Rescued, restored metal piece is centerpiece of Grove City art show

Jul. 30—GROVE CITY — A large piece of aluminum artwork created by Arthur Armour in the 1950s for a Sharon tavern has found a new home after an extensive restoration by his son.

"It will be kept for generations going forward," Tom Armour said of the "Stag and Doe."

Named for the Stag and Doe tavern at 75 W. State St. in downtown Sharon, the octagon-shaped piece measures 4 feet by 4 feet and is the featured exhibit at an art show being hosted by the Grove City Area Historical Society and Museum.

The show is set for 1 to 4 p.m. Aug. 6 at the museum, 111 College Ave., Grove City. There will be more than 150 works of art from local artists Lillian Reeher, Jim Myford, Maude Winder, William Bovard, Charles Elliott Jr. and Margaret Williams.

Music and light refreshments will be provided, and selected pieces of art will be for sale.

Historical society members including Tom Armour and Mary Ann Collins are looking forward to the event. It will also showcase renovations that were recently completed in several parts of the building, which was originally the Travelers Hotel.

The entry room has new carpet and paint plus two more Heritage Trees on the wall and a Grove City-themed collage painted in 1961 by Leon Rayl.

The first tree was painted in 2017 by Reeher as a way to raise money for the organization, and the latest trees were done by Barb Mullett, who also painted the walls, Collins said.

Donors purchase metal leaves made by Wendell August Forge; they are then displayed on the tree along with their names.

That fundraiser has done so well that the museum had to add more branches, Collins said, adding that the money is being put toward a new roof.

But the main focus of that room is the "Stag and Doe," which is flanked by four smaller pieces made by the late Arthur Armour, known for his metal artistry.

Arthur Armour worked for Wendell August before striking out on his own, and his son is dedicated to carrying on his legacy.

The museum's basement features a room with metal giftware from Arthur Armour and Wendell August, and next to that is Tom Armour's workspace, a photo of his father working in his own shop propped up on the table.

He has been working for several years on a grant-funded project to catalog, digitize and preserve his father's work. That includes the elder Armour's workshop in Grove City, which Tom Armour maintains.

He didn't know much about the "Stag and Doe" at first, but he's come to learn that it has had quite the journey.

The tavern commissioned his father to make the piece, which hung on the wall behind the bar. Tom Armour tracked down some matchbooks from the tavern that show the bar and the "Stag and Doe;" he bought several from eBay.

Sometime after the tavern closed, the late Bill Knecht saw the piece at an auction and bought it. He ran Wendell August for years, followed by his son Will Knecht.

For years the piece hung in the reception area at Wendell August Forge's facility on Madison Avenue in Grove City.

In 2010, Wendell August burned to the ground after an accidental fire started when a spark in a paint booth ignited some lacquer, and the shop's fire suppression unit didn't work.

When Tom Armour learned that Wendell August was on fire, he thought about the "Stag and Doe" and headed to Madison Avenue, where he saw a corner of the piece sticking out of the rubble.

He called attention to it before it was damaged by an excavator, and a firefighter was able to pull it from the ashes.

There was a deep gouge across the top, and it was covered in soot and bent in places. Will Knecht agreed to have Tom Armour restore it.

Using the skills he learned from his father, Tom Armour — who also had a family medical practice in the Shenango Valley — spent about four years off and on restoring the piece.

It took a lot of patience and attention to detail to remove and replace the inlaid parts like the stag and doe, and he couldn't exactly figure out how his father was able to hide the rivets so well.

Tom Armour was able to hide the gouge by hammering and sanding the metal; it's no longer visible.

He also used tools and rivets from his father's shop and coal tar, wax, steel wool to complete the project. His wife Lois was a big help.

It was a tedious process that ended in 2014, but he is very happy with how it turned out.

It was displayed at Wendell August's own museum at its Springfield Township store and factory, which opened in 2013, until recently, when Christian Werner, the forge's chief executive officer, gifted it to the historical society.

"I'm happy to share it with everybody," Tom Armour said, adding that his granddaughter even took some wedding photos with the "Stag and Doe."

His father really enjoyed metal work, and the Grove City area is fortunate to have resources like the historical society to help preserve these kinds of stories, he said.

Info: Visit grovecityhistoricalsociety.org or the Facebook page, or call 724-458-1798. To receive a digital copy of the newsletter, email gcahs@zoominternet.net