There are two (possibly more, even) ways to preserve history with paint, and this month, we present these to you:
A. Preserve the Past with Paint, Method One:
The first method of preserving history with paint involves hydraulic lifts and ladders and professional house painters. Thanks to YOUR support, the Bidwell-Wood House, the oldest residence in Sarasota County, is getting its “spa treatment” to keep it going strong in its third century. This would not have been possible without your participation and donations, and the House and the Society thank you! Stop by soon and see how “young” we look with the repairs and paint job!
B: Preserve the Past with Paint, Method
Two:
The Light Chasers: Plein Air Painters of the Sun Coast preserved, with their artistic talents, the last net camp in Cortez. Every Thursday, these dedicated artists meet at a designated scenic spot, and since they are so attuned to the beauty and ambiance of our Gulf Coast, they sometimes make discoveries that they are moved to preserve… in paint. Here’s Terry Mason, President of Light Chasers:
I am so proud to announce that the Light Chasers: Plein Air Painters of the Sun Coast were instrumental in saving one of our most treasured iconic structures of the Gulf Coast of Florida.
A few of us were out painting at Cortez and we noticed a hole in the roof of the Net Camp in Cortez:
These Net Camps used to line the shore. This is the last one. It is an important icon for our fishing industry. If you know about construction and you know this is hurricane season you will understand that a hole this size is incredibly dangerous to the structure. It would be gone in a storm. Indeed, when Colin came through the hole got worse! Light Chasers painted the Net Camp last Thursday.
Now that’s another way to use paint to preserve history! Thanks to Lightchasers for permission to share their adventure (and rescue mission!) with the Historical Society.
Click the picture to read the article on The Islander’s web site.
Reporters were there! The article (and the full issue of the Islander) can be read here.
The Net Camp is owned by Star Fish: http://www.starfishcompany.com/starfishcompany/index-2.html
The Historical Society of Sarasota County 
Are these “historic” paintings on display somewhere? I’d love to see them. Thanks for these emails, they’re wonderful!
Thanks Nancy for the compliment! The painting used on this blog post from 2016 is probably long since found its new home. But if you’d like to learn more about Light Chasers, here’s their website: https://lightchasersinc.com/
A member of HSoSC who does wonderful paintings of local historic buildings, still extant and some lost, is Marlane Wurzbach. She’s a great suporter of us, and you can see her work at http://www.marlanewurzbach.com/
Thank you for the additional information, I’ll definitely check it out.
Can’t wait to tour the ‘new’ oldest house – Congratulations on continuing to preserve history in our community
The SRQPAP Plein Air Painters, sponsored by the Rennissance Art School in Sarasota, painted the DeMarcay Hotel circa 1922 and the Roth Cigar Factory circa 1929 this month before they are demolished.
The story was covered in the Herald Tribune. The paintings are on display this week at the Rennissance School of Art.
We paint every week on Wednesday and Saturday and we are very interested in painting historical buildings in Sarasota County.
We hope to meet with officers in the Historical Society to build a relationship for future painting locations.
Jim McDermott
SRQPAP Coordinator.
You make it look so easy, miss kate, to post these gorgeous photos and blogs…. I’ve been working for two days now, just trying to get started!!!