islands in river
eyed for development
Features include
islands in river
eyed for development
BY SHERRY CONOHAN
Staff Writer
CHRIS KELLY staff Brendan Flynn, chairman of the library commission, discusses the mural of Sea Bright in the 1930s behind him. The mural was donated to the borough’s public library. See story, pages 30,32.
SEA BRIGHT — Brendan Flynn happened to be in the Jay W. Ross Public Library when Karine Axelsen Budinsky stopped in with photographs of an 11 1/2-foot-wide mural her father had commissioned offering a bird’s-eye view of Sea Bright, circa 1934, that she and her family wanted to give to the borough.
Budinsky had gone to Borough Hall first to see whether there was interest in it there, but when told it could be placed in the Community Center, which has little traffic, she was not encouraged, according to Flynn. He said borough employees recommended she visit the library to see if it was more suitable, so she went there and was shown around by librarian Joan Walsh.
Flynn, the chairman of the borough’s Library Committee, said Walsh explained to Budinsky the high traffic flow through the library and cultural arts center on a monthly basis. She was interested.
"I was here when she came over," he recalled. "I right away said, we’ll do it. She said, ‘But you haven’t seen it.’ I said, we’ll do it."
The two minds quickly came to agreement and, after executing a contract, Flynn and three other heavy lifters went to Budinsky’s home in Oceanport to retrieve the watercolor mural, which is 3 1/2 feet tall, housed in a wood frame with a glass shield, and weighs more than 200 pounds."It was very difficult to move, but we did it," Flynn said on Monday as he gazed with glee at the art work which, for the moment, sits on the floor at the library. He said the committee plans to have it hung on the wall behind the circulation desk, easily visible to library visitors.
To celebrate the gift, the library is hosting a reception on Sunday, Aug. 1, from 2 to 4 p.m.
The mural, painted by artist Morris Shriver of Philadelphia, spans the coast from Brooklyn, N.Y., to Monmouth Beach and shows the New York skyline with Sea Bright in an exaggerated size.
Flynn said the mural was commissioned by Arthur Axelsen, a Sea Bright native and Budinsky’s father, who was tax assessor for the borough for many years as well as part owner of an insurance agency at 1058 Ocean Ave. He said the mural graced the walls of the agency until Axelsen’s death in 1963. Since then, he said, it has been in Budinsky’s garage.
"When Karine decided to move from the area, she thought it was time to find a new home for the mural," Flynn said. "The meeting [between him and Budinsky] took place in late February, but the mural did not arrive in its new home until June 20, after formal arrangements between the Axelsen family and the borough were completed."
Flynn said the contract calls for the mural to be kept on view in a public place and that the library would not dispose of it without telling her and giving her the opportunity to reclaim it.
Looming large in the painting are islands in the Shrewsbury River off Imbrie Place.
"Arthur Axelsen owned the islands," Flynn said, which are labeled Shrewsbury Islands on the mural. "It was his idea to develop it. But he fell on hard times and had to sell it."
Flynn pointed to how the letters were drawn identifying the various locations.
"I had an art dealer look at it," he related. "He said it was done by a sign painter. That’s how sign painters did lettering."
"He was thrilled to see it," Flynn added.
Flynn said the mural is unique for its size and scope — and the hope of one man.
"He had this done because he was forward-looking," he said of Axelsen.
Flynn said the mural is the gift of Axelsen’s children, who include, in addition to Budinsky, Williesa Axelsen Millen and Arthur Axelsen Jr., both of North Carolina.
The library has invited the community to join in celebrating the arrival of the mural at the reception Aug. 1 with the Axelsen sisters, at which time it will be officially unveiled.