My husband’s concert last night at the Minnesota Masonic Heritage Center was a success! He set songs to the scenery I located, suggested for purchase, and supervised the subsequent removal and transportation from Fort Scott, Kansas, to Bloomington, Minnesota. My involvement stopped there!
Everyone I encountered last night who was familiar with my history of restoring Scottish Rite scenery, believed that I was responsible for the restoration. Much of this belief, no doubt, was based on the video shown during Grand Lodge (March 2016) at the Minnesota Masonic Charities breakfast; using my profile and reporting that a nationally recognized expert would restore the entire collection.
For professional reasons, I must distance myself from this project as the scenery has been destroyed with hot melt glue.
It it is a shameful destruction of historical paintings created by the nationally recognized fine artist, Thomas Gibbs Moses (1856-1934). Attached are pictures of the scenery from last night showing the work of someone who has never restored scenery before this project.
For past examples of my own restoration work, visit my website at www.bellascena.com
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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