HOWLAND — For Graham Wilson, the collection of Boy Scout paintings housed at the Medici Museum of Art brought back memories of his time in Scouts.

“In a lot of the paintings, they’re wearing the same uniform as I wore,” Wilson said. He recognized the cover of a handbook, too, and fondly recalled his former Scoutmaster while looking at Norman Rockwell’s “The Scoutmaster.”

Wilson, a board member on the Raleigh, N.C.-based Occoneechee Council of the Boy Scouts of America, was one of approximately 25 visitors who flew from North Carolina to view all 65 of Rockwell’s Boy Scout paintings Friday evening.

“It’s fantastic for us to get the chance to see them all in once place,” said Cliff Rogers, an Eagle Scout and a board member of the Occoneechee Council.

The BSA Art Collection at Medici also features works by painters and illustrators including Walt Disney, Carl Clemens Mortiz Rungius, Howard Chandler Christy and Joseph Christian Leyendecker.

“This is pretty special,” Occoneechee Council past president Dan Bryson remarked of the collection while addressing the visitors, local supporters of the Scouts, Medici Museum staff and four boys from Blessed Sacrament Boy Scout Troop 101.

The group from North Carolina included board members of the Occoneechee Council, former Scouts and friends of the Boy Scouts. Among them was Paul Newby, chief justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina, and Charles Flowers, Occoneechee Council Scout executive / CEO.

“It’s quite inspirational,” Flowers said. “This is such a treasure in Warren, Ohio.”

He pointed to how the Rockwell paintings reflect the times in which they were painted. The BSA collection spans about 100 years of history, according to Medici Associate Art Director Katelyn Amendolara-Russo. The Rockwells in particular are arranged by theme and the values they depict.

“It depicts the virtues and values of America as it should be,” Amendolara-Russo said.

She said Scout paintings have produced a lot of interest, and requests to see the gallery have come from as far as Hawaii and Alaska. She is working on creating a virtual gallery and an app for the museum so the artwork will be accessible to Scouts and Rockwell enthusiasts everywhere. The gallery tour will allow the viewer to stand in front of a particular painting and will include audio by Amendolara-Russo.

Visitors Friday also had the opportunity to tour a new, unopened section of museum that will host more paintings. Amendolara-Russo said the Medici is planning programming to bring the community into the museum.

avugrincic@tribtoday.com