FLORENCE-The Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts is pleased to present “Once Upon a Time”, a collection of 1920s watercolors by artist and Tuscumbia native, L. Vasser Elam. This exhibit features 23 paintings of sunlit, rolling hills and young neighborhood views of Tuscumbia’s earlier years. On temporary loan from a private collector, these nostalgic scenes offer a glimpse into the past as seen through the eyes of this nationally accomplished, but almost locally unknown, fine artist. Additionally, on loan from the Helen Keller Library’s permanent collection, is an oil portrait by the artist depicting his mother sewing by a sunny window. “Once Upon a Time” will open on August 31st and continue through October 10, 2025.
Louis Vasser Elam was born in 1890 in Tuscumbia, Alabama to William T. Elam and Martha A. Hicks. Martha had grown up in Tuscumbia with her family who were longtime members of the community and active parishioners of St. John’s Episcopal Church. While Vasser’s parents would move to Boque Chitto and later Iuka, MS, they often visited his Tuscumbia grandparents, D.W. and Sarah Hicks, with whom he stayed on occasion to attend school. He excelled in his studies and, with an inclination for the arts, his education would continue and take him far from home.
By 1910, at the age of 20, he had already been a student of two years at the Chicago Institute of Art (in later years he also attended the Art Students League, New York). In 1911 he was employed by Gene Cox Scenic Painting Co., of Chicago, as an artist painting scenery and set designs for opera houses and theatres across the country.
In 1917, his draft registration card shows him living in New York and employed by Goldwyn Pictures Corp., of Fort Lee, NJ as an “Architect and Painter of motion pictures and stage scenery”. He enlisted during this time as an artist with the aviation corps and traveled back home that spring to visit family while waiting to be called into service.
Vasser was eventually assigned, along with 200 others, to work in camouflage by the U.S. government. During this training he received a special compliment from President Wilson. By that fall, he was promoted to head of the Camouflage Company F 25th Engineers stationed at the American University in Washington, D.C. From here, they prepared to go to France and work with the French artists who excelled at that time in the art of camouflage. By 1918, he was transferred to France.
In letters to his mother, and in a presentation he later gave at her local women’s club upon his return from overseas, Vasser describes his experiences doing camouflage work, learning French, and how lovely he found the countryside–he especially enjoyed Paris and the art museums (at least those that weren’t closed due to the war)! He said he hoped to return someday to visit the Louvre. His time overseas, however, was cut short due to the passing of his older brother. With this sad news, and both an ill father and grandfather at home, he was honorably discharged from the service a year later to return home to his family.
He eventually moved back to New York where he continued to be active in the local art scene. In 1927, he was one of four artists whose design was chosen in a nationwide poster competition for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Centenary exhibition. His artwork depicted the visualization of the100-year span of the development of the railroads and was distributed across the country. He was then employed by Messmore & Damon, Inc. of New York (known for creating the first Macy’s Day Parade floats) as a consultant and designer of float and pageant events. All the while, he continued to pursue his own artistic interests and exhibited with local Bronx and Long Island art guilds.
Due to health reasons though, he would move to Phoenix, Arizona where he continued to pursue his art and immersed himself in the Southwest art community. After the death of his father, his mother also moved to Arizona. He became an active member of local art guilds here and exhibited regularly in annual shows and prestigious Phoenix exhibitions. Vasser had a one-man exhibit of his work in portraiture, still and animal life, mural and imaginative painting. One of the organizers, Mr. Odd S. Halseth, commented that, “Mr. Elam has become a disciple of the Southwest” and describes how four portraits of his mother, painted over an eight-year span, “testify to his love for both his mother and his art”.
Vasser would move to Los Angeles for a few years to paint with artist S. McDonald Wright to learn more about his art movement, “Synchromism”. Meanwhile, he maintained his Phoenix connections and continued to show his work in the Arizona art community. Lastly, he would reside in Monterey, California with his wife Florence where, in 1957, he passed away. He was buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Tuscumbia, AL.
Watercolors, paintings, and prints depicting landscapes and portraits have come up for auction over the years and have shown the wide range of artwork L. Vasser Elam produced throughout his lifetime. “Once Upon a Time” will be on display through Oct. 10, 2025.
Media Release/Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts
