Points for Patriots Presents
Painting Patriots
In Honor of the Anniversary of 9/11
Spring Lake, NJ | 5-7pm | September 20
Featuring Bill Melvin, Aviation Artist
Wine | Cheese | Art Show | Patriotism
Kelly-McKenna Gallery
1308 3rd Ave #1A, Spring Lake, NJ 07762
Buy Tickets Here:
Featured Artist Bill Melvin
Bill Melvin, Professional Illustrator
William (“Bill”) Melvin, Jr. was born on July 15, 1929 in Cincinnati, Ohio. When he was young, he and his father, William Melvin, Sr., a paint and ladder merchant, made an annual pilgrimage to the Cleveland Air Races. It was the Golden Age of Aviation. Flying aces like Glenn Curtiss, Roscoe Turner, Wiley Post and Amelia Earhart were the rock stars of the day. Bill developed a lifelong fascination with aircraft and aviation. Too young to go off to war, he began drawing airplanes and war scenes, and building model planes.
After graduating from Withrow High School in 1947, Bill attended Cincinnati’s Central Art Academy, with a concentration on commercial art. He got his first job at 18 as an office boy at a local ad agency, where he was later promoted to the art department. In total, he spent 45 years in packaging design and lettering at various commercial art studios in his hometown. A master at the drawing board, he retired when computer graphics became the norm. Not long after, he returned to his early passion for aviation art. Since 2007, he has completed 307 watercolors of aircraft--he is currently working on #308. He is a member of the American Society of Aviation Artists.
He has had numerous showings at galleries and most recently at the Yonkers Public Library
Bill is twice a widower after marriages of 16½ and 50 years, and has five children, seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. He spent 25 years umpiring softball leagues before retiring from the game at age 86. After spending all of his first 91 years in Cincinnati, he moved to Westchester County in October of 2020 to live with his daughter Susan Thaler and her husband, Dan. After a couple of years his daughter, Nancy and son-in-law, Michael traded him with Susan every 3 months in Spring Lake,NJ.
He recently moved to Yorktown Heights Assisted living in Cortlandt Manor, NY where he still has his drawing board and art supplies set up in his apartment.
He will be having an art show in May 2025 with another artist at his residence.
He will be 96 in July with no sign of slowing down!
Ways to Get There
Consider driving: from NYC, 60 minutes.
Consider the ferry: from NYC to Highlands, NJ: 50 minutes, 30-minute Uber ride to the gallery.
Consider the train: from NYC, two hours, 14-minute walk to the gallery.