DEAN MOSHER: AMERICA'S HISTORICAL ARTIST Dean Mosher has major artworks in many of the nation’s prominent institutions, including The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, The United States Naval Academy and Coast Guard Academy museums, National Park Visitor Centers, the Universities of Virginia and Alabama, and several museums.
Mosher has had a fascinating life to date. He has sailed in tall ships, fired cannons, climbed to the masthead of a tall ship under sail, and flown in a vintage Wright Flyer. He has taken a documentary crew into the Amazon and climbed mountains in the Andes, adventured in Mexico, had a private tour of the White House, and met and talked with some incredible people, including Neil Armstrong, Shelby Foote, and Jeremiah Denton.
Mosher has worked closely with many of the world’s leading scholars, historians, and technical experts. He has been a featured speaker in venues around the country, including being the first Heritage Speaker for the Surface Navy Association’s annual meeting in Washington, with two more subsequent presentations.
He served for five years as Historian General of the Naval Order of the United States and received the Commander General’s medal for saving the organization’s archives, and played a pivotal role in creating the monument to the 1,068 Navy personnel lost during the D-Day Invasion on Normandy beach, June 6th, 1944.
Mosher’s major goal is to create a new paradigm in the depiction of American history. Jim Bradford, considered America’s leading authority on the age of sail, has called Mosher’s works “visual novels” because of the amount of information they contain as a result of the intensity put into the research and development of the paintings. Through his own work, Mosher brings with him a host of scholars, historians, and technical authorities who will contribute to help restore and define what is the essence of character and leadership in America.
Mosher witnessed historic trials as a courtroom artist working for NBC, from 1986-1992 and witnessing landmark trials such as watching Morris Dees take on the insidious Ku Klux Klan and win. He has welcomed famous authors, U.S. senators, Congressmen, admirals, and other celebrities to his handmade castle, which has been featured on national television and in media around the world. His community service has helped create parks, built a museum and auditorium classroom building, helped enforce environmental standards, and helped raise millions for education.
WHERE ARE DEAN MOSHER'S WORKS LOCATED?
Dean Mosher’s epic historic paintings are located in museums, National Park Service Visitor Centers, and public buildings around the country, including the United States Naval Academy; the United States Coast Guard Academy; the University of Virginia’s John Paul Jones Arena; the National Park Service Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial; National Park Service Carillon Historical Park (in the Kettering Family Education Center near the Wright Brothers Aviation Center) in Dayton, Ohio; SUNY Gallery in Plattsburgh, New York; Mobile Museum of Art; Fairhope Museum of History; and Fort Meigs Visitors Center in Perrysburg, Ohio.
On August 1st, 2013 Mosher’s 8’ X 10’ painting Wilbur Wright Greets Lady Liberty was placed on permanent exhibition in the Early Flight Gallery of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.
Mosher’s work has also appeared in many books, including The U.S. Air Force: A Complete History, published by the Air Force Historical Foundation and the National Air & Space Museum; Thomas Macdonough: Master of Command in the Early U.S. Navy (Naval Historical Press); Oliver Hazard Perry: Honor, Courage, and Patriotism in the Early U.S. Navy (Naval Historical Press); The Sixty Years’ War for the Great Lakes, 1754–1814 (Michigan State Historical Press); West Wind, Flood Tide: The Battle of Mobile Bay (Naval Historical Press) and Glorious Companions Vol. 1&2. Other publications that have used Mosher’s work include Naval History, Golf Digest, and Shipmate. His artwork has also been seen in documentaries produced for the National Park Service and public television.
On March 22nd, 2013 Mosher’s 42 foot high sculpture Natures Playground was dedicated in the new town center of Gautier, Mississippi. It is the tallest sculpture on the Gulf Coast.
LETTERS
TIMELINE
2019
January-February - Mosher created nine murals for the Alabama Bicentennial depicting seminal moments in the colorful history of Alabama since it achieved statehood in 1819. The original works, “Battle of Fort Mims” and “Tribute to the Merchant Marine” were unveiled for public viewing at this exhibit. A number of other murals depicting events in the state’s history were also on display. In addition, many other Mosher works dealing with Alabama history and culture were displayed, including art and historical artifacts from Mosher’s personal collection.
