One of the founders of the Benton Harbor Arts District returns this Friday with a showing and sale of his paintings for this Friday’s Art Hop. Scott Elliot and his wife, Eileen Cropley moved to Benton Harbor from Chicago in 1985. With Scott’s expertise as an artist and gallery owner he opened the New Moon Gallery in 1997 (now home to the OutCenter of Southwest Michigan). His wife Eileen, a modern dancer with the Paul Taylor Dance Company in New York, founded the Citadel Dance Center in 1998. The couple spent decades establishing the Benton Harbor Arts District, founding a creative legacy that endures today.
Scott, along with Art Café owner Judy Jones, Richard Hunt and a handful of other artists staged the first Art Hop in the late 90’s drawing almost 1500 people to the area we now flock to for theater, art shows, fine dining, craft beer and live music. Back then however, the area was not a destination, and the group had to get creative to bring people to the event.
“There were so many myths about Benton Harbor that people wouldn’t come over the bridge. Now it’s a real destination for everyone. But there were people from St. Joe at this first art hop who told me they hadn’t come over the bridge in years,” recalls Scott.
Scott wanted to make the event a success, accessible and liven up the look of the street, so he went to St Joe and started talking to the Hot Dog cart owner. He thought a street vendor would open the streets as part of the event space.
“I asked him if he would be interested in setting up his cart in front of my gallery for the opening. When I told him where it was, he said there was no way he’d make enough money. But a few days later I saw a car slowly drive by the gallery and it was him in the car with his wife. He was impressed with all the things going on. He called me later and said he wanted to come but still wasn’t sure he would make enough money in that location. I asked him how many hot dogs he had to sell, he said 100. I guaranteed him he would sell that many. I figured I would buy them and eat them or freeze them,” laughs Scott. “Luckily, we had Roger Ebert, who had a home in Harbert. He was a friend and came to the opening. I don’t know how many hot dogs he ate, but it was a lot. It was almost as impressive as Babe Ruth getting carried off the field after binging too many hot dogs. Somewhere in my house I have a picture of Roger wearing his Hawaiian shirt with a hot dog in his hand at the first art hop.”
Elliott was born in Chicago where he studied at the Art Institute. He also attended the Art Students’ League of New York and studied scene design at the Yale School of Drama. While in New York, he painted miniature works for an exclusive boutique at the iconic Henri Bendel Department Store on 57th Street, where luminaries such as Frank Sinatra and Diane Keaton were frequent buyers of his paintings. In the 1970s Scott owned an art gallery in New York, and later in London and Chicago. He also specialized in selling drawings, furniture and architectural artifacts by the renowned American architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
His show this weekend will feature a long span of his artwork and feature subjects such as sunsets, sunrises, storms over Lake Michigan, country roads, farms, orchards, woodlands, rivers and streams, still-life and floral studies.
“I have a home studio that is overflowing with paintings. My friend Judy (Jones) and Kathy Catania came up with the idea of doing a show and Judy set up a gallery space her building,” says Scott. “I want buyers to find a treasure or two or three or four, that speaks to them and adds a little intrigue or beauty to their lives.”
The artwork will be available in a pop-up, weekend-long exhibit entitled, “HARVEST OF PAINTINGS” during the Benton Harbor Arts District’s Fall Art Hop, Friday, October 14, from 6-9 pm and continues Saturday and Sunday, October 15 and 16 from 11am-4pm both days. The venue is located at The Artists’ Lounge at 136 Territorial Road, Benton Harbor, MI (inside Ben’s Soft Pretzels). Purchases can be made with cash or check only. Light drinks and fare will be available opening night. To learn more about Fall Art Hop visit https://www.facebook.com/bentonharborarts/.
By Julee Laurent
MOTM Contributor
