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The House That Mort Built Artist’s Annual Ornaments Fund New Timber Ridge Dorm This article appeared in The Winchester Star, Winchester, Virginia on November 12, 2002

By Dan Telvock

	Artist Mort Künstler (above, center) stands with Timber Ridge School students Allen Clayborn, 14 (left), and Brandon Thompson, 13, in front of the nearly completed Mort Künstler Hall. Künstler toured the school’s new dorm on Monday. Photo by Rick Foster, Winchester Star

For the last six years, an artist from Oyster Bay, N.Y., has sold Christmas ornaments depicting his Civil War paintings, with the proceeds going to a small Frederick County school for troubled youth.

Painter Mort Künstler toured one of two new dormitories under construction at Timber Ridge School near Cross Junction on Monday - a dorm that is to be named Mort Künstler Hall.

Künstler has played a large role in helping Timber Ridge School build the two new buildings paid for partly from the sales of his ornaments, said the school’s executive director, John Markwood.

“It’s really a wonderful feeling to stand here and think about what started six years ago,” said Künstler.

Künstler, accompanied by Markwood, Director of Institutional Development Troy Newbraugh, and students, Allen Clayborn, 14, and Brandon Thompson, 13, was overjoyed by the tour.

“These kids can’t wait to get into this building,” Künstler said. “It’s very exciting.”

Newbraugh said about $200,000 has been raised through ornament sales in the last five years. That money is being used to help pay for the two new $600,000 dorms that look like small cottages on the school’s secluded, wooded campus.

Mort Künstler Hall will be dedicated in March, Newbraugh said, and will house 16 students.

“I’m thrilled,” Künstler said. “I’ve had a lot of honors in my life but I think this will certainly be the best.”

Proceeds from the sales of Künstler’s annual Christmas ornaments, including this year’s “Confederate Winter” helped fund the building’s construction.

He told Newbraugh he would like to decorate the dorm with some of his artwork that relates to the Winchester area. “I think it’s just going to be fantastic,” Künstler said as he skimmed the bare wooden walls.

The two new structures are about 4,200 square feet each. They are being built by Ricketts Construction Co. Inc.

Mort Künstler Hall is different from any of the other seven dorms in use now. There’s a large assembly/lecture hall in the basement that Markwood said should seat the entire student population of about 90 students, and there’s a Life Skills Training Center equipped with a full kitchen sponsored by the American Woodwork Foundation.

The assembly/lecture hall will be a gathering place for students to learn, meet new people, and even watch special events like the Super Bowl, Markwood said.

“One of the things we needed was a place for assemblies that was big enough for our students to get together in,” he said. The second dorm, which has yet to be named, will be for older, more independent students who will be leaving the campus within a year.

When construction on the new dorms is finished early next year, two of the older dorms will be used for something other than living quarters, offering the school some much-needed space, Newbraugh said.

Künstler’s 2002 ornament, “Confederate Winter,” is being sold at 34 stores from Connecticut to Georgia, and can be found locally at Gaunt’s Drug Store, the Kurtz Cultural Center, Shenandoah Fine Arts Gallery, Applegate Antiques, CostCo Wholesale, The Door Mouse, Joanne R. Happ Gallery, John S. Solenberger and Co., Stonewall Jackson Museum, and We Keep You in Stitches.

“We’re so pleased to hear it’s gaining in popularity each year,” Künstler said about the $23.50 ornament.

He didn’t need much convincing to donate the ornament proceeds to Timber Ridge. Künstler said he was approached by Timber Ridge with the idea, called a couple of his Winchester-area friends to ask them about the school’s reputation, and then eagerly decided to pursue the proposal after he heard nothing but high praise for the school.

“I’m overwhelmed with the facility,” Künstler said. “It’s absolutely wonderful.”

To learn more about the Timber Ridge School, visit www.Timber-Ridge-School.org.

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