100th birthday celebration Tuesday at First Christian Church
She was born 100 years ago in a small Missouri town, a place that planted the seeds for what she would become.
Neel Whitledge would become an artist in her own right, but perhaps more importantly would eventually teach dozens and dozens of Henderson County High School students how to uncover their own creativity during the 25 years she taught before retiring in the early 1980s.
One of those artists is well-known Kentucky glass artist Dan Neil Barnes. “She still doesn’t know how much she has influenced me,” he said about Whitledge in an interview a few years back.
On Tuesday, Whitledge will celebrate her 100th birthday.
In an interview 10 years ago when she was featured at age 90 in a gallery exhibit showcasing her batiks, one of which depicted the homeplace she grew up on (“Doe Run”), Whitledge talked about her childhood experience in a family with seven children.
“We all were artists,” she said, recalling that their school was full of arts opportunities, and she took advantage of as many as she could.
That translated into a lifelong love for color, for people and for costumes and fiber.
She attended Stephens College and University of Missouri, and even worked as a dress designer for a period of her life. Costumes became a regular motif in her artwork.
After her marriage to Henderson County native E.A. “Dick” Whitledge, a farmer and businessman, and a move here, she started the art programs at HCHS. (The Whitledges were married 63 years until his passing in 2013.)
She said she loved teaching, recalling fondly the arts fairs that were organized and presented during her era and one arts education trip to Europe with students.
“It was a wonderful thing,” she said of the arts fair approach, which was not limited to visual arts. “It was just alive with activity. The whole school was involved.”
But there were smaller projects, too, that allowed her to work with students one-on-one to help them hone their skills.
“When they had a project, I had a project, too,” Whitledge said.
One of her students was well-known local artist Susie Rideout, who remembers Whitledge as “beautiful,” having “a wicked sense of humor” and “the classiest dresser.”
The respect she extended toward her students, addressing them as “Miss Tompkins” (Susie’s maiden name) and “Mr. So-and-So,” still resonates with Rideout.
“She was so kind and respectful. I just wanted to be her,” she said, “and she had the respect of everyone there. I never heard an unkind word said about Neel.”
After Rideout took art classes under Whitledge for two years, she said, it still wasn’t enough to satisfy, so she and two other students petitioned the principal to allow them to enroll in more art class.
He agreed to let them take an Art 3 class as seniors, with Whitledge teaching, but it was without an earned credit. Not to be discouraged by that condition, they set up their work areas in a storage closet next to the art room filled with sophomores and juniors and painted away to the music Whitledge liked to play in her classroom for inspiration.
It was during that time that Rideout met her future husband, Paul Rideout.
“She gives herself credit for getting us together,” Rideout said, noting that a few years later they named their daughter Susan Neel after Whitledge.
“We’ve just stayed close over the years,” Rideout said, adding that she still visits Whitledge at her home here. “She’s just always been special.”
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A 100th birthday reception for Whitledge will take place from 2-4 p.m. Tuesday, June 18, at First Christian Church, 830 S. Green St. for anyone who would like to stop by.
