Biography
Chester Tingler was born in Buffalo and had his first brush with art delivering art supplies from his father's shop to the Albright Galleries. His drawings won him a one-year scholarship to Albright, after which he studied at the Art Students League in New York.
Tingler's first job involved scenic and costume designs for Broadway. shows. He also did advertising work for Charlie Chaplin's first movies. In 1917 he won the Mrs. Harry Paine Whitney award for mural painting.
In 1922 Tingler moved to Miami. At the time of the WPA he became a supervisor for the mural art project in the Miami district. He won a mural-painting contest for the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago (1933). His work "Andrew Jackson receiving Florida for the United States" was later hung in the Florida State House in Tallahassee.
A mural for Miami High School was completed in 1937 with Tingler supervising 8 other WPA artists. And in 1938 his proposal for a mural for the Sylvester, GA Post Office was accepted. In 1940 an exhibit with 23 of Tingler's oils toured the state for the Florida Art Project.
In 1944-1945 Tingler was named Artist of the Year by the American Artists Professional League. He taught art at the Terry Art Institute in Miami, helping to train commercial artists. And he exhibited regularly at the Mirell Gallery in Coconut Grove, the Washington Art Galleries in Miami Beach, and Arthur Ackerman and Low in London, New York and Chicago.
During his career Tingley completed dozens of murals for Florida hotels and schools. His work garnered more than a score of first prizes in regional art competitions.
Critical Analysis
Tingler was accomplished in various media, including oils, watercolors and mural art. His frequent themes included music, the circus, landscapes and ocean scenes. He appeared to have been part of a broad movement to sell Florida as a tourist destination. Indeed, that had been the whole purpose of the Florida submission to the Century of Progress Exhibition. And Tingler's focus on entertainment and recreation fit in nicely with this goal.
Murals
- Sylvester, Georgia - Post Office: Cantaloupe Industry
References
- Fred Frankel, Finding Lost Florida Art at the Chicago Century of Progress, 1933-1934, Artists of Old Florida January 2 (2015).
- Fred Frankel, Tingler, Chester J. - Miami, Coral Gables, Marathon, Artists of Old Florida June 19 (2024).
- U.S. Post Office.National Register of Historic Places Nomination (1996).