David Maass in 1998, working on the image of the Eldean Bridge, in Troy. (Press Pros Feature Photo)
Many will fondly remember artist David Maass at Presentation Weekend in downtown Troy. The man who painted the Eldean Bridge and added Troy to the world of wildlife art enthusiasts, has passed away.
It is my wonderful honor to remember his kindness and friendship…but my said duty to inform Miami County and wildlife art enthusiasts across the state of Ohio that hall of fame artist David Maass has passed at the age of 96.
The winner of two Federal Duck Stamp competitions, more national awards than one can count, and known by critics world-wide as the standard of waterfowl artists for decades, Maass appeared in Troy for the 1992 and 1999 Presentation Weekend art festivals and helped establish the event as one of the country’s top community events for the celebration of wildlife and waterfowl species.
Maass, who typically eschewed public appearances, was taken by the community, its people, and the generosity of those who turned out in masse to view and purchase his work.
The Eldean Bridge, painted in 1998 by artist David Maass, for the 1999 Presentation Weekend art festival in Troy, Ohio.
“I’ve seldom felt that welcome at an art show, anywhere,” he would say later, lauding the civic contributions of Troy people like Pat and Thom Robinson, Bill and Wanda Lukens, Terry and Sandy Netzley, Ferdie and Edie Murphy, Ron and Paula English, Dave and Linda Arbogast, and others who eventually turned Maass’s enthusiasm for Troy into a recruiting tool for other noted national artists – Robert Bateman, Carl Brenders, and Mort Kunstler – to appear in Troy.
Bateman’s appearance in 2000, along with Columbus Zoo personality Jack Hanna, drew 7,000 people to the public square downtown for their joint effort to display and entertain through their culture of natural resources.
By the end of its run in 2001, Presentation Weekend had drawn the attention of the national publication, US Art, as one of the America’s top ten community art celebrations, labeled a ‘Don’t Miss’ event by publisher and editor Frank Sisser.
And it all began with the willingness of Dave Maass to come to Troy for the first time, and subsequently for a Christmas holiday appearance in 1995, and again in 1999, where he debuted the iconic image of the Eldean Bridge, spanning the Miami River, on north 25-A. The original of that painting hangs in the Miami County commissioners chambers at the county court house.
“I can’t begin to tell all those people how much I enjoyed my time in Troy,” Maass would later say. “It was just fun, and an experience that I wanted to do again.”
He passed away Wednesday morning, privately, after a long battle with what he could call…”natural causes”. He is survived by his wife Ann, daughter Jenny, son Paul, and his grandchildren.
And people from Miami County, and Troy, who fondly remember him.
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