For more than seven decades, members of the Voss family have had their names etched into Maryland's equestrian history.
Franklin B. Voss was the top American equine artist of his time, and Edward "Ned" Voss served as master of foxhounds at the Elkridge-Harford Hunt Club for 31 years - longer than any other master in the club's history.
Their legacies are part of Tom Voss' daily life. Edward Voss was his grandfather and Franklin Voss was his great-uncle.
"These people were part of my family," said Tom Voss, 57, of Monkton. "Frank Voss died when I was about three, so I didn't really know him. But their art filled the walls of our house, so I saw it every day."
Although he says he can't draw a straight line, Tom Voss has made a name for himself as a land preservationist and a joint master of foxhounds (a horseman who leads a team of hunters), and is recognized as one of the most successful trainers in thoroughbred racing history.
On April 5, Tom Voss will host the Elkridge-Harford Point-to-Point at Atlanta Hall, a tradition started at the family farm in the 1940s by his grandfather Edward. And on April 10, he will attend the opening of an exhibit, The Voss Family: Artists of American Sporting Life, at the Maryland Historical Society.
Edward Voss moved to Harford County's hunt country in the late 1930s when he purchased Atlanta Hall, a 900-acre horse farm. He became a master of foxhounds for the Elkridge-Harford Hunt Club and later moved the Elkridge-Harford Point-to-Point to the farm.
The Point-to-Point is run by thoroughbred horses over fences, and is recognized as the tune-up for Maryland's three big steeplechase races, Voss said.
Tom Voss was preordained to continue his grandfather's racing tradition after he took over Atlanta Hall more than 25 years ago, he said. "The Point-to-Point just kind of landed in my lap," he said. "It was expected that I would continue to hold it at Atlanta Hall, whether I liked it or not."
Chances are he liked it.
As a young boy, he learned to ride, and then show horses. He gravitated to racing horses, which he did for about a decade. Unable to maintain his weight to ride as a jockey, in 1973 he became the Voss family's first race horse trainer.
During the past three decades, he has trained hundreds of horses, including John's Call, a 9-year-old gelding that won the Turf Classic Invitational in 2000 at Belmont Park.
Although Voss trains horses for steeplechase and flat races, he said he has no preference.
"There is more action in steeplechase races," Voss said. "But there are more chances to race in flat races. I get the same kick out of both."
As for the art exhibit, Tom and his wife, Mimi, became involved when they were contacted by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Tom thought the exhibit was warranted.
"Frank Voss painted mostly on commission, so most of his works were not mass-produced," Tom said. "Some of the pieces in the exhibit have never been seen by the public. The Voss family artists had never been in the limelight. I think they would be aghast if they knew what was going on. But I think there's a need to have the exhibit. It's the only way people will ever see some of the art."
Gregory Weidman, who served as a guest curator to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, spent two years researching and preparing the exhibit. Having been on display at the racing museum since July, the exhibit is now traveling to Maryland.
"It just made sense to have the exhibit in Maryland," said Weidman, who worked on the staff of the Maryland Historical Society for 20 years, including 17 as a curator. "The Voss family artists had a strong connection to Maryland, and some of the Voss family still live here."
The exhibit of the Voss family art belongs in the Maryland Historical Society, said Peter Winants, who knew the Voss family and wrote a book in 2005 called The Sporting Art of Franklin B. Voss.
"The paintings depict so many scenes that I cherished, and people that I admire so," said Winants, 81, a Maryland native who lives in Rectortown, Va.
"Their presence is most heartily felt by many people in Maryland through their love of steeplechasing, and even more so through Ned Voss and his love of foxhunting. Ned was a master of foxhounds for years, and now his grandson Tom is a master, so the Voss name lives on in that heritage."
Included in the Maryland exhibit are about 85 works of art - oil paintings, watercolors, pastels, prints, and sculptures - that are on loan from six museums and 28 private lenders.
Although many of the artworks were in the original exhibition, the historical society has included more Maryland scenes, Weidman said. The exhibit focuses primarily on the works of Franklin Brooke Voss, she said.
"Frank Voss captures all aspects of Maryland sports in his art," said Weidman, curator of an exhibition at the Maryland Historical Society honoring the 100th anniversary of the Maryland Hunt Cup. "He captures a way of life that is fading."
Other artists included in the exhibit are Jessie Voss Lewis, a pastel artist; her brother, Edward S. Voss, a watercolor artist; his wife, Elsa Horne Voss, a sculptor of horses in bronze.
A third brother, Stuart F. Voss, whose work is not included in this exhibit, was also a family artist.
This is not the first time an exhibit of the Voss art has been put together, said Maryanna Skowronski, who coordinated an exhibit called "Sporting Art of the Voss Family" in 1999 at the Gallery at the Liriodendron in Bel Air. That exhibit included about 31 works of art on loan from private collections, she said.
When the Point-to Point is over, and the exhibit has moved on, Tom Voss is confident that people will remember his family, their art and their contributions to thoroughbred racing.
"The paintings will live on and on" he said. "In my opinion, the art is priceless. As for me, I don't really care what people think of me. But if they have to remember something, I hope they will remember that I was a fair person, who did a lot to preserve this land and the steeplechase."
The artwork will be on display at the Maryland Historical Society, 201 W. Monument St. in Baltimore from April 11 to July 27. For more information: 410-685-3750 or www.mdhs.org.