John O'Reilly (left) and James Tellin (right) in front of their Grafton Street home.
One day in the early 1960s, artists and partners John O’Reilly and James Tellin were driving from New York to Bar Harbor, Maine, with the idea of settling there, when their car broke down in Worcester.
The couple and their friends have told several differing stories about what happened next: that an old acquaintance suggested that Worcester had job opportunities for prospective schoolteachers; that they stumbled on a store with a “Help Wanted” sign and were hired on the spot; that they were simply too broke to repair the car. At any rate, they ended up staying for more than 60 years, creating an unlikely haven for themselves and other artists in this small postindustrial city.
