The Meekins Library often appears in photographs of Williamsburg’s town center, but not very often in paintings. Hanging on the walls under the rotunda of the library are paintings by two late local artists, Greta Carey and Annabelle Adams Lee. Greta Carey (1910-2004), born Margrit Koeppel, in Switzerland, came to Williamsburg in 1967 with her husband Rollin. She was an accomplished artist and inspirational teacher, serving as president of the Williamsburg Brush & Palette Club. Carey’s painting takes an unusual perspective, showing the 1896 historic gray granite building with its large windows and green copper roof, from the side. The 1836 traditional white Williamsburg Congregational Church clock tower and gold dome tower over the library in the background. Life-long Haydenville resident Annabelle Adams Lee (1895-1973) takes a more traditional approach, portraying the Meekins Library face on, with the red granite pillars of the portico front and center. She added a lush green lawn and a colorful landscape of trees and shrubs surrounding the building and the front steps. She married Buckland-born engineer Walter H. Lee in 1910 and lived in a house they built off the Old Grass Hill Road. Annabelle painted many local scenes over the decades and is remembered for the jaunty, brightly colored tam-o-shanter she wore. Daria D’Arienzo, Meekins Archivist. #throwbackthursday; #tbt
Posted to Facebook 8/19/2021
