MIFA Victory Theatre will give a sneak preview of the restored Victory Theatre murals by WPA artist Vincent Maragliotti at Holyoke’s Wistariahurst Museum on Thursday, March 9, 2023, at 1:00 PM. For the first time since 2010 when they were removed from the theater, a newly restored section of the murals will be on display so the public can see the work that the conservators at EverGreene Architectural Arts, have done to date on finishing the complete murals for reinstallation in the renovated Victory. The mural section at Wistariahurst will be on view in a year-long exhibition as part of MIFA’s contribution to Holyoke’s 150th Anniversary Celebration.

 

The Victory murals were painted in 1942 by artist Vincent Maragliotti as part of the increasingly renowned WPA (Works Project Administration) program. The MIFA Wistariahurst mural exhibition includes information on Maragliotti, the restoration process, and the WPA. Onsite for the sneak preview will be members of EverGreene Architectural Art restoration team installing the exhibit as well as Museum Director Megan Seiler and MIFA’s Donald T. Sanders, Executive Artistic Director, and Kathy McKean, Managing Director, and Susan Palmer, Victory Theatre Project Manager. Visit www.wistariahurst.org for exhibition hours.

Vincent Maragliotti (1888-1978), noted Italian American New York artist of Maragliotti Studios, Grand Central Terminal Building, was hired to supervise the decorative treatment of the Victory Theatre’s interior after a January 26, 1942, fire. The two murals he painted are an integral historical part of the proscenium and the Victory’s stage surround and are recognized as such by the Massachusetts Historical Commission.

Maragliotti was known for his work in hotels and theaters throughout the Northeast USA. His murals are in the Copley Plaza Hotel in Boston, the Waldorf-Astoria and Biltmore Hotels, and the Strand, Roxy, Majestic, and Shubert theaters in New York City, and he was commissioned to paint murals in the Pennsylvania State Capital.

“Although he can “paint modern” when he has to, Mr. Maragliotti prefers mural work in a traditional style.” – New York Times, January 7, 1964, Page 31.