Like so many women of the mid-20th Century, Lea Ehrich was much more complex than she was allowed to
demonstrate publicly.
Despite being a member of the Southern Vermont Arts Center for 52 years (1945-1997), best friends with Kacy
Hughes (George Hughes’ wife), and a respected fine artist (particularly adept at capturing the nuances of nature),
Lea has not been recognized as part of the famed Arlington Artists’ Colony – until now.
In July 2019, Old Mill Road Gallery in East Arlington, Vermont opens - shining a spotlight on Lea Ehrich. The
exhibition / pop-up gallery features rotating Ehrich art – the first solo show of the artist’s work in over 20 years.
An artist of tremendous discipline, Lea painted every day. She was known for painting multiple versions of the
same landscape – variations on a theme - in her attempt to accurately capture the beauty of Vermont. Like her
illustrator neighbors, she was an excellent storyteller – primarily through nature – but also evidenced in her
figurative work.
Among the gallery’s work, there is a wonderful watercolor of a little girl standing in front of a tree,
looking at her shadow combined with the tree’s on the sidewalk. The child’s outstretched arms blend
with the trees branches. Had the sketch been fully realized, it could very well have been accept-
ed as a Saturday Evening Post or New Yorker cover. It is charming and whimsical; a captured moment.
More often than not, however, Lea’s paintings of humans feature a woman in isolation.
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