HOWLAND TWP., Ohio - A three-year effort has brought one of the world's largest collections of Norman Rockwell paintings to the Valley. 

Scout Troop101 BSA Arrowhead District at the Great Trail Council learned about American painter Normal Rockwell, who was first hired by the Boy Scouts of America, to create a series of pen and ink drawings for the scout's hike book. 

Rockwell, more than any other artist in history, is credited with capturing the daily American family life.

For Ned Gold and John Anderson, the Chairman of the Board of Foundation Medici, it took three years to bring the collection to the region.

"Sixty-five Norman Rockwell paintings will be the centerpiece of an exhibit at the Medici Museum of Art in Howland. I am passionate about scouting. I've been in scouting for 70 years. This is so good for the community. We've got a lot of comments on various Facebook pages where it has appeared. People are asking when is it going to be up, where, and how do you get there, tell us when it's up. I am talking about people that are thousands of miles away," said Gold. "The Boy Scout Fine Arts collection has about 450 pieces of what they consider fine art with many great artists; however, the centerpiece of the collection is the Norman Rockwell paintings. The works continue to the 1970s before he passed away. They have never been able to display them at one place at one time before. They are spectacular."
 
Paintings Conservator Clara Wolverton is assessing the collection to make sure paintings are not damaged or whether anything needs to be restored or repaired.

"We want to make sure nothing is degrading. As I was unpacking them, I was just impressed at the technique, and his ability to capture anatomy, color, and composition to get that close to a painting to watch through the brush strokes how the painting was executed is a rare experience and a privilege.  Not just the notoriety of the artist himself, but the sheer quantity of paintings being shown at the same time is really impressive," said Wolverton. "In a small community like this, it's very rare. This is the kind of collection a museum with a large endowment and is world renown would have. These kinds of exhibitions are worked out with huge entities in Europe and elsewhere, but this kind of thing happening here is really rare."

Brown and Bigelow own the copyright for the pictures of the paintings.

Michael Roytek, manager for photography for Boy Scouts of America, is taking pictures to document and preserve decades of history for future generations to enjoy. 

"If you love Norman Rockwell, you will see some history, 75 years of paintings of his. It's just incredible. We have never photographed the collection at one time. We have it on record, and it will be there for the next 100 years for people to enjoy," said Roytek. 

Roytek illustrates the handbooks for the Boy Scouts of America.

Gold said they hope to have the exhibit up by early March.