2014
August 2nd – The artist’s painting "Buchanan’s Fateful Decision" was unveiled at Fort Morgan in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the battle of Mobile Bay. Hundreds of people gathered to witness the unveiling. The painting was commissioned by the Alabama Historical Commission.
April - The artist’s “A Grateful Nation Remembers” was installed on permanent display at the new state-of-the-art Colonel Robert L. Howard State Veterans Home in Pell City, Alabama. Admiral Clyde Marsh, State Veterans Commissioner, served as master of ceremonies at the event.
January – In the January issue of the Smithsonian’s Air & Space magazine, the artist published an article about the Untold History of Wilbur Wright’s flight around the Statue of Liberty in the In the Museum section to compliment his recent hanging of his 8’ x 10’ painting “Wilbur Wright Greets Lady Liberty”.
Throughout the year – Produced over 160 drawings for Reverand Richard H. Schmidt’s new book “Saints Seers & Seeks” to be published in May 2015.
2013
August 1st – The artist’s 8’ x 10’ “Wilbur Wright Greets Lady Liberty” canvas was placed on permanent display in the Early Flight Gallery of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum on the mall in Washington, DC. The artist was there with his wife Pagan and children Megrez and Cleveland. Present were Senior Curator Doctor Tom Crouch and Chief Curator Doctor Peter Jakabs.
March 22nd - Over 300 people came to witness the dedication of "Nature's Playground", the 42' sculpture in the new town center of Gautier, Mississippi. With a unique vision firmly in his mind, Mosher took to assemble a top-notch team of artists, craftsmen, machinists, welders, masons, engineers, and technicians who labored over a year in the construction.
2012
Throughout the year, worked with a wonderful crew of engineers, metal workers, welders, tile and stone masons, a stained-glass master, a lighting expert, and two master copper craftsmen to construct "Nature's Playground", which will become a 40+-foot high sculpture to be completed in February 2013 to grace the new town center of Gautier, Mississippi.
With Admiral Clyde Marsh, USN (Ret.), Congressman Jo Bonner, Steve Muro, Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs, unveiled "A Grateful Nation Remembers" at the ceremony opening the new veterans cemetery in Spanish Fort, Alabama.
August 30th - Learned that the NASM Collections Committee had voted to accept "Wilbur Wright Greets Lady Liberty" into the collection with a plan to display it on the Early Flight Gallery. Installation is expected to be in the summer of 2013.
June 1st - Attended the Memorial Service marking the Centennial of the passing of Wilbur Wright. Dean and Pagan were guests of the Wright family when Neil Armstrong made one of his last public appearances to honor Wright's memory.
May 31st - Present where Dr. Thomas Crouch, Senior Curator of the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum; Amanda Wright Lane, head of the Wright Foundation; and Mary Mathews, retired director of Carillon Historical Park, unveiled "Wilbur Wright Greets Lady Liberty."
May 29th - Lectured on the technical aspects of Wilbur Wright's flight around the Statue of Liberty on September 29th, 1909, to the "Barn Gang" at Carillon Historical Park in Dayton, Ohio. Several members there had known Orville Wright, who was a longtime member.
2011
January 7th - Unveiled the “Battle of Flamborough Head” painting at John Paul Jones Arena on the campus of the University of Virginia. Speakers included UVA president Teresa Sullivan, Paul Tudor Jones, and Dean Mosher.
2010
Paul Tudor Jones purchased “Battle of Flamborough Head” for $100,000 and donated it to the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia.
June 4th - “Founders’ Vision: ‘A Fair Hope of Success’” was unveiled at the Fairhope Museum of History in Fairhope, Alabama. The 7' x 12' oil on canvas is an homage to the utopian dreamers who dedicated their lives to creating the ideal community, founded in 1894 based on Henry George’s Single Tax principles.
2007
Delivered “USCG Bibb Bermuda Sky Queen Rescue, October 14-15, 1947" to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, New London, Connecticut. This painting was sponsored by the USCGA Alumni Association for permanent display at the Academy.
2006
January 11th - Presented the Naval Heritage Lecture at the Surface Navy Association’s Annual Symposium in Washington, D.C. The lecture and reception were sponsored by Raytheon Corporation and attended by over 300 guests. Other presenters included the Chief of Naval Operations and the Secretary of the Navy.
2005
Awarded the Commander General's Medal for his successful efforts to consolidate and preserve the archives of the Naval Order of the United States, formally presented in Washington, D.C., in October of 2006.
