Lyle M. Butts (1912-2010)

A Memorial Exhibition of a Wellfleet Painter

Part of a monthly changing exhibit showcasing local artists.

Great Pond Gallery at the Wellfleet Adult Community Center, 715 Old Kings Highway

Robert Rindler: Curator, James Connors: Co-Curator & Installation 

On Exhibit October 2 - 31, M-F: 8am - 4pm

Lyle M. Butts was born in Avon, MA on October 17, 1912.  He left after high school to attend art school in Boston and subsequently became a news photographer for the Worcester Post.  During World War II he worked at Fore River Shipbuilding in Quincy, MA, inspecting ships that were earmarked for the war effort. Following this, he earned his Professional Engineer License and began to build homes in the Easton area where he and his wife Helen had moved.   He later worked for the Foxboro Company in Bridgewater, MA, but retired in 1972 to move to the Cape permanently.  He died on May 10, 2010 at the age of 97.  That’s the bare bones of his life; but there is so much more. 

Lyle loved the Cape and Wellfleet in particular.  He and Helen started coming here in the 1930s and built a number of houses for friends, particularly in the Indian Neck area where he had purchased land in the late 1940s.  After retirement, he sold the Indian Neck property and purchased land on Route 6, where he set up Bay Area Plans to sell blueprints of smaller houses and sheds.   At the same time, his son, Lyle B., purchased a location on Route 6 for his company Bay Sails Marine.  Lyle M. aided his son’s company with engineering drawings, graphic design, and advertising layouts.

Lyle M. never lost his fascination with art, though he never became a professional artist.  He began experimenting, first with watercolor and later with oils.  He loved both landscape and seascape and found New England, and especially Cape Cod,  the perfect setting for expressing this love.  Art was a part of who he was, not just something he did.  He had an inventive mind and a keen power of observation

Lyle B. and I are pleased to have this opportunity to showcase many of his works.  When we were sorting through his possessions, we realized just how much art he had created and how good it was. So it was our desire to share his artistic vision that led to this show.  Lyle M. would have loved it!  We hope you do, too.

If you would like to purchase any of the works designated for sale, please contact me.

Mimi Butts • 508-509-7615 • m.butts@hotmail.com