When his parent’s home in New Orleans was flooded during Hurricane Katrina, Ron Levy of Hancock had an unusual task – to help salvage, dry and organize the more than 2,500 sketches and paintings his father Byron had produced over a lifetime.

“Their house was not nearly as bad as many, but it took in water. It was definitely damaged and a lot of art got wet,” Levy said. “Most of it was unframed, and we had it drying out all over the garden.” 

Byron Levy, who ran a wholesale paper company in his professional life, was a prolific artist who kept drawing and painting until the day he died in 2015, at age 95. An exhibit of his work, titled “A Side of Gumbo” to honor the family’s New Orleans heritage, is on display at the Hancock Town Library until Jan. 7. The paintings, prints and drawings are on display any time the library, located at 25 Main St., is open and the room is not in use. For information, call 603-525-4411. 

More than 50 people attended the opening reception, which included gumbo by Fiddleheads Cafe. Levy said a closing event has yet to be determined.

When Levy’s parents moved to a retirement community in Baton Rouge in the aftermath of the  hurricane, he started the process of organizing and preserving his father’s vast collection of drawings, prints and watercolors, including 150 sketchbooks. 

“My son and I went down there and digitized 2,500 pieces of art,” Levy said. “There was enough to wallpaper a house.” 

As he went through his father’s work, Levy, a trained historian, recognized that much of the art had historic value.

“My father was stationed in Guam after World War II was over, and the theme was ‘boredom.’ He sketched soldiers marking time. Some of that will go to the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, and some of his work will be archived in the Historic New Orleans Collection,” Levy said 

One of Ron’s three sons, filmmaker Colin Levy, got involved in the process of documenting his grandfather’s work, creating a short film called “My Grandfather’s Memory Book” about the thousands of pieces of art Byron Levy left behind. 

“My dad always had a sketchbook,” Ron Levy said. “He made ‘Gramps Books’ books for our three sons and he gave them sketchbooks, and two of them became artists. They always have sketchbooks in their hands.”

In July, Levy organized the first exhibition of his father’s work at The Old Library in Nelson, where his wife, Ellen, grew up spending summers. Levy worked with Lynn Francis, director of The Old Library, to create  “Woods and Water: New England Scenes, 1955-2008,” which included more than 20 of Ron Levy’s paintings inspired by trips to New England.

At the exhibit in Hancock, Byron Levy’s work is grouped chronologically. The first wall depicts New England-inspired scenes with a vintage flair, and the second includes paintings and drawings of boats.

“My father lived his whole life in New Orleans, and there are a lot of boats,” Levy said.

The elder Levy studied with several influential painters, including Chinese-American watercolorist Dong Kingman, with whom he corresponded his entire life. Byron Levy was also inspired by painters Edgar Whitney and Milford Zornes. 

“My father never wanted to be a professional artist. He wanted to have room to experiment,” Levy said. “And he had to support a family, so he went into the paper business. It came in handy to have so much paper around.” 

Another of Byron Levy’s passions was jazz. A native of New Orleans, he spent many hours sketching and drawing in the city, particularly at the famed Preservation Hall jazz venue.

“My dad said when he went into Preservation Hall, something just came over him. Preservation Hall was relatively new then; it opened in the 1950s.  My dad painted on newsprint and posters; it was a very different style from what he had done before. He sketched at the hall and made paintings,” Levy said.

One of Byron Levy’s favorite subjects was a jazz pianist known as “Sweet Emma.” Sweet Emma is featured in many of his poster and collage-style works, reflecting the energy and eclectic nature of jazz. 

The Hancock exhibit includes QR codes with links to additional information about Byron Levy’s influences and inspirations. One group of New Orleans-inspired paintings includes the title “Lagniappe,” a local New Orleans term which was celebrated by Mark Twain.

Levy said that in the process of preserving his father’s work, his one regret is that he didn’t show more of it to his dad. 

“I’m sorry we didn’t spend more time showing my dad the work as we went through it. He probably finished things and never looked at them again. He would have been tickled that people are looking at them now,” he said.