Document text
40 °F 5 Day Forecast Tuesday, December 9, 2003 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | eSouthernOregon | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend November 28, 2003 Missing painting prompts plea The work, by a late Sams Valley artist, was among several stolen By BUFFY POLLOCK for the Mail Tribune A Sams Valley man who lost his wife to cancer two months ago is hoping someone will come forward with information about an oil painting she created that was stolen from Central Point City Hall a year ago. "It’s a really sad thing," said Melvin Kelly, a semi-retired barber. "We lost a beautiful painting, probably the best one she ever did. It’s a terrible thing somebody could steal it right out of City Hall." Glorene Kelly, known as "Tiny," died Sept. 16 at her home at the age of 68. She and Melvin had been married nearly 51 years. Advertisement "My regrets are that I did not do something when my wife lost the picture, when we found out that it disappeared," Melvin Kelly said. Tiny Kelly and a handful of friends from the Southern Oregon Society of Artists agreed to display their paintings at City Hall beginning sometime during late 1999 or early 2000. The artists exhibited their work on a rotating basis until last year, when City Hall reconfigured its offices during a renovation. The paintings were put in storage for safekeeping until the project’s completion and then placed back on exhibit. Sometime afterward, several pieces were stolen. Gone was Tiny Kelly’s best work, a wilderness scene of a lake with deer in the foreground and majestic peaks in the distance. Also gone was a frame valued at about $400 and a painting by Medford artist Carroll Summers. Summers said that while her painting was small and not as significant as the one created by her friend Tiny, she was frustrated by what she perceived as a lack of concern from city officials. "The painting was just a small one but it was the fact that it disappeared," said Summers. "I was told some lady came in after hours and told the police she was picking up her frame and they let her just walk out with it. When I found out they’d been taken and I went down there, they told me to talk to some lady who never returned any of myphone calls. "Of course, we did have to sign a waiver, but if they put them in a storage closet for safe keeping, well, you’d expect them to be available when they got things done." City recorder Deanna Gregory said the artists were required to sign waivers because of the possibility of exactly what happened. "After noticing that a few pictures were missing, we called the artists and told them and the incident was looked into by police," Gregory said. City police Wednesday said they investigated the incident but could not determine a specific time frame in which the theft occurred. Melvin Kelly said he was not bringing up the incident to cause hard feelings or complain. His only hope is that someone might know what happened to his wife’s painting and give it back to the family. "I know time’s gone by and I don’t know if it would do any good, but somewhere, someplace, somebody’s got that picture on the wall in their house and it just can’t mean as much to them as it does to our family," he said. "Tiny was big-hearted. She gave a lot of her paintings away but this one was just special. It’s like an heirloom to us. I’d try to give a little reward if that would get it back. No questions asked. I’d just like to get it back. It would just mean so much." Anyone with information about the painting can e-mail [email protected]. Buffy Pollock is a free-lance writer living in Medford.E-mail her at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! ADVERTISERS SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Real Estate Showcase Food for Thought Hike of the Week Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Openings Prime Times