He was the lone artist on the streets of Trenton in the 1970s.
That was when the city was feeling the pains of the changes that had begun decades earlier with the post-World War II ideals of suburban living and urban renewal — or more re-engineering.
The latter included decimating neighborhoods to create highways and sleek new office buildings.
But those heady dreams were no match for the winds of shifting economic interests, inconsistent political will, and social and racial inequality that gave Trenton the proverbial one-two punch.
By 1968 — the year of the Trenton riots — the city was seeing a continuing exodus of people who had the means — and more than often than not, the skin color — that would enable them to socially move “up” by moving out of the city.
And while during that time the New Jersey State Museum and Trenton War Memorial were both still operating, the artistic landscape had dramatically changed.
That was especially true after Mercer County Community College moved its art program to West Windsor and effectively broke a long-term tie with art making that began in 1901 with the School of Industrial Arts.
But it was also then that the lone man of African ancestry became a familiar figure who could be seen sketching and painting Trenton buildings and streets.
And it was in that solitary process that the late Thomas Malloy — aka Tom Malloy — created hundreds of watercolors that captured the rhythms, tones, and spirt of the city during a specific time — and helped start an arts movement that continues today.
And, as a new exhibition at the Trenton Free Public Library suggests, he did it with love and art.
As various articles and a book, “Blending Colors From Life: Trenton’s Own Watercolorist, Tom Malloy,” report, Malloy was born into a family of South Carolina sharecroppers on August 23, 1912. His ancestry included black slaves, whites, and Native Americans.
His family moved to Trenton in 1923 when his father found work in a rubber factory. There, the future artist attended and graduated from Trenton public schools and found work at several Trenton-area companies, including John A. Roebling and the Trenton Box Company, from which he retired.
He also became involved with Cadwalader-Asbury Methodist Church in Trenton where he was a lay minister and demonstrated a spirituality that included a reverence for the natural and human world.
Although he had shown an early inclination to draw on anything he could, including a stick scratching the dirt, he only began to pursue art in the 1950s — through a correspondence course.
It was also during that time that he married a nurse named Dorothy, who encouraged him to follow to follow his interest in city history and architecture through painting.
In addition to creating works for himself, he also created works for various home and business owners.
Eventually he amassed a body of work and realized his first exhibition at the Trenton Free Public Library in 1967.
Although he would exhibit in the tri-state region and sometimes paint different environments, he generally stayed rooted in Trenton, where he found both inspiration and connection.
With works featuring Trenton becoming part of public collections, including the Trenton City Museum and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Malloy’s art and the City of Trenton became so connected that in 2001, he was named Trenton’s artist laureate. A gallery at the Trenton City Museum was also named in his honor.
A recipient of an honorary doctorate from Rider University, Dr. Malloy died on August 16, 2008.
But it was 33 years earlier that I first connected with the artist.
When I moved to Trenton in the mid-1970s, I spotted Malloy drawing on the street and began asking questions about him.
It was my landlady who told me that he was the painter of Trenton — and that he had done the painting of our house — and also a neighbor. His home and studio were around the corner.
As I started getting active in the Trenton art scene, Malloy and I began to communicate more.
And soon we became friends and were active in developing downtown projects, including the establishment of the Trenton Artists Workshop Association (TAWA) and the Original Trenton Coffeehouse series of events — which include exhibitions and talks by Malloy.
We also would visit each other or attend art shows together. He and Dorothy were also at my wedding.
Although I moved from the city for some time, Malloy and I maintained that friendship and easily resumed conversations after not seeing one another for some time — our interest in Trenton and art kept us in connection.
Then a few years before he died, the octogenarian widower moved to the Pellettieri Homes in Trenton, where he continued to create art.
When I began visiting him there, it was clear that his body and energy were diminishing. But his mind still hummed with art and history, and we would talk about the founding of TAWA and the creation of the Trenton City Museum.
However, he told me that he was sad that his mobility problems were preventing him from doing the thing he loved — making art on the street.
That changed during my next visit.
It was an early fall day with a cool blue sky and jeweled leaf trees when I bundled him up, put him in his wheelchair, and rolled him out to my car.
Within minutes, he was sitting in his chair on Jackson Street in the Mill Hill section of Trenton and back to being the person he was destined to be — the guy on the street who was drawing the city he loved.
Hours later, when I wheeled him back into his apartment, he smiled and said, “That was the best day I have had in years.”
It was also the last of such days.
A short time later, he fell, broke bones, and, after being sent to rehab, was sent to a nursing home outside of the city.
I made several visits and noticed that although he wasn’t painting or drawing, he tapped into another love, singing whenever he could.
Then one day, someone called to tell me that Malloy was in the hospital.
When my son, who had developed his own friendship with Malloy, and I showed up to see him, he smiled, asked a few questions, and then said, “I’m tired. Do you mind if I go upstairs and go to bed?”
I took his hand and said, “Sure.” He nodded and fell asleep.
And while that was the last time I saw him (he died soon after), I feel like he’s still around.
As Charisa A. Smith notes in that above mentioned book on Malloy, “There is a little of Tom Malloy’s life story within us all. As Tom tried multiple paths on life’s course, so should the readers of his story. Tom’s constant faith endured multiple struggles and invites us to keep chasing the belief that everything happens for a reason. Tom’s courage to pursue professional painting after the age of fifty can especially inspire everyone to keep their dreams alive, no matter how impossible it may seem.”
As for me, I still see him on the street, but now he’s joined by a new generation of artists who are loving the city by making paintings, murals, and photographs.
And then there is his work that will be singing in the exhibition “Tom Malloy — Trenton’s Artist Laureate” at the Trenton Free Public Library, 120 Academy Street, Trenton. On view August 2 through September 23, Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free. Birthday reception Wednesday, August 23, 5 to 7 p.m. 609-392-7188 or www.trentonlib.org.