2004
October - Delivered lecture on "The Battle of Lake Erie" at the Annual Congress of the Naval Order of the United States in San Diego, California. Was unanimously elected for a third term as Historian General.
August - Unveiled “The Battle of Fallen Timbers” at the Fort Meigs Museum and Education Center in Perrysburg, Ohio. The work was commissioned by the Ohio Bicentennial Commission. The premier scholar on the painting was Dr. G. Michael Pratt of Heidelberg College in Tiffin, Ohio. Other advisors included Don Retting, Toledo Metroparks; Gerard Altoff, historian, National Park Service; Jim Hunter, botanist; and Jay Eben, historian.
January 14 - Presented the first Naval Heritage Lecture at the Surface Navy Association’s Annual National Symposium. The lecture and reception were sponsored by Raytheon Corporation and attended by over 200 guests. Other speakers at the symposium were Admiral Vernon Clark, USN, Chief of Naval Operations; Rear Admiral Mark J. Edwards, USN, Director of Surface Warfare; and The Honorable Gordon England, Secretary of the Navy.
2003
October 25th - Unanimously reelected Historian General of the NOUS at the 2002 Congress of the Naval Order of the United States in Newport, Rhode Island; made presentation on "David Glasgow Farragut and the Battle of Mobile Bay." Other presenters at the Congress included Drs. John Hattendorf and Donald Chisholm of the Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island, and Dr. Roberts Ballard of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts.
July 17th - “The Bishop’s Boys: Late Afternoon, May 25, 1910, Huffman Prairie, Ohio” was unveiled at the Lockheed Martin Pavilion in the heart of Celebration Central at Deeds Point, Dayton, Ohio, during the Wright Centennial Celebration. Madeline Iseli, co-president of Inventing Flight, acted as master of ceremonies for the event. The speakers were Jerry Lindstrom, Vice President, Business Development, for Lockheed Martin; Stephen George, Executive Director of Ohio’s Bicentennial Commission; Dr. Thomas D. Crouch, Senior Curator of the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum; and Amanda Wright Lane, great-grandniece of Wilbur and Orville. Dr. Crouch and Ms. Lane unveiled the work.
2002
October 19th - Made a presentation at the 2002 Annual Congress of the NOUS in Houston, Texas, on “John Paul Jones and the Battle of Flamborough Head.” Other presenters included Professor James C. Bradford, a naval historian from Texas A&M University, and Rear Admiral Donald P. Loren, USN, Director, Surface Ship Development and Support in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations.
October 18th - Elected Historian General of the Naval Order of the United States at its 2002 Annual Congress, Houston, Texas. The Naval Order is America’s oldest naval society, established in 1890.
September 20th - Featured speaker at the annual meeting of the Naval Order of the United States, held at the Fort Myer Officers Club, Arlington, Virginia.
September 11th - Unveiled battle portrait of Commodore Thomas Macdonough at City Hall in Plattsburgh, New York. Participants included Capt. Robert D. Jenkins III, USN; Miss Isabelle Verkhaart, granddaughter of Macdonough; and Rep. Chris Ortloff.
September 7th - Unveiled "Perry Breaking the Line: The Battle of Lake Eerie, 3pm, September 10th, 1813" at the National Parks Service visitors center on South Bass Island, Ohio Put-in-Bay historical weekend celebration. Speakers at the Memorial Program included Prof. James C. Bradford, Texas A&M University; Rear Adm. Wayne Meyer, USN (Ret.); Capt. John Hammerer, USS Lake Erie; and Capt. John Beebe-Center, U.S. Brig Niagara; with the Hon. George C. Smith as master of ceremonies.
May 17-18th - Attended, by invitation of the National Parks Service, the special events surrounding the opening of the newest NPS visitors center at Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial in Put-in-Bay, Ohio. Participated in the official acceptance ceremony for the “Battle of Lake Erie” canvases at the center. The unveiling was performed by Edward J. Reiter, chairman of the board of Sky Financial Services, and federal judge George Smith.
April - Portrait of Commodore Thomas Macdonough had been selected by the Naval Institute Press for use on the cover of Professor David Skaggs’s forth biography, released in fall 2002.
