No. 20 Vol. 7
www.mypaperonline.com • 973-809-4784
July 2024
Local Realtor Meets Local Artist and History is Reimagined
A
By Megan Roche unique friendship between a forty-year Indian Lake resident and a local artist has spawned a new commemorative art piece in Denville. Indian Lake is celebrating its 100th birthday in 2024. The community began as more of a summer bungalow community where folks from New York City would spend their summers away from the hustle and bustle of urban life. Clearing and dredging approximately 75 or so acres of land, using oxen and both manual and steam shovels, and damming the outflow from Estling Lake with an earthen dam and spillway that is the present North Shore Road resulted in Indian Lake. In addition to the main lake, there are the contiguous Bay of Sunset Waters, the Lagoon and lower pond below the dam, as well as Indian Spring Pond. Since 1924, the lake and its members have been served by countless volunteers as Board of Trustee members, women’s and men’s and other leaders for social and sports activities. The Indian Lake Community Club and its various teams have a most enviable record of first-place wins in the HUB Lakes inter-lake organization sports competitions. Today, the bungalows have become 1200 year-round homes, a few having sold for over one million dollars. Indian Lake resident Bill Murray wanted to help honor the centennial in a fun way. After meeting artist Jacob Below at a local art show at Gardner Field, Murray inquired about having Below create a piece to showcase Indian Lake. Below, who is known for his Denville clocktower painting, was thrilled to get the opportunity. After Murray gave him a tour and some information on Indian Lake, Below got to work. “Bill decided that it would be a great idea to give me a tour of Indian Lake and some of its infamous landmarks. After I got those landscapes in mind, I went back and did a little brainstorming and I decided that the process would be broken up into six different segments where I could focus on a different section of the lake at a time,” Below said. The Indian Lake Map showcases many of the lake’s landmarks, from the Indian Lake Bistro, Lenape Island, the Lollipop Bridge, Monkey Island, the Indian Lake Clubhouse, and the Baby Beach.
Denville artist Jacob Below created the Indian Lake Map art piece in honor of the 100th Anniversary of Indian Lake.
Below also factored in all the different water activities that take place along Indian Lake’s shoreline in the summer including boating, sailing, fishing, waterskiing, and swimming. Below was honored to get the opportunity to showcase Indian Lake for the centennial in creating the piece. “It’s a tremendous honor. I definitely recognize how big of a deal this is for so many people. I wanted to make it special as possible for the people of Indian Lake and create something that would really stick in people’s memories even more,” Below said. Both Murray and Below hope to be able to offer prints of the piece and are working to create different items (postcards, bags, tee-shirts) to sell. The two are also hoping to find a location in Indian Lake to show off the piece. Below’s Indian Lake piece as well as his other Denville paintings can be seen on www.jacobbelow.com.