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Circus Comes to Life at Dunedin Fine Art Center

"He willingly revealed sideshow secrets and told me how much the fat lady really did weigh."

Editor's Note: This is a firsthand account of the Dunedin Fine Art Center's exhibit opening for "SideShow," "Believe It or Not?" and "Under the Big Top" on Sept. 9 and 10. The exhibit opening was held in conjunction with the grand reopening of the David L. Mason Children’s Art Museum. Author Diana Boze Proia is a Clearwater resident who works in Dunedin. Proia attended the event in support of her friends, Louis and Valarie Flack, who donated $1.2 million toward the new wing and for whom it is named.

The Art of the Circus

The circus is in town; at least, that is what it felt like as I entered the for the grand opening of the Louis and Valarie Flack east wing. 

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When I entered the building I saw poster size canvas paintings depicting the drama during the golden era of the circus. Contemporary artists had presented vintage sideshow banners to capture the inspiration of the circus. Before the circus came to town colorful posters were designed and plastered all over town to generate excitement.

As I walked down the hall I saw posters of people with human deformities that made up the sideshow. I felt like the circus was all around me. If I closed my eyes, I could see a ferris wheel and the Tilt- A-Whirl at the beginning of the midway. Under the "Big Top" are the freaks of nature, the midget, the two-headed lady, the ugliest woman alive and of course the fattest lady in the world. The only thing missing was the smell of funnel cakes.

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A colorful, painted canvas of a fat lady caught my eye. As I stood in front of it to admire the artist’s work, the gentleman next to me said,  “It’s beautifully done don’t you think?”

He was a small, balding man with most of his teeth missing. He was dressed in a bright yellow polyester sport coat weathered with age. 

“I can tell you about the artist because I know him. This colorful banner was created by Johnny Meah, a Safety Harbor artist,” he said.

I later found out that the canvas was owned by Susan Benjamin and on loan to the Art Center for the exhibit.

He extended his hand and introduced himself: “I’m Ward Hall. I was a sideshow master for the circus.” 

He then gave me information about his life. Long ago he traveled with the circus. He worked for the Cole Brothers and the Ringling Brothers in Sarasota and lives in Gibsonton with his long time friend Pete Turhurne, a midget who toured with the circus.

Ward ran away from home at age 15 to get away from his father and joined up with the circus. He started out being a clown but he wasn’t very good at it. He was better at attracting people to the sideshows.  That’s what he did best for 57 years. He was the P.T. Barnum of his time. Inside the Art Center, he got to revisit his past.

I was there because I knew Valarie and Louis Flack and wanted to see the new wing in their honor. What I got was a surprise visit from a circus legend. He willingly revealed sideshow secrets and told me how much the fat lady really did weigh. The midget who he befriended was the youngest Munchkin in "The Wizard of Oz." Ward discovered him washing dishes in a diner.

“Years ago, sideshows were the main attraction of the circus,” he explained. “Now you sit in your living room and watch the freaks on 'The Jerry Springer Show'.” He just shook his head.

“Would you like to hear some of my circus lines, young lady?” 

“Why yes,” I said. Here before me was the last of the great circus barkers. This was my lucky day.

He bellowed as he pointed to the canvas, “Ladies and gentlemen, here live, is Baby Irene. She’s the biggest, fattest lady you’ve ever seen. She weighs 826 pounds. She’s so big it takes five men to hug her. She’s so fat it takes a truck to lug her.”

He leaned close and whispered to me, “She really only weighs 419 pounds, but the sideshow master NEVER lies." I could almost feel the circus saw dust under my feet as he spoke.

Sideshows have become a thing of the past. You now can see tattooed people at Wal-Mart and fat people at any fast food restaurant. And the bearded lady can walk into any spa and get her chin hot waxed. The circus as he knew it was but a memory being kept alive by the artists.

Our time together was about to come to an end. It was Sunday afternoon and almost 4 p.m., the Art Center was about to close. I walked with Ward to the exit door and said goodbye. He had a long drive back to Gibsonton. As he walked through the parking lot to his car, I watched a piece of the legendary circus era slowly fade away before my eyes.

*Last Updated 7:08 p.m., Sept. 22, 2011.

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