With an audience of some 200 students, the Ridgeway Elementary School recently dedicated the school’s Mural Museum to the late Westchester artist and educator Alton S. Tobey, and it all began with the help of three students—Jael Andre, Maggie Noonan and Juan Rodas. According to Bonnie Ackerman, Ridgeway Wings teacher (Wings is a district enrichment program), in the course of their museum study, three of her third-grade Wings students discovered that their school is home to five painted or mosaic wall murals dating from 1960 to 1992. After some diligent research, the students uncovered the history of a four- by 16-foot mural titled “Past, Present, Future,” painted in 1986 by then fourth-graders, with the help of Alton Tobey. Today it graces a wall in the school auditorium. A visit to the Alton Tobey Web site, www.altontobey.com, revealed how privileged the Ridgeway students, then and now, are to be able to claim a connection to the artist.

Alton S. Tobey is mostly known for his realist and historical art. His works are exhibited in The Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C., the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum in New York City, The MacArthur Memorial in Norfolk, Va., and many other museums. He has painted for “Life” magazine, “The Epic of Man,” “The Golden Books History of the United States,” and for dozens of other books and periodicals. Reproduced in the tens of thousands are his portraits “Brothers United,” a portrait of John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy, and “The Apollo 11 Astronauts.”

In 1985, in celebration of the Tricentennial of Westchester County, Tobey painted “Roots of Westchester,” a mural containing images from the county’s history, including the Declaration of Independence read in White Plains, Henry Hudson’s ship Half Moon, an 1887 view of White Plains; the Michaelian Office Building, the Pelham trolley, the Croton Aqueduct, George Washington, Anne Hutchinson, James Fenimore Cooper, and dozens more. The mural hangs at the Westchester County Court House in White Plains.

At nine years old, Tobey won a New York Metropolitan Museum of Art Scholarship, and in 1934 was awarded a four-year scholarship to Yale University School of Fine Arts. During World War II, he drew blueprints for fighter plane parts for the Air Force and taught spatial geometry. He also authored “Army Guide on Camouflage.” After the service and after earning his master’s degree in fine arts at Yale, he assumed a teaching position at Yale. Eventually, he settled in Larchmont with his wife Rosalyn and children Judy and David. There he opened a studio and art and music school.

In 1986, Tobey spent six months mentoring fourth-grade students at Ridgeway School as they painted “Past, Present, Future.” Like “Roots of Westchester,” the students’ mural contains images from American history including The Declaration of Independence and Paul Revere to represent the past; The Statue of Liberty and the Kingsland Point Lighthouse to represent the present; and technology and children to lead the way to the future. Interestingly, Mary Dorado, a 1986 Ridgeway fourth-grader and co-creator of the mural, is now Mary Baez, a Ridgeway teacher herself.

According to Ackerman, “They [the students] thought the best thing was the Mr. Tobey mural. All of them wanted to thank the people for the Alton Tobey mural and Web site.” Ackerman and the students felt it was important to bring the murals and Tobey’s influence to the attention of the present-day pupils, faculty and parents. This prompted Ackerman to e-mail Joe Dolice, curator for The Alton S. Tobey Collection, who forwarded her letter to the Tobey family. Ackerman says, “They were ecstatic. It meant a lot to them.” A dedication ceremony was planned for June 19 at the school, to which Tobey’s children, Judy and David, were invited. Alton Tobey passed away in January 2005 at the age of 90.

Unfortunately, the Tobey family was unable to attend the ceremony, but was so touched by the students’ interest in their father’s work, they asked Dolice to present a gift to the school “to show our appreciation.” A framed 20- by 30-inch lithograph of Tobey’s “Roots of Westchester” mural was presented to Principal Evette Avila by Dolice at the ceremony. Ackerman says the lithograph will be displayed beside the children’s 1986 mural in the auditorium, along with a legend describing the many figures in the painting. The students in turn presented a portfolio of their work to the Tobey family via Dolice. Alton’s daughter e-mailed her appreciation from her home in Chicago saying, “How wonderful it is to have my dad recognized as having been a person who leaves a lasting impact on so many he crossed paths with and to know that people appreciate that he was really such a special human being.”

Ackerman hopes to further satisfy the students’ interest in Alton Tobey’s work by taking a group of fourth-graders to the courthouse to see the original “Roots of Westchester” up close. She says she would also like to see the mural moved to the main lobby someday. Ackerman encourages everyone to visit the Tobey Web site, “and you’ll see what my kids saw that they fell in love with.”