2T. his one room chapel is located on Spook Rock Road in Rockland County. It is the oldest United Methodist building still intact in the county. Built in 1829 Wesley Chapel was a preaching site of the first American Bishop Francis Asbury. Though now without a congregation and no longer used on a regular basis, the chapel is maintained by a group of trustees from two nearby United Methodist Churches. The chapel has a feeling of history. I sensed that when I sketched this painting on location. The cemetery next to the chapel with 18th century markers heightened my awareness. Although in and of itself, it makes for an appealing picture, I did the painting more for the sake of history than art. Too easily and often historic buildings like this are ravished rather than preserved. Our sense of history is often rather faint.
WESLEY CHAPEL
1983