Beaufort, North Carolina Artists: Remembering Al Goellner

Born January 19, 1942, our neighbor, artist and friend, Albert James Goellner, passed away October 31, 2019.

After a noted career in advertising and graphic design in the Atlanta area, years ago Al Goellner and wife Ann retired to Beaufort, where they settled in their beloved D.W. and Minnie Morton House on Orange Street. Al was very proud of their historic home and his "Sycamore Studio," named for a nearby tree.

Born in Clifton Springs, New York, son of the late Henry and Elizabeth Miller Goellner, Al spent his early years in Port Gibson, New York, and graduated high school in Newark, New York. Al and Ann were married in 1963.

Al served in the U.S. Army from 1954 through May 1966, where he was a visual training aid specialist. He received his bachelor of fine arts degree at Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York, with a major in advertising design. Al then worked in advertising and graphic art in Detroit and New York, then to Atlanta, where he was an assistant creative director. After retiring, Al continued to share his artistic talent with friends and business in the Beaufort community.

Al and Ann together, with Ann’s career as a respected French teacher in Georgia, extended their interest to Beaufort Sister Cities, reaching around the world with the 24 known Beaufort communities. In 2009, they coordinated a successful and memorable gathering in Beaufort with visitors from many Beauforts, coordinating locals to serve as host families to the visitors. Ann and Al also supported and stimulated community interest in the Culinary Program (including internships in France) at Carteret County Community College.

Al worked with pen and ink, water colors, acrylics and oils. His freelance approach from 1986 through 1996 extended to graphic design and illustration. He also produced weekly political cartoons for The Beaufort Gam newspaper. Al showed his nautically-themed paintings at the Mattie King Davis Art Gallery, where he was also a volunteer. In 2000, Al was chosen as the featured Millennium Artist for the N.C. Seafood Festival (see below).

[Note from fellow-artist Mary Warshaw - "After I moved to Orange Street and painted my first small porch paintings, I met and showed Al some of my work at the local coffee shop, where he suggested, 'You may want to do prints of these.'"]

Al volunteered at the Maritime Museum, the Harvey W. Smith Watercraft Center, and the Beaufort Historical Association. For many years, Al participated in the annual John Costlow Model Train Show.