Fate of James Fenimore Cooper murals rests with Westchester school board

Officials in a Westchester County high school say time is running out in a debate over the fate of eight murals depicting scenes from James Fenimore Cooper’s Leatherstocking novels that could be covered to make way for new learning space in the building.

Fenimore Art Museum President Paul D’Ambrosio told The Freeman’s Journal / Hometown Oneonta the gallery is a potential home for the paintings on the walls of Mamaroneck High School.

“It would be a shame if they were covered,” Mr. D’Ambrosio said, explaining the murals originated from 1930s-era Works Progress Administration art projects. The WPA hired artists from Yale University to create the murals as a nod toward James Fenimore Cooper’s time as a resident of Mamaroneck.

“They’re not amateur work,” he said. “They’re a strong part of local history.”

Otsego Lake is the setting for two of the murals; another shows Cooper in front of Otsego Hall.

Mr. D’Ambrosio said the Fenimore Art Museum discussed moving the murals but it could be expensive, adding, “And it’s not clear how expensive.”

He said, too, the Fenimore lacks space for a permanent exhibit of the Mamaroneck murals and is talking with the school district about the appropriate time needed to raise money and strategize next steps. With construction at the high school imminent, there is a feeling of urgency among those hoping to preserve the murals.

“There might be some flexibility there, but it doesn’t look like there’s a lot of time,” Mr. D’Ambrosio said.

Stephen Harthorn, editor of The James Fenimore Cooper Society Journal, sent a letter to the Mamaroneck Board of Education urging the panel to neither destroy nor cover the murals.