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Who
was Stanley R. Wright?
He
was born in a log house in Breezewood, PA on July 4, 1901 the fourth
of eight children to Lewis E. Wright, Jr. and Mary Thomas Wright.
He died at the age of seventy-four on February 10, 1976.
During his lifetime he
received less than one year of formal education. When he was twelve
years old his father died. His mother, unable to sustain the family,
indentured him to another family where he worked for his keep.
Later he drove horse
and mule teams in logging camps, in the coal mines and eventually
a milk wagon for the Sanitary Dairy in Johnston, PA. After twenty
odd years he rose to the position of Credit Manager. An accident
in which his hip was broken forced him into retirement after thirty
years of service.
Although he had little
to give he did so willingly. His heroes were Andrew Carnegie and
Andrew Mellon. He was enormously impressed, not by their wealth,
but by their generosity. He spoke of it often.
His own generosity was
private in nature and rarely did he mention it. When he did, I was
his only audience. He was a compassionate man. During World War
II, when food was rationed, he made it a point to see that on his
route, no woman with children went without milk and butter. If they
could not afford it he would either pay for it out of his own pocket
or bring them day-old products that legally were supposed to have
been discarded.
It is to honor the memory
of my father that I have created this foundation.
Robert
E. Wright
Robert
E. Wright began his career in 1942 while still in high school. During
these years he worked as a freelance sign painter, cameraman for
a newspaper engraving shop and show card writer for a grocery chain.
After finishing high
school he apprenticed with the Chevrolet Chart & Art Dept. of
Detroit. He then served as a department store display artist preceding
entry into the School of Illustration and Design at Rochester Institute
of Technology in Rochester, N.Y.
After graduating from
R.I.T., he worked as a staff artist with a lithographic firm and
following this as an art director/illustrator for a commercial studio.
As his reputation spread he was able to begin a free-lance career,
which lasted until 1966. He then opened a full-service studio which
grew to be the largest in New York State outside of Buffalo and
New York City.
The studio's client base
became nationwide. An audio/visual division opened in Dallas, TX.
A phototypesetting house as well as a film processing service were
opened in Rochester. Visit Bob
Wright Creative.
The pressure of the studio
kept him from his easel for twenty years. He retired early and moved
west to Sedona, AZ to pursue his love of landscape painting. Visit
Bob Wright Fine Art
to view paintings.
"It has long been
my belief that the primary purpose of Art, in any of its various
forms, is to enhance the quality of life. I recall a quote from
George Bernard Shaw that goes something like this 'You use a mirror
of glass to see your face, you use works of art to see your soul'.
If through art, or this foundation, I am able to help one person
get a glimpse of their soul I will consider my lifetime of work
a resounding success".
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