North Stamford artist is famously unknown
DAUGHTER CREATES FOUNDATION TO EDUCATE PUBLIC ON MOTHER’S ARTISTIC CONTRIBUTIONS
Louise Meière Dunn had a good answer for an IRS employee asking about a nonprofit organization she was creating to promote the legacy of her artist mother.
Louise told him anyone living in Washington, D.C., who needs a driver’s license has to go to the Municipal Center, where they’ll see an 80-foot-long outdoor frieze designed by Hildreth Meière, a mural painter, architectural decorator and Dunn’s mother.
She noted Meière’s artistic work also is prominently displayed at the National Cathedral and National Academy of Sciences in Washington.
The organization’s application for nonprofit designation was soon approved. “I will never forget that phone call,” Louise said.
The Stamford-based International Hildreth Meière Association, formed in 2005, highlights Meiere’s accomplishments through a website, lectures, articles, social media, written and photographic archives, preservation support and other activities. A future goal is to make a onehour documentary about Meière.
Louise serves as the group’s president, while her daughter, Hildreth Meière Dunn, known as Hilly, is vice president. Both live in Stamford. A board of directors and an advisory board provide guidance.
Meière, who lived from 1892 to 1961, is perhaps best known for the three “Dance, Drama, Song” circular relief sculptures on the 50th Street facade of Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan.
She completed more than 100 commissions in her lifetime for government entities, businesses, universities, museums, Catholic churches, other religious institutions and private residences. They appear on building walls and ceilings throughout the United States.
The Nebraska State Capitol and St. Bartholomew’s Church, Temple Emanu-El and the One Wall Street bank building, all in New York City, feature some of her more prominent compositions. So do Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick’s Cathedral and the Metropolitan Opera.
Meière did designs for buildings at the 1939 World’s Fair.
Her most noted work in Connecticut is a lobby wall mosaic at the Travelers Insurance Co. headquarters in Hartford. She completed altarpieces, murals and sculptures for churches including Sacred Heart in Greenwich, Assumption in Westport, Episcopal of St. Paul and St. James in New Haven, as well as St. Joseph’s in Canaan and St. Anthony of Padua in Litchfield.
Fairfield University hosted a 2019 exhibit on Meière’s work focusing on her corporate commissions in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey. Previously, she was the subject of a major show at St. Bonaventure University that then moved to Washington, D.C., and New York City.
Meière primarily lived in New York, working out of a midtown Manhattan studio. She owned a weekend and summer home on Erskine Road in North Stamford in her later years.
According to the association, Meière “pioneered a modern approach to murals that broke away from academic tradition,” blending varied influences and demonstrating a “willingness to explore new materials.”
A 2014 book, “The Art Deco Murals of Hildreth Meière,” called her ”an unsung hero of Art Deco art and architecture,” whose work “helped revolutionize 20th century architectural decoration art.”
One of the book’s co-authors, art and architectural historian Kathleen Skolnik, said Meière was extremely versatile in style and subject matter. She worked in many mediums — including glass and marble mosaic, tile, terra cotta, tapestry, leather, wood, metal and paint — and collaborated well with clients.
Louise first decided to form the nonprofit association to highlight her mother after being urged to do so by someone who heard her speak about Meière’s accomplishments at a 2003 conference.
A few years later, Louise gave another talk on her mom at an Art Deco Society conference. Audience members weren’t familiar with Meière.
Skolnik was in the audience that day and had just seen Meière’s glazed tile frieze at the Washington Municipal Center during a pre-conference tour, but still knew little about her.
“I felt this woman was calling to me and that she needs to have more recognition,” she said of Meière. Skolnik’s interest led her to write her book on Meière’s career.
Meière also was a female pioneer in a male-dominated field, although she wasn’t one to emphasize her gender. “She knew the challenges women faced because she faced them herself,” Skolnik said.
She worked well with male architects, contractors and craftsmen. “She often was the only woman on a project,” said greatgranddaughter and association board member Anna Kupic.
Hilly said Meière was sure to always credit the craftsmen who turned her designs into reality.
Kupic said Meière had the ability to adjust projects due to economic circumstances, client wishes or other reasons, and didn’t promote herself to achieve fame.
“She did the work because she wanted to be part of buildings in perpetuity,” she said.
Meière served as a Naval architectural draftsman during World War I, acquiring many technical skills, and directed an artists committee supporting World War II efforts.
Considered an astute businessperson, she was active with many professional, academic and arts organizations. She founded and led the Liturgical Arts Society, headed the Mural Painters Society and was the first woman appointed to the New York City Art Commission.
She obtained a leadership position at the Architectural League of New York three years after it began allowing women as members. Many commissions were secured through her Architectural League involvement.
Despite her achievements, Meière isn’t a household name primarily because architects and buildings usually receive the most attention. Plus, Skolnik said, architectural styles changed to emphasize minimalism rather than ornamental design.
For more information, visit hildrethmeiere.org.
MANY DON’T KNOW HER NAME, BUT THEY MIGHT RECOGNIZE HILDRETH MEIÈRE’S DESIGNS ON SOME OF THE COUNTRY’S FAMOUS BUILDINGS, LIKE RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL.