Painting of Stuart School

People

Date

Places

Material/Medium

Acrylic on chestnut board

Specifications

11 x 16 inches

Description

This painting of the two-room Stuart School building (near the Blue Ridge Parkway in the southwestern section of the county) was commissioned by Ada Harris Agee. The autumn scene is painted with acrylics on an 11 x 16 inch chestnut board, possibly taken from the building. The left and right edges of the board were left unpainted except for tree branches in the left foreground and lettering “Stuart School 1912-1955” in the lower right edge.

Details include the water pump and school bell (which was actually mounted on a post near the water pump). The back of the painting is plain.

Bio Sketch

Ada Harris and her sister Ida Harris Burnette were students here as well as being the last teachers before the community’s students were transferred to Willis Elementary (both teachers also transferred to Willis). After Ada Harris Agee’s death, her sister Freeda H. Rorrer gave the painting to Loretta Hylton whose mother Velma Recie Moran attended this school.

Notes

Stuart School was one of the last community schools operating in Floyd County before elementary schools were consolidated into the current four. The well was dug in 1951. Ada Harris’ father, Homer Harris, installed a telephone (ring was a long followed by three shorts) for school use the same year.