Bernard Thomas's 65 foot mural portraying the building of King Solomon's Temple
is displayed on the western wall of the fellowship room of the Lake Worth Scottish Rite Masonic Center.
ABOUT BERNARD THOMAS
Those who were fortunate to visit the Center while mural artist Bernard P. Thomas worked his marvelous talent saw a tall westerner, always in his roughed-up cowboy boots topped by western pants and shirt. Around his waist was a hand-tooled leather belt fastened by a unique silver buckle, featuring his distinctive signature in raised gold. If you looked around, you would have seen his cowboy hat hanging nearby.
Don't let the west fool you. True, Thomas was a native of the west, born in Sheridan, Wyoming. But behind the friendly smile and soft voice, you soon realize that there is a great artistic talent which goes far beyond the ordinary talent. His creative mind never seems to rest.
His trip to the Middle East was part of his zest for research. He wanted to uncover all the dusty pages of the past. Before your eyes, the history comes to life from the colors on his palette.
His studies in academic art at the Ecole de Beaux Arts in Paris, following World War II, gave him a sound foundation for the art he has created since. It is apparent, as you see sweaty male figures struggling to move large stones, that he knows the human form.
Bernard Thomas's big physical size was beneficial in his mural work. He was mentally and physically strong. His hours on the scaffolding have been long and tiring. Yet, his great love to create has kept him going.
The versatility of Thomas is evident from his western canvases, his portraits, his seascapes, and his animal paintings. His credits in the mural field are too numerous to list, However, his cyclorama mural of the nations 200 year history, housed in the Dahl Fine Arts Center in Rapid City, South Dakota, was a bicentennial masterpiece.
Thousands of visitors each year are given a new insight on the ecology of the Everglades at the nation's southernmost National Park at the Visitor's Center of Everglades National Park. Here, muralist Thomas blended the element of nature for public understanding. The Department of the Interior, which commissioned the mural has been well pleased with the public response.
Thomas was a member of the National Society of Mural Painters. He served two terms as president of the Boynton Beach Art League. He was a long time member of the Rotary Club. In 1985, he and wife, Betty, were honored by the City of Boynton Beach, Florida, when they were appointed as Grand Marshal of the Annual Christmas Parade.
Brother Thomas was a member of the Boynton Beach Masonic Lodge 236 and a 33rd degree member of the Lake Worth Scottish Rite Bodies, where he served as director of the 7th degree. He was also a noble of the Amara Shrine in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
(Thanks to an unknown contributor for this writeup)
