardo da Vinci’s quote - that he recorded in one of his notebooks - ‘Every part is disposed to unite with the whole, that it may thereby escape from its own incompleteness.’ Tom Lea strove for that in everything he did,” says First Lady Adair Margo.
Lea’s work as a WWII war art correspondent for TIME Magazine gave him opportunities to study and paint admirals, but he often preferred to spend his time in the hulls of ships, learning about the lives of the people sweeping and carrying on with the unsung work of life at sea.
“The lowest ranked sailors on the ship would end up asking him to eat with them in their mess. Higher ranked officers admired him, too. Tom Lea strove with all his might to be a voice for others during World War II, and he was,“ says Margo.
Lea’s approach to art would be largely forgotten by history after his death in 2001, if not for Adair Margo’s efforts. In March, The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution presented Margo with the prestigious Historic Preservation Medal on March 22, not only for preserving Tom Lea’s art and writing, but his legacy.
Margo was nominated by the El Paso Stoddert-del Norte Chapter of the NSDAR. Margo, a personal friend of Lea, founded the Tom Lea Institute in downtown El Paso in 2009 to give future generations an appreciation for his contributions.
“Young people long for authenticity and a way to contribute.Tom Lea is a great model of using his skills as an artist to communicate experiences in life in a timeless way. I’ve never met a person more fully alive,” says Margo. “He had a reverence for life and was not self-centered. He also had a character worth emulating.”
About The Tom Lea Institute: Founded in 2009, The Tom Lea Institute is located in downtown El Paso. It is a non-profit organization created to engender an appreciation of the art, character, and legacy of Tom Lea through curricula, public programs, exhibits, and publications - all of which have led to the preservation of his work. The institute recently launched a stunning redesign of its website, www.tomlea.com, to provide visitors, art lovers, and history buffs with enhanced access to the story and work of Tom Lea.