Painted Setbacks
The CEO and the general director took me out to lunch the week after my return from Fort Scott. It was the beginning of December 2015. The intent of the meeting was to discuss details pertaining to my upcoming projects and necessary timelines. I explained that, realistically, I could only complete one mural in time for the opening if they wanted any restored scenery at all. I suggested that we only focus on the wall behind the Master’s Chair in the East. It was possible that I could do more prior to commencing the restoration, but much depended on the complexity of the final composition and the amount of architectural detail in the mural design.
I had so much on my plate at this point, that I did not feel compelled to be the sole muralist for the lodge room. Regardless of who designed and painted the murals, they just needed to be from they same hand so that there would be some uniformity. Ideally, whoever created the first mural should complete the remainder of murals, unless they decided to do a nationwide search and select well-known artists for individual commissions – but that could be dicey and look like a patchwork quilt in the end. The CEO was adamant that I should paint the murals.
Then, the general director said, “Well, it’s not as if we have seen your work or even know if you can really paint.” Smiling he added, “We’re just basing our opinion on your own statements.” There was a pause as I tried to figure out how to phrase a response to this insult.
After all of my mural designs, my designs for stained glass artwork, and the variety of other visual projects that I had completed during the last fourteen months, my skills were now being questioned. The CEO was keenly watching my reaction and couldn’t hide his interest in my response. I took a slow and steady breath, refusing to show either irritation or anger. For this next statement, I would remain calm and collected throughout my response.
“Well,” I said, “How about if you both visit my website and see if my talent is worthy of the project. My past painting and restoration work can be found at my old website http://www.bellascena.com I can always bring in my actual portfolio too.” I carefully took out a piece of paper from my purse to write down the website for them, but he stopped me and said, “Just email me the link.”
In all my years of painting scenery or producing fine art, my artistic talent has never been questioned. In a nutshell, artists have a hard time lying about their skills when they produce a final product that remains for the world to critique. Furthermore, I refused to be sucked into a quibbling match with the general director. Something had happened during my absence in Fort Scott and I couldn’t figure out how I had become his sudden enemy. Regardless of the tense atmosphere, I returned to the discussion regarding the mural timeline, explaining that it was possible to complete one mural and restore nineteen drops by June 24, 2016.
I would need to have approval on a final design, place an order for all the materials, secure a studio space, construct a paint frame for the mural, set up the space, and commence with the painting by January 15, 2016 – just a little over a month away. This project was also impossible to complete in a 30-hour workweek, so I would have to be bumped to a full-time as I was not going to continue working fifty hours a week for part-time employment.
Ironically, the lodge room murals were now extremely important to the CEO. He was adamant about getting some life back into the fairly sterile lodge room as it was currently white columns against off-white walls. What he initially admired as “simple and elegant,” now was problematic – devoid of personality without draperies and painted murals.
Who could have envisioned that white against white might be lackluster? During our road trip to Fort Scott and Guthrie, we had discussed the use of painted panels in lieu of wall murals as I was concerned about the lack of color. The room would read as simply white. My suggestion was to create wall panels between the five orders of architecture and paint the central panel a color – helping to liven up the room until murals could replace them. After the building opened, there would be ample time to paint and insert various compositions, tracing charts, or other historic memorabilia into these spaces.
However, this was an unanticipated project and additional workload for me – complicated by the recent scenery acquisition. Now, we had a scenery collection and it was my primary focus. All of the restoration estimations had been based on the fact that I wouldn’t be distracted with mural painting, or any decorative painting throughout the complex.
Regardless of other assigned tasks, I needed to start restoring the collection no later than April 1, 2016 to complete 19 backdrops for the June 24 opening. To even complete the restoration, I needed to minimize my current in involvement as museum exhibit curator, library administrator, and historical consultant for the interior design team, architects, and museum team.
To be continued…
