Artist keeps Lincoln visible in Gettysburg
President Abraham Lincoln spent barely more than one day in Gettysburg when he gave his famous speech in 1863. Yet, that was enough to make him a ubiquitous figure around the small Adams County town -- even almost 150 years after the biggest battle of the Civil War.
Wendy Allen, an artist originally from Mt. Lebanon, has dedicated her painting passion to the nation's 16th president. She spends much of the year in Gettysburg, painting oil-based Lincoln portraits in her new gallery, Lincoln Into Art. The gallery, in a Civil War-era house in the heart of Gettysburg's historic district, will be open Saturday (the 202nd anniversary of Lincoln's birth), and Feb. 19-21 for President's Day weekend, although the usual season runs April 9 to Dec. 24.
"He is universally appealing. He's so smart and true," Allen, 55, says of Lincoln. He is "a great American president (who) deserves our attention, always. He's such a great guy. He makes history relevant."
Visitors can come to the gallery to browse and look at Allen's Lincoln paintings -- named by numbers, such as the Lincoln No. 55 -- and watch Allen as she paints the historical face in a contemporary style, more with her fingers than with brushes. Allen's portraits -- averaging about 36 inches by 40 inches, and each unique -- are for sale, with the average price about $1,000 to $1,500.
"I like to have people come in and interact with me while I'm painting," she says.
Allen and her partner, Elaine Henderson, acquired the gallery in 2009, and opened it in March of last year. They alternate their time between Gettysburg and their home in New Milford, Conn., where Allen moved in 1968 after leaving Pittsburgh.
The paintings in the Lincoln Into Art gallery amaze people, says Henderson, 52.
"I've never been to a place where people come in and go, 'Wow,' " she says. "They walk in, and they've never seen anything like it, and they know they never will again.
"It's an amazing experience to come in and see her work," Henderson says about Allen's paintings. "They're so brilliant and so dynamic."
Allen knew she wanted to become a painter when she was 8 years old and fell in love with Andy Warhol's painting of a Campbell's Soup can, she says. She fell in love with Gettysburg later in life, and thought that it would be a great place for Civil War-themed art. Allen paints mostly Lincoln portraits, but also does some battle-themed landscapes.
Gettysburg, Allen says, is "the exact location of America's soul," with the turning-point battle that took place there on July 1 to 3, 1863 -- and the famous, healing Gettysburg address that Lincoln gave there four months later. Today, thousands of visitors come to Gettysburg again and again. Allen hears from many of the regulars at Lincoln Into Art.
"There's that magical element about Gettysburg, of the sacrifice and the tragedy and the ultimate healing," she says.
Carl Whitehill, spokesman for the Gettysburg Convention and Visitors Bureau, says that Lincoln alone draws many visitors to Gettysburg. Many foreigners know little about the battle that took place there, but they know Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, he says. Allen's art honors the president's legacy, he says.
"It's more than just painting pictures of Lincoln," Whitehill says. "It's really putting her heart and soul into it.
"She helps reinforce how important (Lincoln) is to this town," he says. "We're appreciative of what Wendy has done for Lincoln, and what she's done for Gettysburg."
