By Lauren Beavis
An American teenager is selling a valuable family painting to help a British museum – as part of her Girl Scouts’ project.
Amelia Cimbalo, 17, and her father Jeff spend their summer holidays in Scotland.
They both share a passion for Fort William’s West Highland Museum.
Amelia, a museum volunteer from Virginia, set up her own charity as part of her Girl Scout final project to help the museum’s £6.2m redevelopment program.
The charity, American Friends of Highland Culture, aims to ‘educate and inspire a deeper appreciation for Highlands heritage and to actively support organizations in Scotland’s Highland region.’
To help the museum, Amelia is putting a painting up for auction with fine art auctioneers Lyon and Turnbull.
It is ‘Travellers on a Country Path, Possibly Ayr Beyond’ by Edinburgh-born artist Alexander Nasmyth – expected to sell for between £3,000 and £5,000.
Amelia said: “Scotland is my second home.
“I love coming to the Highlands and to the museum, which celebrates the rich history and culture of the West Highlands.
“I really wanted to make a contribution to the Museum’s future and am so excited to see what the painting fetches at auction.”
The artwork is by renowned Scottish landscape and portrait artist, Alexander Nasmyth (1758-1840).
Nasmyth, who famously painted a portrait of his friend Robert Burns, is celebrated as a founder of the Scottish landscape tradition.
Jeff Cimbalo, Amelia’s father, said: “I’m so proud of Amelia and of her drive and determination to set up the charity to benefit a whole range of causes, beginning with the West Highland Museum.
“We’ll both be on tenterhooks on the day of the auction!”
The museum – in Fort William’s Cameron Square – is popular with fans of the Outlander books and TV series, who come to see its large collection of objects associated with the Jacobite cause.
Its new redevelopment appeal will safeguard the museum’s unique collection and allow the expansion of the gallery spaces, as well as the creation of new community and educational facilities.
Alice Strang, senior fine art specialist at premier fine art and antiques auction house Lyon & Turnbull, said: “What an amazing Girl Scout Amelia is, to have established not only a charity for her final Scout project, but one that will support Highland heritage.
“Travellers on a Country Path, Possibly Ayr Beyond is a gem of a painting by one of Scotland’s most important artists and its sale will help the West Highland Museum’s exciting redevelopment plans.”
