Fraser Fridays Archive

March 4 - June 3, 2022

presented by AdventHealth

March 4, 2022

We're excited to announce our first exhibition in our freshly-renovated galleries (once we re-open) will feature more than 30 oil paintings from our permanent collection.

This special Malcom Fraser Exhibit will be sponsored by AdventHealth. As we get closer to the Museum building re-opening, we felt now would be the perfect time to take a look back at both the art and the artist that started it all back in 1946.

March 11, 2022

This helmet is believed to be worn by artist Malcolm Fraser during World War I. The Montreal native volunteered for service in 1917, joining the French regiment, chasseurs alpins, informally known as “les Diables bleus” or the blue devils in English. This elite military unit had a reputation for their courage and skill in fighting on mountainous terrain.
Fraser later served as captain on the front lines, as zone commander with the American Red Cross, American Expeditionary Forces. During his time in the military, he was wounded five times at the French front and was awarded the several military decorations.

At the conclusion of World War I, Fraser returned to America to paint, teach and lecture on art. He resided in Brookhaven, NY, and Florida, where he painted portraits of guests at the Ormond Hotel and Henry Flagler-owned hotels. He amassed a collection of his personal work signifying that "Spirit is Life's Only Significant Reality.” Fraser offered that series to any museum along Florida’s East Coast, and Ormond Beach and her residents rose to the occasion! Local citizens, headed by Eileen Butts and Thomas Coyne, raised almost $10,000 to start an art museum that paid tribute to those who had served in World Wars I & II. The City of Ormond offered the land and small cottage, and the vision began to take shape. Many local servicemen who had recently returned from service in World War II volunteered an hour a week to help build the facility. Land was cleared, and four main galleries were built to house the collection, and the lush Memorial Gardens were begun. The Ormond War Memorial Art Gallery & Gardens were officially dedicated on December 29, 1946, and was renamed as the Ormond Memorial Art Museum & Gardens in 1987.

March 18, 2022

"The time is coming and coming rapidly when there will be no more war. With the barriers of distance disappearing with the introduction of our modern devices of fast transportation and easy communication must come an era of closer co-operation between men and countries. What was once labor is becoming an engrossing intellectual procedure calling each day for a better mental and spiritual development, more tender care, more love, an era of building. This is PEACE."

"Peace" is one of the 56 oil paintings in the Malcom Fraser permanent collection, which established our museum in 1946. The series includes work by the artist created during an almost 50-year span, with some pieces dating back to the late 1890s and early 1900s. The narrative description above appeared in the original catalogue and is in the artist's own words.

The public will be able to view this painting in person once again when our museum building re-opens as part of a special Malcom Fraser exhibition sponsored by AdventHealth Daytona Beach. It'll be the first show in OMAM's freshly-renovated galleries. Exhibit opening date is still TBD! #FraserFridays

March 25, 2022

Our Malcom Fraser Permanent Collection includes the original 56 oil paintings donated by the artist in 1946, along with five additional paintings of his that were donated by his wife, Mary Aldrich Fraser, in 1962. "The Spirit of Spring" is painting number 60 in our collection, and was one of four Fraser paintings that were featured in our very first pop-up window exhibit at 9 West Granada. The public will be able to view this painting in person once again as part of a special Malcom Fraser exhibition sponsored by AdventHealth Daytona Beach (May 16 - June 5, 2022).

April 1, 2022

Researching the Museum's archives on Malcolm Fraser, we discovered the artist has a pretty famous cousin: Jamie Fraser! Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat (1667-1747), was a Scottish Jacobite known as "The Fox." He's the (fictional) grandfather to Jamie and the (actual) fifth-great grandfather to Malcolm. The Frasers of Lovat are/were a real clan in the Scottish Highlands, and the Outlander series is based on a fictional branch of that family tree.
Researching the Museum's archives on Malcolm Fraser, we discovered the artist has a pretty famous cousin: Jamie Fraser!

Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat (1667-1747), was a Scottish Jacobite known as "The Fox." He's the (fictional) grandfather to Jamie and the (actual) fifth-great grandfather to Malcolm. The Frasers of Lovat are/were a real clan in the Scottish Highlands, and the Outlander series is based on a fictional branch of that family tree.

April 8, 2022

Malcolm first came to public attention as an artist at 18 when he was selected for the Black & White Exhibition at The Salmagundi Club in Greenwich Village, New York. The following year, he exhibited at the Society of American Artists’ exhibition. He had thus begun his career with substantial work when he set out for Paris to continue his art studies. In 1895, he graduated from the Sorbonne in Paris, and in the same year was awarded the title of Professor of Fine Arts by the City of Paris.

This framed, original oil painting by Malcolm Fraser is a favorite of OMAM Curator Kristin Heron. "Homeward" was added to our permanent collection in 1966 when it was donated by the Fawcett Family of Canton, Ohio. This piece was painted by Malcolm several years before he began his series of symbolic paintings that opened our museum in 1946. The public will once again be able to see "Homeward," in all of its #goldenhour glory, when our museum building reopens. The painting will be included in a special Malcolm Fraser exhibition sponsored by AdventHealth (May 16 - June 5, 2022). It'll be the first show in OMAM's freshly-renovated galleries!

