Family honor’s artist’s work with show

By Staff, 07/27/20 9:02 AM

PRESCOTT – An art show was held Saturday at the Spot Youth Center in memory of Thomas Toland, a former resident of Prescott.

Toland, 38, was killed after being struck by a car while in Oklahoma recently. Members of his family chose to honor his memory by showing some of his artwork. His mother, June, said her son was a self-taught artist, who also taught himself about foreign languages.

Toland only worked in pen and ink and his art showed a variety of themes, ranging from fantasy to oriental. Most was done on paper, though two of the smaller pieces were done on wood, one oval, one square.

His mother said she was drawing flowers one day when he was small and he asked her how to draw. The rest, as it’s said, is history. She told how he’d spend hours working on a piece to get things just the way he wanted them. “He was very artistic,” she said.

According to his family, Toland traveled the continental US, on what they called his “adventures”. When he got low on money, he’d go somewhere and offer to sketch people.

Only a small segment of his work was on display at the center, Saturday. His mother said they’re working to find a graphic artist to get his art digitized. His sister, Brandy Beekman, said Toland was killed on July 4.