Here are two examples of a garden drop design by Twin City Scenic Co. artists. The design was used for the Brown Grand Theater in Concordia, Kansas, and St. Patrick’s Parish Hall in Shieldsville, Minnesota. I restored the Brown Grand garden drop in 2002 and the Shieldsville drop in 2017. It was fun to see the shift in technique and color palette by Twin City Scenic Co. artists over the course of a decade.
The Brown Grand Theatre garden drop before restoration.Detail. The Brown Grand Theatre garden drop before restoration.The Brown Grand Theatre garden drop after restoration by Wendy Rae Waszut-Barrett.Minimizing water damage. The Brown Grand Theatre garden drop after restoration by Wendy Rae Waszut-Barrett.Minimizing water damage. The Brown Grand Theatre garden drop after restoration by Wendy Rae Waszut-Barrett.Same design for the Parish Hall at St. Patrick’s Church in Shieldsville, Minnesota. Deterioration included water damage, pigeon droppings and dusting pigment.The Parish Hall garden drop after restoration by Wendy Rae Waszut-Barrett.Painted detail from the Parish Hall drop in Shieldsville, Minnesota.Painted detail from the Parish Hall drop in Shieldsville, Minnesota.
Author: waszut_barrett@me.com
Wendy Rae Waszut-Barrett, PhD, is an author, artist, and historian, specializing in painted settings for opera houses, vaudeville theaters, social halls, cinemas, and other entertainment venues. For over thirty years, her passion has remained the preservation of theatrical heritage, restoration of historic backdrops, and the training of scenic artists in lost painting techniques. In addition to evaluating, restoring, and replicating historic scenes, Waszut-Barrett also writes about forgotten scenic art techniques and theatre manufacturers. Recent publications include the The Santa Fe Scottish Rite Temple: Freemasonry, Architecture and Theatre (Museum of New Mexico Press, 2018), as well as articles for Theatre Historical Society of America’s Marquee, InitiativeTheatre Museum Berlin’s Die Vierte Wand, and various Masonic publications such as Scottish Rite Journal, Heredom and Plumbline. Dr. Waszut-Barrett is the founder and president of Historic Stage Services, LLC, a company specializing in historic stages and how to make them work for today’s needs. Although her primary focus remains on the past, she continues to work as a contemporary scene designer for theatre and opera.
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