One of the most valuable assets of the Broad Cove Church, which is fighting to keep ownership of its property in Cushing, is a painting done nearly 60 years ago by famed artist Andrew Wyeth.
That painting, a watercolor, is now part of the legal battle between the 170-year-old independent church and an international religious order, the New England Annual Conference of United Methodist Church Inc.
But despite the Wyeth name on the piece, Broad Cove Church Treasurer and Trustee Heidi Tucker said the monetary value of the painting is not what is most valuable about the painting. “It’s the sentimental value,” Tucker said. “It has a very important sentimental value to the congregation.”
In 1968, the church, which is not far from the Olson House where Wyeth often painted, was planning an addition that is now known as the Heritage Room. One of the members of the congregation, Jeannette Wales Chapman, was friends with Andrew Wyeth and asked him if he would draw a sketch of what the church would look like with the addition.
Wyeth did one better, by creating a watercolor painting of the church with the addition. He gave it as a gift to Chapman, a well-known member of the community, who then donated the painting to the church. It was hung in the front entrance, starting in 1968.
Chapman died in 2017 at the age of 90, and her obituary noted that she was a member of the church for 75 years. “She loved her little country church and joyfully spearheaded fundraising events such as the church summer and Christmas fairs, the Bean Hole Bean Supper, and building the church’s Heritage Room among many others throughout the years,” the obituary stated. Chapman died in the home that she was born in.
When the church’s insurance adjuster toured the church a few years ago, the company said it could not insure it any longer since it was not in a secure location. In the early 2000s, the painting was valued at $135,000. The church has not had a new value placed on the painting but Tucker said she expects it is more now as is often the case after an artist dies.
The Farnsworth Art Museum, in Rockland, agreed to keep the painting for the church and it is currently stored in a vault at the museum. It has been displayed at times, but as a work on paper it is sensitive to light, and it is standard for museums to keep such pieces stored away much of the time.
The fate of the painting was raised at a meeting the congregation held last week concerning its legal battle with the United Methodist Church.
The United Methodist Church is also asking the court to order the transfer of all the church property, including hymnal books and church history material to the Methodist Church.
This story appears through a media partnership with Midcoast Villager.
