Don and Virginia Swanagan
Water Color Paintings
January 1 – February 15, 2025
Don Swanagan
Don Jo Swanagan was born in 1930, Aurora Il, and raised in the Chicago area. He was a resident of Cranbury from 1959-2011. Mr. Swanagan was a graduate of Denison University where he met his wife Virginia when they both were working on theatrical productions. He received an MFA from the Yale University School of Drama. Based in New York City as a scenic designer, early in his career at NBC, and then later as a freelance scenic designer. He worked on The Steve Allen Show, The Nat King Cole Show, Specials for Women by Purex, which won an Emmy Award, Sing Along with Mitch Miller, The Bell Telephone Hour, and series such as Young Dr. Malone. He worked on the PBS Show, The Adams Chronicles, and many commercials designs for companies such as Newport, Kraft, Ballantine, Ford, Hallmark, RCA, Westinghouse, General Electric, Pillsbury, Bell Telephone, Camel, and Nationwide Insurance. He was also involved in scenic design for such films as For Love of Ivy, Sweet Charity, To Kill a Cop, Speed is of the Essence, The Owl, The Warriors, The Godfather 1, and Arthur, as well as several Woody Allen films including The Purple Rose of Cairo. Don passed away in 2011. Virginia Swanagan comments for the Memories of Cranbury, a retrospective exhibit held April 2013 in Don Swanagan’s honor: “Coming to live in Cranbury in 1959 was the fulfillment of a dream as Don felt that Cranbury itself was the perfect setting for his family. On weekends and vacations Don enjoyed sketching and painting watercolors on site. Locally, Don did not travel far from Cranbury as he was very interested in both the local farms and Cranbury architecture…..Architecture was an abiding love for Don everywhere he went and he enjoyed contributing his efforts through serving on the Cranbury Zoning and Planning Boards and the Cranbury Historical & Preservation Society where he designed the Perrine Wing, donated by Mary Perrine in 1974. For three Historical Society House Tours he contributed a cover pencil drawing for the tour brochure.”
Virginia Swanagan
Virginia Swanagan was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She lived in Cranbury with her husband Don and family starting in 1959. For the past few years, she has resided in Monroe Township. Mrs. Swanagan was a graduate of Denison University where she met her future husband Don while they both were working on theatrical productions. She fondly remembers spending her honeymoon working at summer stock theater before Don continued his graduate work at Yale University in the fall of 1954. Mrs. Swanagan continued her artwork while volunteering for the Cranbury Historical and Preservation Society, working on many posters and pamphlets. During her many years working at Cranbury Public Library, she enjoyed creating an artistic game board each summer, a mainstay of the reading program. Mrs Swanagan also was a member of Watercolorists Unlimited, exhibiting with the group in the Gourgaud Gallery.
Interested in displaying your artwork? You can email gallery@cranburypubliclibrary.org for more details!