NORWICH — The paintings of local artist and Chenango County Historian Henry J. Drexler are now on display in the Chenango County courtroom at the Eaton Center.

Included in the display are Drexler's acrylic paintings of local barns, cows, Madison County wind turbines, and scenic landscapes in the Adirondack Mountains.

"I grew up here in Chenango County, Smyrna, and so I had an affinity for the local landscape in particular, and since I grew up on a farm, I also have an affinity for cows," said Drexler. "The focus of my stuff is on local areas, but we do vacation up in the Adirondacks on Raquette Lake, so I’ve done paintings throughout the Adirondacks."

Chenango County Court Judge Hon. Frank B. Revoir, Jr. said county court was moved to the Eaton Center in 2014, and although the new courtroom looks nice, it's had empty walls since then.

"Even though it’s a beautiful courtroom, they did a great job, it’s still always been very stark," he said. "And as we all know, courtroom experiences can be not pleasant, and they can be intimidating just walking in. I mean, with all of the decor and the lighting and everything about it, it can be frightening, if you will, and unsettling."

For the past two years, Revoir and Chenango County Court Attorney Claudette Y. Newman, Esq. have been discussing brightening the space with some local artwork.

Drexler seemed like a natural fit. Not only does he paint recognizable local scenes, he is also a retired attorney, spending 40 years as the Legal Service Provider for the Area Agency on Aging and 37 years as the County Ombudsman for long-term care nursing homes.

"We should get some artwork or something down here because there’s no windows and it would brighten up the place," said Revoir. "Then we thought of Henry [Drexler's] work, which a lot of it is recognizable. So the thought was, we put this stuff up on the wall, it makes it more inviting, less intimidating and just bland, and it would also, because these photos are recognizable, it would kind of make [people] at ease."

"He’s an attorney ... Born here, raised here, grew up on a farm, paints everything in our area, has appreciation for it," he continued. "It just seemed like in a court system that is supposed to protect the people of the county, who’s artwork would be better?"

Drexler said he was more than happy to share some of his work with the courts; as an avid painter since the age of nine, he said he's created hundreds of works.

Revoir said he hopes to also display more of Drexler's artwork at the other two county courtrooms, and he would also be open to displaying the work of other local artists.

"As I do new work over time, knowing that I have this venue, I can think about painting things that would specifically go nicely here," said Drexler. "I would anticipate doing additional work over time with this place in mind."

Since the paintings were put on display, Revoir said they've accomplished what they had hoped: the courtroom is now a more inviting place, and people are more comfortable when they walk through the door.

"Already it is doing what we hoped it would do, which is people come through the door, litigants and attorneys, and they’re more at ease," he said. "They start talking about the paintings. Sometimes they look up at me and they ask me, 'who did these? Where did these come from? Is that in Madison County?' It’s worked. And now this courtroom is far more beautiful than it was. It was impressive, but now it’s beautiful, too."

"The whole court administration is trying to have the courts be more accessible, for people to feel more comfortable coming," said Newman. "This is a perfect example. I think of what they’re trying to achieve, and we achieved it."