Sealed
bids will be taken by the New Richmond Exempted Village School District
treasurer until noon on April 5 for the historic Lion’s Den painting at the New
Richmond High School gymnasium.
The 10-foot
by 20-foot thin plywood-over-wood frame painting of a leaping lion will be
taken down by the district maintenance staff Monday, March 25 and stored. Bids
should be delivered or mailed to the NREVSD Treasurer, 212 Market Street, New
Richmond, Ohio 45157.
The Lion’s
Den was painted by New Richmond resident Reed Ulrey, whose son Bill Ulrey
attended New Richmond High School, and went up in the old Market Street Fieldhouse
during the 1954-55 basketball season, Bill Ulrey's sophomore year. Both Mr.
Ulrey and his son Bill are deceased. It was moved to the current high school in
1973.
The
painting deteriorated and dry-rotted to the point and was deemed not to be feasible
to renovate.
 |
| Artist Brad Litz |
However,
the image that Mr. Ulrey created to symbolize the fighting spirit of New Richmond
High School will live on in a new painting by Brad Litz, a former New Richmond
resident who lives in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Mr.
Litz, son of former New Richmond resident Donna Prebble Litz and nephew of
former New Richmond Sports Foundation president Lana Prebble Silcott, was
commissioned by the Board of Education at its March 18 meeting to re-create the
Lion’s Den painting at no cost to the district. Mr. Litz is giving the NREVSD common-law
copyright to this work, including all reproduction rights and the right to
claim statutory copyright.
“I
am honored to do this on behalf of so many family members and friends that have
called New Richmond home,” said Litz, whose art portfolio can been viewed at http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/bradley-litz.html.
Mr. Litz was a boyhood friend of current Board of Education president Kevin
Walriven and former Board president David Painter.
 |
| One of Mr. Litz's paintings. |
The
dimensions of the new painting will be 16’
X 8’ on hardboard Masonite using Acrylic paint which Litz believes will
provide long life in a gymnasium setting. The only cost to the district will be
for shipping and hanging. Supt. Adam Bird said Litz was under no deadline to
complete the painting but hopes to have it ready by the start of the 2013
volleyball season.
The current Lion’s
Den painting also will live on in digital format. Mike White, a 1982 New
Richmond High School graduate and local graphic artist, is digitally restoring
the painting for historic archiving or use as a banner image.
