The Jim Morrison Home Legacy Series
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The collection includes 67 pieces in all, mainly doors and windows, from the home of Paul and Caroline Morrison, Jim Morrison’s grandparents, formerly of 314 N. Osceola Avenue, Clearwater, Florida. Jim lived there as a baby from 1944 – 1947, and as a teenager from 1961 – 1963 while attending St. Petersburg Junior College. James Douglas Morrison (8 December 1943 – 3 July 1971) was an American singer, songwriter, and poet. He was best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the popular American rock band The Doors, and is considered to be one of the most charismatic frontmen in the history of rock music. Morrison’s death at the age of 27 in Paris stunned his fans; the circumstances of his death and secret burial have been the subject of endless rumors and play a significant part in the mystique that continues to surround him. (Wikipedia) The cemetery in which Morrison is buried (where such luminaries as Oscar Wilde, Gertrude Stein, Edith Piaf, and Frédéric Chopin are also buried) receives 1.5 million visitors a year; a large number of them attributed to Morrison. Morrison’s recordings still go double platinum (over 2 million sold) every year. |
| Both founders of Triangle Development are Clearwater residents, philanthropists and businessmen of high integrity dedicated to improving our local community and the lives of others on a broad scale. Ben Kugler, a father of seven, has made it his life’s work to give children a fair start in life. At 14, he was honored as the Number One fundraiser in Illinois with his door-to-door solicitations for Leukemia Research, and prior to his graduation from the University of Illinois he raised thousands for the children caught up in the Biafran war. Over the last 20 years he has co-founded and been the chief fund-raiser for four children’s charities which have helped thousands of foster children, economically deprived and at-risk teens to succeed better in life. | |
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His partner, Ron Pollack, a Harvard Law graduate and father of five children, has similarly donated significant time and money to many different charitable and social-betterment endeavors. These include serving as chairman of the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project, a groundbreaking program in NYC that treats those who suffer from toxic exposure as a result of the 9/11 tragedy. Through his Pollack Family Foundation which he founded in 1999, he also supports many local charities and the arts, including Clearwater’s Ruth Eckerd Hall, St. Petersburg’s American Stage Theater and the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. |
The first item in The Jim Morrison Home Legacy Series is a cabinet door
from the bathroom at the front of the house, painted by well-known local
Clearwater artist
Doug Wright. (Doug has participated in a number of charitable
causes, such as the 1999 “Tour of Turtles,” where he was one
of the 20 contributing artists, including Peter Max, and Ron was a co-sponsor.).
This piece is earmarked for an upcoming local charity auction benefiting
Habitat for Humanity, Paint Your Heart Out Clearwater, PARC (Pinellas
Association for Retarded Children), Pinellas Village and The Safe Children
Coalition.
Requests have come in to Triangle Development from other local charities
to help with their events as well, including the Clearwater Library. Jim
once had a library card there, and they plan to dedicate a room to him
(so a door from the Clearwater home he lived in would be very fitting).
Future pieces will be donated to other local charities, such as the Clearwater
Marine Aquarium (the main beneficiary of the Turtles Tour), Dunedin Fine
Arts Center, Clearwater Jazz Holiday (the largest free jazz festival in
the United States outside of New Orleans), Ruth Eckerd Hall, the Clearwater
Free Clinic, as well as national and international children’s charities
such as St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Make a Wish Foundation,
etc. and to drug rehabilitation efforts, including Eric Clapton’s
drug rehab facility.
| Plans for the series include having a full size door painted next. (See Doug Wright's preliminary sketch, to the right.) This will be mounted on a door frame so it can stand upright and open and close, and a doorbell will be attached to the frame which, when pressed, plays parts of familiar Doors songs like Hello, I Love You, Break On Through (To The Other Side), and Back Door Man. Triangle Development Company is very pleased to announce that world-renowned artist Jim Warren (www.JimWarren.com) has committed to painting the full size door from Jim Morrison's bedroom that led to the outside. It was through this door that Jim would come home to his grandparent's house after his many late night outings. An
unveiling party for the first several full size doors is being planned
for late 2007. Doors tribute bands will perform, and at least one
of the doors will be auctioned off that evening. The auction will
run live and on eBay concurrently, with the eBay auction set to
end during the event, and the audience in attendance will be able
to participate in the bidding along with the participants on the
internet. A projection screen attached to a computer will allow
the attendees to view the action on eBay. |
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Artists
from around the globe will be invited to participate in the project
through a competition in which the artists will submit sketches of
their vision of the door. This will be promoted with ads placed in
Art News Magazine and similar publications and run through Dunedin
Fine Art Center, where their renderings will be received and judged.
Winning artists will receive the artifact to produce their work on,
and will get in payment a portion of the donations received from the
charity auction of the piece, which they can keep or donate to their
favorite charity. |
The Developers are considering adding a Morrison Cafe to the retail area of their Island View condominium project. The restaurant will feature specialty coffees and menu items dedicated to Jim Morrison, and will house baby pictures, poetry and music by the late singer, as well as other rock & roll memorabilia surrounding the Doors.
