Cat Barnstone Szafran presented an original Myron Barnstone painting, “Discovery,” as well as two additional prints as a gift to the Lehigh Valley Charter HS for the Arts at the Myron Barnstone: Master Student, Teacher & Artist exhibit last month.

The fact that one of his original paintings is now permanently returning to the Lehigh Valley, said Szafran, is exactly what her father would have wanted.

“Myron dedicated his life to his students,” Szafran said. “To see this new generation of young artists learning the necessary skills from Barnstone alumni at Charter Arts is perfect synchronicity.”

The school hosted the stunning exhibit for the past two months in its Corpora Gallery. Two Barnstone Studios alumni, Lorie Reinhard and Roger Brinker, are Charter Arts’ Director of Visual Art and Visual Art Faculty, respectively. Brinker, who also taught at Barnstone Studios, curated the Charter Arts exhibit that combines 38 Barnstone pieces, along with instructional posters that Brinker created.

Charter Arts’ Executive Director Diane LaBelle said she was grateful and moved by Szafran’s generous gift. “Thank you so much for this special gift, “ said LaBelle. “This is meaningful to us for so many reasons. Both Mr. Brinker and Ms. Reinhard were students of Mr. Barnstone, members of our alumni have studied with Mr. Barnstone and now the legacy will continue at Charter Arts. Current and future students will have these works to observe, study and learn from. This is a great honor for Charter Arts.”

Thousands of the late Barnstone’s alumni have gone on to distinguished careers in art-related fields and their works are in galleries and private collections literally around the globe. Some alumni traveled into Bethlehem from far and wide to attend Friday’s closing reception

In 1967, Myron Barnstone was the toast of Paris. “The Survivors” exhibit, with his passionate and haunting anti-war paintings and drawings, was extended several weeks at the Catacombs of the American Church in Paris. A classically trained artist himself, Barnstone first studied at the Boston School of Art and then the Ruskin School of Art at the University of Cambridge in England. He was growing increasingly frustrated that contemporary art schools abandoned the disciplined instruction of geometric design dubbed The Golden Section in favor of “what felt good.”

Despite his early acclaim, Barnstone made the decision to stop painting, and teach others the tools and techniques that were the foundation of his own success. Because he never wanted his work to unduly influence his students’ artistic vision, Barnstone burned hundreds of his own pieces and locked away another 500. His work would remain hidden, packed in crates until after his death in 2016 at the age of 83.

As part of the exhibit, Szafran also unveiled a compilation of drawings from Barnstone’s student sketchbooks during his studies at Ruskin School of Art, Cambridge, England, and other classes throughout the years. A limited-edition of the sketchbooks have been available for sale in addition to many of the Barnstone pieces on display.

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