2001
July 21 - “The Artistic Reconstruction of the Battle of Lake Erie,” exhibited at the Twenty-Third Annual Meeting of the Society for Historians of the Early Republic at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. Was available for questions and informal discussion of the display along with Gerard T. Altoff, Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial National Park; Craig Sheldon, Jr., Auburn University at Montgomery; and Walter Rybka, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.
January 11 - Participated in a special ceremony to announce the acquisition of “The Battle of Mobile Bay” by the Mobile Museum of Art. Speakers included Mobile Mayor Michael Dow, Museum Director Joe Schenk, Prof. James C. Bradford, Prof. Craig T. Sheldon, and Jack H. Friend.
2000
March 7th - Delivered a paper on the process of recreating a moment in time, “The Battle of Mobile Bay, 7:45 A.M., August 5, 1864", at the annual conference of the North American Society of Oceanic History in Point Clear, Alabama.
1999
November - In Plattsburgh, New York, gathered the top scholars and historians on the Battle of Lake Champlain to reach consensus on the positions and condition of the vessels involved, using over 40 scale models and a precise scale map of the entire battle area. Participants were James C. Bradford, Ph.D., of Texas A&M University; Gerard T. Altoff, author and historian, of the National Parks Service; Walter Rybka, historian and Sailing Master of the US Brig Niagara; and Col. David Fitz-Enz, author and historian.
1998
September 18 - At the “60 Years’ War for the Great Lakes, 1754-1814" conference at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio, unveiled “The Battle of Lake Erie, 2:35 P.M., September 10, 1813" along with the companion portrait of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, and participated in a panel discussion concerning the process of recreating the “moment in time” depicted in the painting. Other panelists were James C. Bradford, Ph.D., of Texas A&M University; Gerard T. Altoff, author and historian, of the National Parks Service; Walter Rybka, historian and Sailing Master of the US Brig Niagara; and David William Hale, the GIS computer scientist who plotted the battle’s progression.
August 12th - At the invitation of Capt. Douglas W. Keith, lectured to the Admirals Club aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) on her pre-commissioning cruise from Ingalls Shipyard to Pensacola, Florida.
February - Placed both “Battle of Mobile Bay” and “Battle of Flamborough Head” on display in the main gallery of the United States Naval Academy Museum, Preble Hall, where they remained through April.
1997
July - In Kirkbean, Scotland, at a worldwide celebration to commemorate the 250th anniversary of his birth, presented portrait of John Paul Jones to the Hon. John H. Dalton, Secretary of the Navy, to be placed in the collection of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Both paintings in this set have been selected by the John Paul Jones Birthplace Museum Trust as the official commemorative works marking this event.
April - At the annual meeting of the Society for Military History in Montgomery, Alabama, unveiled “The Battle of Flamborough Head, 9:45 p.m., September 23, 1779,” and participated in a panel discussion on recreating this “Great Moment.” Other panelists included James C. Bradford, Ph.D., of Texas A&M University; Peter Reaveley, historian and author; and Craig T. Sheldon, Jr., Ph.D., of Alabama University at Montgomery.
1996
April - Presented “Farragut in the Mainshrouds” to the United States Naval Academy Museum in Annapolis, Maryland, to become part of its permanent collection.
1995
November 4th - Unveiled "Battle of Mobile Bay, 7:45 A.M., August 5, 1864," at the Winter Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Navy League of the United States. It and its companion portrait, "Farragut in the Mainshrouds," were the first pair in a series of companion paintings depicting "Great Moments in United States Naval History Where Character and Circumstances Met to Produce Victory."
THREE GENERATIONS OF ARTISTS
DEAN MOSHER
Dean Mosher moved to Fairhope, Alabama in 1973 to study with Cleveland Woodward, one of America’s great illustrators. Cleveland invited Dean to meet with a wonderful, eclectic group of artists, writers, business owners, and a retired college dean, that gathered every Wednesday for coffee and lively discussion. Among them was the great carpenter, wood carver, and newspaper columnist Craig Sheldon. The two became close friends and over the course of several years, Craig tried to introduce Dean to his daughter Pagan who was living in Birmingham, and dancing professionally with the University of Alabama at Birmingham Ballet. Pagan, thinking Dean was one of her dad’s old cronies, said she would ‘at some point like to meet him’, but wasn’t very interested in making the 4+ hour drive just to meet one of her father’s friends. Her father had failed to mention that Dean was actually the same age as Pagan.
