This feels like the Year of Ellis Ruley.

In July, property on Hammond Road in Norwich where Ruley — the self-taught African-American artist and Norwich resident who died mysteriously in 1959 — and his extended family lived from 1933 to 1959 was dedicated as the Ellis Walter Ruley Memorial Park.

In the fall, Three Rivers Community College in Norwich hosted an exhibition of works by college and elementary school students from the region that were inspired by Ruley. Other students wrote and performed scenes based on Ruley’s life.

And right now, the Slater Memorial Museum on the Norwich Free Academy campus is highlighting Ruley’s paintings in an exhibition that will run through Dec. 7. “Brought to Light: Ellis Ruley in Norwich” pulls together his work and puts it in context.

The exhibition was organized by Vivian Zoe, director of the Slater Memorial Museum, with guest curator W. Frank Mitchell, who is director of the Amistad Center at the Wadsworth Atheneum.

“Brought to Light: Ellis Ruley in Norwich” is presented by the Slater and the City of Norwich’s Ellis Walter Ruley Committee.

Indeed, the committee, established in 2015 by the city, has propelled these various projects in its efforts to educate people about Ruley, whose work became widely acclaimed long after his death.

Frank Manfredi, who is chair of the committee, says fellow committee members Sheila Hayes and Lottie Scott were the moving forces behind the plays and exhibitions. He says of the Slater show, “It is really spectacular. I’m very pleased with the way it shaped up. I hope a lot of people get there and view it because they can learn a lot.”

“Brought to Light: Ellis Ruley in Norwich” marks the first exhibition devoted to Ruley held in the Slater, although Ruley’s work was in and around NFA during this lifetime.

When Joseph Gualtieri, who was director of the Slater for decades before retiring in 2000, was a teacher in the art department at NFA, he arranged for some of Ruley’s work to be displayed in the lower hallway of the Converse Building, which, at the time, housed art classrooms.

And the Norwich Art Association, whose members included Gualtieri, would hold exhibitions at various locations around the city. For at least five years, they held an annual outdoor festival called Art in the Open. Ruley had his work featured in the first and second festivals, in 1952 and ‘53, Zoe says. Artists would set up on the lawn in front of the museum and display and sell their work.

“Ellis Ruley was not only well-represented, he sat there selling his work and apparently did very, very well, according to the Hartford Courant and the Norwich Bulletin. At the time, they reported that he was essentially one of the best-sellers,” Zoe says.

About two years ago, the Ellis Walter Ruley Committee asked Zoe to do a show of Ruley’s work at the Slater. Zoe was at first hesitant because the museum’s Converse Gallery, where it would be housed, is a huge space. Ideally, it needs 100 works for an exhibition because there’s 600 running feet of wall space.

Slater owns one Ruley painting, “Daydreaming,” which features lions lolling in the grass. Zoe was concerned that there would be a problem finding institutions or individuals who had Ruley works in their collection or who would be being willing to lend the pieces. But her fears were allayed when people from all over the country wanted to lend their Ruley works.

The exhibition expands its focus beyond art, too. The excavation and cleanup work at the former Ruley property unearthed objects that could be featured in the show, such as items that could have been used as paint-mixing implements.

Zoe also brought in works by students, inspired by Ruley’s life and paintings, that were showcased earlier this year at Three Rivers. On view, too, is a Ruley-inspired quilt created by a group of local folks.

As part of its multipronged focus, “Brought to Light: Ellis Ruley in Norwich” explores Ruley’s style of art. He took inspiration from photos in publications like Life magazine, from animals, and from the environment around him; in reference to his painting “The Accident,” the exhibition text states that “Ruley often depicted vibrant scenes that incorporated the natural landscapes of Norwich.”

His “Jungle Girl and Lion” echoes the work of Henri Rousseau, Zoe notes. She says she doubts he would have been exposed to Rousseau’s art and yet there is such a strong visual connection between the two. 

Ruley’s life

“Brought to Light: Ellis Ruley in Norwich” delves into Ruley’s life as well as his work. His father, Joshua Ruley, fled slavery and settled in Norwich. But African-Americans like Joshua Ruley still struggled in the late 1800s after they came to the North.

“They faced intense competition for jobs, minimal affordable housing, and racism that limited opportunities,” the exhibition text states.

Ruley, like his father, ended up working in construction.

Ellis Ruley’s great passion, though, was art. He faced racism but, the exhibition notes, “nothing could stop Ellis Ruley from painting his reality. He painted vibrant whimsical scenes that celebrate the natural world, confuse racial boundaries, suggest biblical themes and affirm his place in the community of 20th-century, spirit-led, black creatives.”

Zoe notes that Ruley had struggles and sadness, but he was still able to create “these magic images.”

Ruley’s demise, which is recounted in the exhibition text, remains clouded in uncertainty. His partially frozen body was found at the bottom of the long driveway of his Hammond Avenue home. He had a laceration on his forehead, and the driveway was stained with a long trail of blood. At the time, Ruley’s death was ruled an accident, but many now believe it was a murder. 

Three years ago, Dr. Michael Baden, retired chief medical examiner for New York City and retired chief forensic pathologist for New York State Police, conducted autopsies on the bodies of Ruley and his son-in-law, Douglas Harris, who died 11 years before Ruley in a separate incident. Harris’s body was found head first in a narrow, shallow well in what, at the time, was ruled an accidental drowning. Baden ruled Harris’ death a homicide but said that the manner of Ruley’s death is “undetermined.” He said it wasn’t possible to determine if Ruley was assaulted or pushed before his fall.

The exhibition’s impact

As for the people who have come to see the exhibition, Zoe says, they “are very curious and interested and want to know more.”

Zoe thinks the most important discovery in research for the exhibition is Ruley’s involvement with the Norwich Art Association.

“He was, at least among the sort of artsy crowd, very well received in the 1950s. People bought work directly from him. …

“We’ve been made to believe he was an outsider in Norwich, and that may have been the case among people who may have been small-minded or narrow, but it was certainly not the case among the artists and the arts community,” Zoe says.

She mentions, too, the importance of guest curator Mitchell’s “idea of including how the entire community came around and embraced Ruley and his story in so many different ways was a really, really good idea. I hope people come away with (the fact) that all of the people involved really made an effort to celebrate a native son.”

k.dorsey@theday.com

If you go

What: “Brought to Light: Ellis Ruley in Norwich” 

Where: Slater Memorial Museum, Norwich Free Academy, 108 Crescent St., Norwich

When: Through Dec. 7; hours 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Tues.-Fri and 1-4 p.m. Sat. and Sun.

Admission: $3 adults, $2 students and seniors, free for kids under 12

Birthday celebration: In honor of Ruley’s Dec. 3 birthday, the Slater will hold a birthday celebration with cake on Dec. 2, 1-3 p.m.

Contact: (860) 425-5563, slatermusueum.org