Tom Wilson (1946-1995), Summer Day – Milton, 1983, Oil on canvas, Museum Purchase, 2017.0020
What does 250 years of Delaware history look like through the eyes of our neighbors? To answer, we invited 25 diverse voices from across our state to serve as community curators. Each selected one piece from our collection, making Reflections: 25 Objects for 250 Years of Delaware History an exhibition curated entirely by our local community. Each post in this series features one object and the personal story of why it was chosen to represent our region’s history or felt particularly relevant to our contemporary moment.
Meet the Community Curators
Mariah Calagione
Dogfish Head Co-founder & Community Leader
In addition to founding Dogfish alongside husband Sam, Mariah captained Dogfish Head’s grass-roots marketing, PR and social media world as well as the charitable-giving arm of Dogfish Head, Beer & Benevolence.
Mariah has served a diverse group of local community organizations including The Nature Conservancy, University of Delaware, Rehoboth Beach Film Society and the Delaware Community Foundation. Mariah also serves on the board of her family’s business Draper Media and two charitable family foundations. She and Sam have two grown children and two ornery Labrador Retrievers. They live in coastal Delaware and spend time on Dogfish Head, Maine.
Sam Calagione
Dogfish Head Co-founder & Brewer
Sam Calagione has been focused on brewing beers with culinary ingredients since 1995 when Dogfish Head first opened as the smallest craft brewery in America. Today, Dogfish has grown into a 400+ person company and is one of the most recognized breweries in the country. Dogfish Head is based in Delaware with Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats, an off-centered brewpub and distillery, Chesapeake & Maine, a geographically enamored seafood restaurant with a James Beard nominated cocktail program, Dogfish Inn, a harbor-front beverage-themed motel and Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, a production brewery and distillery featuring a Tasting Room & Kitchen. Dogfish currently sells beers, spirits, and canned cocktails across the U.S.
In July 2019, Dogfish Head proudly merged with the Boston Beer Company. Sam’s innovative style and collaborative spirit has earned him a reputation as one of the industry’s most adventurous entrepreneurs and brewers. Sam has authored four books and was named the James Beard Foundation’s Outstanding Wine, Spirits, or Beer Professional in 2017. Sam, Mariah, and their family reside in coastal Delaware.
Curator Reflection
This painting depicts a historic home near the Milton brewery we founded and we’ve each driven by it countless times. Milton is a town filled with really great old homes and this one hasn’t changed much at all since Tom Wilson painted it in 1983. In fact, the whole scene Wilson captured looks like it could have been happened just last week. The light in the painting is warm and magical. It makes us think of walking back towards the brewery after enjoying lunch downtown on a beautiful early summer day.
In a 1993 grant application Wilson wrote, “I am truly a native son [of the Delmarva Peninsula] in that both sides of my family settled here some 300 years ago and I am related (literally) to nearly everyone in some way or another.” I (Mariah) have a similar situation, with a long history of family here in Sussex County. I likely met Tom Wilson as a kid, as my mom took painting lessons from him. Wilson was also the art curator for The Back Porch restaurant in Rehoboth Beach, which just happens to be our favorite date night spot in town! In true Delaware fashion, there are strands of connectivity – which makes it even more special to experience this Milton streetscape through his eyes.
Tom Wilson’s Modeling Card.
About the Artist
A Delaware native, Wilson studied painting at the Rhode Island School of Design before pursuing a career as a fashion model. His editorial good looks regularly landed him on the pages of Vogue throughout the 1970s and took him to Paris and Milan for runway shows. In 1981, he moved back to Lewes to care for his mother and devoted himself full-time to painting. He served as the art director at the Back Porch Café in Rehoboth Beach, where he sold his own work and organized exhibitions featuring other regional artists. There, he also met his partner—Leo Medisch—who worked as the chef at the restaurant.
Inspired by the work of Edward Hopper, Wilson was known for his hyper-realistic paintings of life in Southern Delaware. As part of the process of planning his composition for an oil painting, he first collaged photographs of the scene. The result feels surreal and may feature architectural elements at slightly different angles, shadows with varying lengths and light sources, and figures that seem to pass each other unnoticed.
Engage Beyond the Artwork
If you were to map out the “strands of connectivity” in your own town, what landmarks or businesses would be at the center?
About the Exhibition
On view until January 3 – Reflections: 25 Objects for 250 Years of Delaware History is an exhibition curated entirely by Delaware community members reflecting on the nation’s 250th anniversary.
Visit and explore all 25 objects, community reflections, and the opportunity to add your own reflection.