Adrian J. Dornbush, The Coral Isle of Key West.
In 1933 the city of Key West was bankrupt. Federal and state officials were attempting to revive the city as a tourist center. It was hoped that artists, creating public art, along with the effort of local citizens to clean up the city, would revive the economy. From Des Moines Iowa, Adrian Dornbush was hired by the Florida Emergency Relief Administration and the Key West Art Program, as the first director of the program. He remained as director until May 1935 when he was called to Washington to serve as an Advisor on Cultural Interests, in the Rural Resettlement Administration. In Key West, Dornbush left two murals, five by 12 feet, at WIOD, the Key West radio station, depicting the artists concept of the range of the station over sea, plain and mountain range. Dornbush inaugurated and directed the Flint Institute of Art, was director of the Stone City Art Colony, and a lecturer at the Art Institute of Chicago. Born: Netherlands. Education: Wisconsin University. Membership: Key West Public Works Art Project, 1934. Exhibits: Key West Art Gallery, Caroline Lowe House, February 1935; Coral Gables Biltmore Hotel, with other Key West artists, March 1935, watercolor, Tropical Motif; Key West paintings, by twelve Key West Artists, toured the nation, 1936, watercolors, Gray Alley, Parade.
Adrian Dornbush, drawing, Key West in Transition, 1934.
