Vernon Hall has had no formal art training and didn’t begin to paint seriously until just before his 1990 retirement. He was raised in Wellely, Mass. and entered the University of New Hampshire in 1942. In early 1943 he was called into active service in World War II and spent the next 3 years in the Corps of Engineers, the last 2 years in the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations, laying out airfields – from large B-29 fields near Calcutta to small jungle airstrips for the evacuation of British wounded from the jungles of central Burma.

For the 40 odd years after his 1949 graduation from U.N.H. as a Civil Engineer he served at several New England companies in engineering and management positions relating to building design and construction. Vern is a registered professional engineer with some architectural design experience.

In Princeton, MA., where he lived with his wife Ann, he was a member of the Planning Board, Chairman of the local Arts Lottery Council, co-founder and President of the Princeton Arts Society and Chairman of the Management Committee of the Princeton Center, a small town version of Bozeman’s Emerson Center for the Arts and Culture. He retired in 1990 and he and Ann moved to Bozeman in 2000. In retirement he continues his hobby of painting, being a member of the Montana Institute of Art, which has recently become Southwest Montana Arts.

His artwork has been in varied shows here in Bozeman. He has won many awards including the grand prize at the first exhibit of the Montana Institute of the Arts in 2002.

“It has never been my intention to paint with any specific message in mind. I find painting to be a relaxing and rewarding hobby, but no more than a hobby. In addition to the personal pleasure I find in painting, there is also the challenge and satisfaction I experience whenever I can record a special location, preserve a historic building or capture a moment spent with family and friends.”

Vernon Hall will be exhibiting his paintings in Beaucoup Gallery & Framing’s “Little Gallery” February 10th – March 6th. An opening reception with the artist will take place on Friday, February 10th from 5-8pm during the Gallery Walk.