Passing a Community Heirloom: Stuart Family Painting Donated to The Dream Center
M. Todd Manuel
FWIS Contributing Writer
Significant moments in our community's history are often forgotten and left unrecorded but remain foundational to who we are. When changes arise for any reason, we can identify moments or benchmarks representing the best part of us and our development into a better place. One of these moments happened on an evening on March 17, 2023, when Clarence Stuart Jr. donated a piece of his father's artwork collection to the community's newest location created to enhance area businesses and the health of Southeast Fort Wayne. The Dream Center, located at 1615 East Wallace Street, is a business incubator, generator, and educational Center providing resources that feed our community's dreams. And fortunately, the Center's opening has been well-received by community leaders and members alike. Leading up to the Center's grand opening on March 24, 2023, a personal donation set the stage for new beginnings. A painting, a work of art, and now a community heirloom that has been handed down from a prominent Fort Wayne businessman, Mr. Clarence Stuart of Stuart Manufacturing.
I captured the very moment that Clarence Jr. stopped by his father's old offices to donate a part of his father's passions to the Center for Dreams, which meant so much to me. Who would have known that a black man created and maintained the functions of a well-profited business located blocks from the only zip code I have called home--46806. In a place where not much about black companies is known, Stuart Manufacturing was sitting here the entire time behind the building we know as "Link's Wonderland," and housed over 70 staff members until 2018. As I think about it, how much of an inspiration and influence did Stuart Jr's father, Clarence Stuart, have on this community and others, though many have yet to learn that the nearly 50,000 square foot building was indeed once home of a very profitable black-owned business.
The gift to me represented more than a painting; it captures the diamonds in the rough that many of us know as home. Stuart, like many, was a self-made man who was college educated and an instrumental businessman here in Fort Wayne. But, looking deeper, I found out so many great things about Mr. Stuart. Not only was he a devoted father and husband but also a support to local government leaders and a sponsor of a local job skills program designed to teach entry-level workers trades and quality standards.
Speaking to Stuart Jr., I could tell that his father was a humble man that credited his business success to God alone. After speaking with Stuart Jr on the phone, he explained that "[his father] would not have ever wanted all of the attention". Stuart might have been running a company with impressive revenue, but he wanted to avoid the spotlight, so many didn't know him by name. However, as a God-fearing man, Clarence Stuart believed in helping others. He was instrumental in the physical construction of Pilgrim Baptist Church's building located at 1331 Gay Street here in Fort Wayne. As if this was enough inspiration, Clarence's early life and background made his story even more profound.
Mr. Clarence Stuart was born in Panama, an area of the Panama Canal in Central America. Stuart came to the United States through a scholarship program given to him for his excellent academics to attend Taylor University in Marion, IN. Clarence Stuart graduated as the valedictorian of this high school and moved to Marion, where he met his wife, with whom he stayed married for the remaining period of his life.
After graduating from college, Mr. Stuart worked for the GTE phone company for several years. Eventually, he became a higher-level manager before starting his own business, Stuart Manufacturing & Sentry Supply Incorporated. Mr. Stuart was a dynamic individual, and his story remains one of the greatest inspirations of our local community. His willingness to help and train others and his leadership in our community were immense.
Moreover, as his son puts it, Mr. Stuart was a collector of "many things," and great artwork was just one of them. The piece Stuart donated to The Dream Center is Untitled and is an original painting that represents the transcendence of who we are and who we have become as a people and are becoming as human beings--generally. Like art, we are beautiful and made in a creator's eyes, making us all masterpieces. Like an artist's work, we are made perfect in our attempt to improve. And becoming better is within anyone's reach for greatness.
Clarence Stuart's legacy is just part of that greatness, and the donated artwork represents a successful attempt to leave this place better than when we came. The painting is not just a form of expression, but its passage has become a symbol of how dreams have and will come true when we work hard to reach our goals.