Finally, one day when she was visiting, Craig contrived a meeting between Dean and Pagan – and sparks flew. Dean invited Pagan to pose for a head study which he later turned into a portrait of Pagan. As she drove out of the driveway to return to Birmingham, Dean declared that he was going to marry her. On their first official date, he told her of his intentions but waited until the second date to actually propose. She accepted. They were married 6 months later in the yard of Sheldon Castle where she grew up.
A few years later, Dean and Pagan acquired the property next door to the Sheldon Castle and began creating their own Mosher Castle. Craig was a master carpenter, and had taught Dean many of the finer points of carpentry and stone masonry and they worked together until Craig became too ill to continue in his later years. Both castles have been featured on many TV shows and have their own website. Dean and Pagan continued their respective careers, and they have produced two remarkable children, professional artists in their own right.
Dean claims his proudest achievements are winning the hand of his princess bride of more than thirty years, Pagan, and the raising of their two great children, Megrez Ravel and Cleveland Turner in Fairhope, Alabama, where he remains the oft-disputed King of his fabled Mosher Castle.
PAGAN SHELDON MOSHER
Pagan, the daughter of Craig and ‘Butch’ Sheldon, and Dean’s wife, has had a remarkable life. She grew up in a castle and married her prince, Dean Mosher, who built her a bigger castle next door and together they raised both a princess and prince of their own. Pagan and Dean enjoy sharing their castle home/studio with their two children who come and go as life dictates, and with the public on regular tours.
Pagan is the co-director of Creative Outlet Dance Center in Fairhope, AL and continues to teach ballet and pointe to the young dancers there.
She has previously taught at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, Burchfield Ballet, and Ballet Mobile. She has traveled Alabama with the Artists in Schools program sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts. In 1993, she was the Dance panelist on the Alabama State Council on the Arts and Humanities.
Before marrying Dean and moving to Fairhope, Pagan performed as a soloist with Ballet UAB and principal artist with the Alabama Dance Theatre. She performed in a great variety of dance and theatrical productions, as well as in educational and advertising films.
For over thirty years, Mrs. Mosher has choreographed and co-produced fall productions for the Children’s Dance Theater in Fairhope, AL and enjoys creating large scenery, prop and costume pieces.
MEGREZ RAVEL MOSHER
Megrez featured in a promotional video for Page & Palette Bookstore in downtown Fairhope.
"I want to make it clear that I am not hyperbolizing when I say that I ran away from my castle home and joined the circus. It's true. It happened. It is happening. And I'm having a blast." From an interview published in Mobile Bay magazine.
Megrez R. Mosher, Dean and Pagan’s daughter, is a published author and an aerial contortionist who teaches, trains and performs in both Brooklyn, New York and Fairhope, Alabama. In Brooklyn, as a co-founder of The Gowanus Circus, Mosher has worked in several historical warehouses in Brooklyn while flying from silks. As an aerialist and contortionist, she also performs with several groups including Modern Gypsies and The Gowanus Circus.
Megrez has over twenty-five years of ballet training, four years as an aerialist, a decade of teaching dance and movement, is a Certified Fitness Trainer with the International Sports Sciences Association, and most recently was certified with Om Factory NYC in their Aerial Yoga program.
In Fairhope, Megrez is the owner and director of a wildly popular aerial yoga studio called Kudzu: Aerial Fitness and Kinetic Arts.
Outside of the circus and her studio, Megrez has co-authored with her dad, Dean Mosher, The Spirit of Fairhope, and Knee Deep in Fly Creek with Sheldon.
When in Fairhope, Megrez also trains and works with her mother, Pagan Mosher, at Creative Outlet Dance Center and Children’s Dance Theatre and independently coaches and trains students and performers.
Megrez also loves biking, rock climbing, and yoga.
CLEVELAND TURNER MOSHER
Cleveland, Dean and Pagan's son, was born on New Year's Eve in 1993 and named after Cleveland Woodward and his grandfather Craig Turner Sheldon. He exhibited artistic interest from his early childhood. He often used to sit on his father Dean's lap when he painted his historical murals and made drawings on whatever was available in his father's studio whenever he could. His artistic drive has remained strong as his skills increased over the years. He recently spent 5 years studying classical art techniques under several gifted instructors including at Nims Academy of Classical Design in Southern Pines, North Carolina. He is now doing private artistic commissions, as well as video game concepts and has clients worldwide.
