It’s the CEO’s Way or the Highway
There were two different ways to restore the Fort Scott scenery collection: My Way and the CEO’s Way.
My way divided the entire scenery restoration into phases, creating a training ground for young artisans while simultaneously restoring the historical scenery and preserving it for future generations. I estimated that it would take two years to restore the entire collection onsite, using this opportunity as both public relations for Minnesota Freemasonry and an international destination for restoration training.
As previously noted, I was adamant that the scenery be restored onsite and immediately hung as the condition of restored scenery deteriorates if excessively handled after cleaning, stabilization and repair; this is why I insist on onsite restoration projects and not restoring scenery in the convenience of my own Minnesota Studio. Transporting restored scenery harms the painted surface, creating wrinkles and other apparent damage to the stabilized areas. Furthermore, once the painting is restored, the original top wooden battens are installed, the drop hung, and then the bottom battens are attached. The bottom battens are attached last, after the drop is hanging, to pull out any remaining wrinkles and make the drop appear as if it were brand new.
The CEO’s way to restore the Fort Scott scenery collection was to move the drops from the Bloomington storage facility to a warehouse offsite, restore numerous scenes, transport them to the Minnesota Masonic Heritage Center and quickly hang as many as possible. Additionally, he was adamant that attaching wooden battens was too time-consuming and an alternative should be found for the installation.
My experience of restoring over five hundred scenes demonstrated that there were no short cuts during a restoration project. Restoration on the cheap and quickly done, results in the destruction of entire collections. He would have to locate a group of individuals to hang the historic scenery “his way” as I refused to compromise the artworks of Thomas Gibbs Moses.
Enter the museum team of Mia Schillace-Nelson (Outhouse Exhibit Services Founder), Paul Nelson (Outhouse Exhibit Services Construction Lead) and their freelance exhibit artist “Kimber” Lawler. I first encountered Lawler in the early 1990s. Our paths haven’t crossed at all in the past two decades as my primary focus is historical scenery, restoration, and replication; hers is not.
She was working for Outhouse Exhibit services on the Ladd Museum exhibit at the same time I was working on the lodge room painting. Schillace-Nelson had brought Lawler over one day in late-April to say “hi” under the pretext of an opportunity for us to reconnect after two decades. At the time, they were both were extremely interested in my background of restoring Scottish Rite scenery. They inquired after the techniques that I had developed throughout the course of my career.
As usual, I was delighted to share information about the materials and the various techniques. I love describing the restoration process as many individuals are unfamiliar with the dry pigment paint system, archival cleaning products, and the restoration variables.
Remember, by this point, I had estimated the materials and labor expenses for the entire Fort Scott scenery restoration, emailed lists of supplies for the general director to order, and identified the entire crew – one that was still on hold and waiting for a definitive start date.
When they asked how I restored the scenery, I wish that they had taken notes for the sake of the Fort Scott collection.
To be continued…
