History of the Baylor Series

As a Baylor student, Alan Shuptrine ’81 estimates that he walked at least once, and maybe as many as 20 times, a day through the Tower to Lupton Circle. It was the view through the Tower that Shuptrine selected as the subject of the first in a series of watercolor paintings he will donate to the school.

Shuptrine and his wife, Bonny, own Shuptrine Fine Art Group, a business that includes custom gold leaf framing for museums and collectors, a gallery space for art by established and emerging American artists, gold leaf frame restorations, painting conservation, lighting and installations, and art collections consulting. The company was established in 1985 by Shuptrine and his father, the late Hubert Shuptrine, the renowned watercolorist for whom Shuptrine designed and constructed frames.

Alan, who taught himself to paint in watercolor by observing his father at work, did not expect to get behind the easel and take on a second career until his boys—Ben, a fifth grader at Lookout Mountain School; and Jake, a Baylor seventh grader—were in college. But in 2000, before either son had even started kindergarten, Shuptrine became serious about watercolor and began filling some of his hand-crafted frames with his own work.

A few years later, in anticipation of his sons’ enrollment at the school that had meant so much to him, the Shuptrines wanted to get more involved with Baylor. Alan and Bonny decided then to create and donate a series of paintings for Baylor to sell in conjunction with its biannual auction—and to increase the value of the gift by giving the school the copyrights to the images for use in different media formats, such as stationery and limited edition prints. After walking on campus at all times of day, Shuptrine found the ideal setting and lighting for the first in the series—the view of Lookout Mountain and Lupton Circle through the Tower at dusk. “I called this first painting in The Walks of Baylor ® series, Honor Walk because it’s truly an honor to be on that campus and involved in the Baylor experience. You don’t fully realize this until you come back and sense just how fortunate you were to have been part of it,” he said.

When Michael Galligan saw the watercolor painting of the route that his son, Devin Galligan ’90, had taken every day from Hunter Hall, he knew he had to purchase it. “Devin’s four years at Baylor were an extremely happy four years, and I’ve always had a fondness in my heart for the school,” said Galligan. Devin Galligan, a husband and father of two, died in 2003. A remarkable student-athlete, Galligan was taught history by Jon Chew, who, according to Galligan, championed his son, always encouraging him to do better. At that time, Chew was battling the brain cancer that would take his life in 1990. Chew’s insistence on living life fully inspired Galligan when he, too, faced brain cancer years later; during the seven years Galligan lived with the disease, he ran 25 marathons to raise money for the Vanderbilt Cancer Center. The elder Galligan remembers a triathlon in which his son had a seizure after the swimming portion and then jumped on his bike to complete the event. “Baylor taught my son how to live and how to die,” said Galligan.

“Every artist wants to make a difference in someone else’s life,” said Shuptrine. “It was a wonderful experience for me because I was giving a gift to Baylor, and I knew the painting was something Mike would cherish for the rest of his life.

Since the completion of Honor Walk, Shuptrine has been accepted to New York City’s prestigious Salmagundi Art Club, whose past members have included N.C. Wyeth and Louis Comfort Tiffany. A painting of gourds in rural South Carolina earned Shuptrine an Honorable Mention Award in a juried exhibition for club members this past summer. His painting, White Easter of dogwood trees in Highlands, North Carolina, was a finalist in the 2008 Cover Competition for American Artist: Watercolor Magazine.

Shuptrine’s second painting in the The Walks of Baylor ® series will be auctioned at the Celebrate Baylor gala on March 14, 2009. This painting, and each of the future watercolors in the series, will be enhanced by a gilded frame crafted by Shuptrine and accented with a Baylor crest. Although he is keeping its subject a secret, Shuptrine divulges that the next landscape is “set in a different season.” He will also share that, as with all his paintings, this new one will contain a subtle cross somewhere in the image. “It is a tribute to Him, and for what I consider a God-given talent. Painting for me is a very religious experience.” (Can you find the cross in “Honor Walk?” Turn the page upside down for the answer.)

As he paints, Shuptrine also feels a strong connection to his father, which makes it even more fitting that the first in the series was purchased by a father in honor of his son. “When I paint, I talk to myself, and I talk to my father.” Shuptrine said. “I can hear his voice saying things like ‘I think you should soften that edge.’ If my father were here and could witness my work, I like to think he’d be very proud.”