Arts: At Marblehead

Blue water—the hulk of a smudgy oiler—the sails of little boats, like petals fallen on an azure field—the Summer sky. This is the setting that frames Marblehead, Mass., and this, in Marblehead's annual Art exhibition, is painting No. 1, by John P. Benson. Once port of call for East Indiamen, rich and important, with tea, silks and spices piled in its warehouses, the old town drowses now, lost in the hush of a dream. Wharves rot; rats squeak in deserted storerooms ; tiny pleasure-craft have replaced the tall schooners, rich Summer residents the bustling Tory merchants. However, quaint local traditions, local characters, still survive. There is the Poet Postman, unique Man of Letters, who for 30 years has delivered bills and dreamed of billet-doux, has written 1,000 poems, some of which have been published. He is painted in the exhibit by Orlando Ruland, who has also caught on canvas Daddy Scott, toymaker, who whittles wooden animals for Marblehead children.