Artwork by Fred Starr's mom, 100, in show

by KATHLEEN WILLBOND

News-Tribune editor

Remember Fred Starr, the saxophone-playing president of Oberlin College for 11 years from 1983 to 1994, before Marvin Krislov and Nancy Dye?

How about his mom, Ivy Jane Edmonson Starr? She's 100 years old and a resident of Pennswood in Pennsylvania, the model for Kendal at Princeton, which beget Kendal at Oberlin, during Fred Starr's tenure as OC president.

Her ancestors were among the founders of the Quaker movement in the 17th century in Pennsylvania, and apparently good artists as well.

Works by Ivy Starr -- born in 1909 -- and several of her more recent ancestors are on display at the Beck Center for the Arts. The Cleveland Artists Foundation is hosting "Art in the Veins: The Legacy of the Edmondson Family in Cleveland," now through Aug. 1 at the Beck Center.

The exhibit features work by northeast Ohio artists, photographer and painter George William Edmondson (1837-1913), photographer George Mountain Edmondson (1866-1948), painter William John Edmondson (1868-1966), and painter and sculptor Ivy Jane Edmondson Starr. A reception at the facility is planned for Saturday, July 11, from 1-4.

According to Fred Starr, the Edmondson family, from Plymouth, has connections to Norwalk, Amherst, Oberlin and the Cleveland area. His mother did a portrait of John Mercer Langston that hangs in the Cox Administration building on the Oberlin College campus. He also commissioned her to paint his portrait while he was college president.

She also painted a large work of Illumination Night and watercolors of some 20 Oberlin houses. Ivy Starr made a major donation of her works and works by other members of her family to the Cleveland Artists Foundation.

Though 100 years old, Fred Starr said last week his mother Ivy's "mind is as vigorous and lively as ever, even though her physical mobility has decreased."

Fred Starr continues to direct the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, which is at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington.

The Institute has established a partner institution or branch in Stockholm, publishes many books and analyses, advises governments, and issues cacianalyst.org and turkeyanalyst.org.

He said he is working on a major book on Central Asia in the 8-11th centuries, and continues to perform with the Louisiana Repertory Jazz Ensemble of New Orleans, which he founded. They perform at Chautauqua in New York on July 8.

More information about the Beck Center exhibit can be found at www.clevelandartists.org or by calling 216-227-9507.