April 15, 2022

Since this week's #FraserFriday falls on #GoodFriday, we thought it was a perfect opportunity to feature Malcom Fraser Permanent Collection painting #42, "The Builders." The narrative description below appeared in the original catalogue and is in the artist's own words.

"The monk has come to his work, a work he has loved till he too carries the “stigmata.” He faces the sunrise, thinks of the wonderful things others have done and is depressed in spirit. Yet he has done the one thing that can put more hope into the hearts of his fellow townsmen than anything else he could have done. He has carved them the image of The Christ blessing them even from His cross. Why then should we give in to these moments of despondency that come to all of us? We may have made a Christ, we cannot tell."

The public will be able to once again view this painting in person when our museum building re-opens. That exhibit, which is sponsored by AdventHealth, will be the first in OMAM's freshly-renovated galleries (May 16 - June 5, 2022).

April 22, 2022

In honor of both #FraserFriday and #EarthDay, we're highlighting the first painting of the Malcolm Fraser Permanent Collection, “The Waters Covered the Face of the Earth,” (oil, 27x21).

The narrative description below appeared in the original catalogue and is in the artist's own words.

"And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

And God said 'Let there be light,' and there was LIGHT."

The source of all LIGHT is also the source of all LIFE.

To have one's LIFE or SPIRIT illumined with

the LIGHT OF UNDERSTANDING is to be

in tune with the INFINITE.

April 29, 2022

This week’s #FraserFriday post is extra special! Yesterday, we saw the return of our beloved bronze peacocks made by sculptor Mary Aldrich Fraser in memory of her husband, Malcolm Fraser. The memorial was unveiled on March 5, 1950 during the dedication ceremony. This video starts with a few mementos from that day 72 years ago, followed by a time lapse showing the pretty patina peacocks being placed back in their pond. We are also SO VERY EXCITED to announce that our renovated museum building we will re-open to the public on May 16, 2022! That date will also be the official opening to our Malcolm Fraser Exhibit presented by AdventHealth Daytona Beach.

May 6, 2022

We've been so busy getting ready to reopen on May 16th that I almost forgot to post this very special #FraserFriday video made with the help of our very good friends at Frame of Mind! As we've mentioned before, artist Malcolm Fraser was a World War I veteran who served with the French regiment known as the Blue Devils. He was wounded five times at the front from explosions, trench knife, shrapnel and gas. As evidence of his own extensive military record, he was awarded the following decorations: The Verdun Medal, Legion of Honor, Croix de Guerre, Cross of Malta, Jerusalem Cross, Silver Star of Belgium, The Cross of Joan of Arc, and the ribbon of the French Hospital Service with three stars. He was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Alsace Lorraine Society. He had received the Congressional Medal of Honor for Life Saving by a special act of Congress in 1884. Fraser's WWI medals (now in a fresh new frame) and his helmet, along with many of his oil paintings from our permanent collection, will be on display for the public to view when we re-open in just 10 days! This special exhibit, which is sponsored by AdventHealth Daytona Beach, will be up through June 5th.

May 20, 2022

Check out these lovely tote bags provided by our wonderful exhibit sponsor, AdventHealth! More than 100 lucky visitors were able to take one of these commemorative bags home for FREE.

May 27, 2022

As we approach Memorial Day, we remember those in military who paid the ultimate sacrifice while fighting to protect our freedom. Our museum was founded in 1946 with a permanent collection of oil paintings from artist Malcolm Fraser, gifted with the agreement that an art museum would be created to pay tribute to veterans.

Painting #19: "The Soul Escaping Death"

He has fallen on the battlefield, Death pounces upon him, something glides by, Death clutches at that something and finds in his hand only the “golden scarf of reputation,” something has escaped the clutches of Death’s grasp. It is the Soul or Spirit.
Death can claim our bodies and in time obliterate all memory of our achievements, but cannot claim our Soul.
The Soul or Spirit leaves the physical body which was its temporary abode, and it rises to where many hands are outstretched in welcome.

June 3, 2022

For the final #FraserFriday post during our Malcom Fraser Exhibit run (May 16 - June 5, presented by our friends at AdventHealth Daytona Beach), we are highlighting painting number 17 in our collection. The narrative description below appeared in the original catalogue and is in the artist's own words.

Painting #17: "He Leadeth Me Beside the Still Waters"

Suggesting that state of perfect peace and harmony or Kingdom of Heaven Consciousness. World Peace–about which millions are talking and for which millions are praying for God to bring about in some mysterious manner, will never be a reality until individuals realize fully that it must start with them.

God or Spirit is the great creative or constructive Agent while physical man is the destructive agent. When man finally realizes that he must work in harmony with God’s unchanging laws, then and only then, can he truthfully say: “He leadeth me beside the still water,” and the message He whispers to my soul or Spirit is: “My peace I give unto you.”