Luncheon, presentation bring 'family, art and inspiration' to ESU

Sal McCloskey, daughter of author and artist Robert McCloskey, visited Emporia State to hold a presentation entitled “Family, Art and Inspiration on Scott’s Island,” from 12-2 p.m. Tuesday in the Sauder Alumni Center and was hosted by university archives.

“It went very well,” said Heather Wade of ESU archives. “We had people there from the community and three visitors from Wichita who came hours early.”

After a lunch, groups of library faculty and other attendees mingled and took the opportunity to visit with the guest speaker.

At 1 p.m., a few additional visitors arrived and President Michael Lane introduced McCloskey. Lane said that McCloskey is from an island in Maine and is self employed.

Her father, Robert McCloskey, is known for “Make Way for Ducklings” and other children’s books. According to Lane, it was McCloskey’s last wish that his daughter come to ESU and learn about the May Massee collection in the campus archives.

According to McCloskey, Massee was one of her leading role models. She said that Massee was the core to her being and a great model of a professional woman. In the introduction to her speech, McCloskey spoke about her experience of coming to visit the collection the previous night.

The act of walking into Massee’s recreated office instantly brought McCloskey back to her childhood. When she was six, she would often visit Massee with her father. During her visits, Massee took McCloskey into her life and attentively listened to the trivial woes of a small girl.

During Robert McCloskey’s first interview with Massee, he received valuable advice. After he handed his portfolio to Massee, she told him, “Do what you know.” This advise sent him on a new mission. His following works often dealt with what he was familiar with: his family and home.

This narrative introduced the next part of McCloskey’s presentation, which focused on her father’s inspirations on Scott’s Island. To connect with the audience of about thirty, McCloskey used a projector to display many images, photos, and her father’s works.

As family photos flashed across the screen, McCloskey described her childhood and relatives. Many images were of the Maine islands they called home and of the inspiring landscape and water scenery. McCloskey also displayed many of her father’s private artistic pieces, which had never been shown to the public.

McCloskey’s presentation focused on answering two commonly asked questions: “where are you from?” and “what do you do on an island?” To answer these, she used her sense of humor to describe Maine and its climate. McCloskey also explained the chores the family took part in around Scott’s Island. The family kept busy doing laundry, gardening, working in the wood pile and hauling seaweed.

Next, McCloskey discussed what it was like for her and her sister Jane to have an artist and author as a father.

“Jane and I had a father who was at home, unlike most fathers,” McCloskey said.

Since Robert McCloskey was able to be at home on the island, he was able to spend a great deal of time with his wife and two daughters. McCloskey said that they “horsed around all the time,” built sandcastles and went on picnics. She displayed some of her father’s works that depicted these occasions.

As McCloskey concluded her presentation, the audience was interested in gaining further information about her father as an artist. McCloskey then projected more slides of unseen artwork and answered questions posed by audience members.

The idea for archives to host McCloskey’s presentation was introduced last May when Wade met McCloskey at an event to honor her father’s collection.

According to Wade, The May Massee collection is one of five major collections currently located in the archives. Massee was an editor for Viking Press in New York City. Her collection contains original manuscripts and artwork from over 50 authors, including most of Robert McCloskey’s work, which he donated in the 1960s. Wade said that anyone is welcome to view the collection during the archive’s business hours.