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Great-grandsons to honor artist with 'Project Pearl'

By TIMES STAFF
Published June 24, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG

Thirty years after his death, Earl Gresh's great-grandsons have concocted Project Earl as part of their photography business to honor the memory of one of the city's most influential artists and businessmen.

Michael and Matthew Gresh run Gresh Photography from home, but are seeking to develop an art studio downtown and populate it with samples of their great-grandfather's famous woodworking, as well as the photography he took up late in life.

From the '20s until his death, Gresh was at turns a band leader, broadcaster, boat builder and bowler. He was nearly as renowned as a fisherman as he was for his wooden purses. He built the Wood Parade at 2221 Fourth St. N in 1937, and it became a tourist attraction. The great-grandsons are hoping to collect samples of his work for their as-yet unlocated studio and are also working on a plan to preserve Gresh's signature work, the 16-panel Life of Christ series now on display at Memorial Park Mausoleum at 49th Street and 54th Avenue N. Michael Gresh said few know of Gresh's photography, which he took up after an arm injury prevented other activities. "We've come full circle, " he said of the business Earl planned to start himself when he died in 1977. For more information on Project Earl, contact the brothers at 459-5464 or greshphoto.com.

[Last modified June 23, 2007, 23:34:53]