My Great Adventure has Begun!
I always have found comfort in song. Whether hymns, blues, jazz, opera, or Broadway musicals, my work and research are often completed to musical accompaniment. While painting, a tune constantly plays in the back of my mind and provides a subliminal direction. During the spring of 2016, I constantly found myself listening to one particular song from the Broadway musical “Little Women.” It was the lyrics sung by the character of Jo that seemed to give me the courage to return to work everyday, facing an ever-increasing stack of obstacles piled against my future. Every morning, I would listed to:
“There’s a life that I am meant to lead
A life like nothing I have known
I can feel it, and it’s far from here
I’ve got to find it on my own”
Although my position was being eliminated at the Minnesota Masonic Heritage Center, my work for the Fraternity was not ending. Regardless of where I was working, my studies continued to track down the origins of designs for degree productions and the men who painted the drops. I just needed to plan my next attack in regards to my continued research.
This passion had guided my entire career since 1989 and it was once again pulling me to the romance in the southwestern United States. Little did I know at the time that it was just the beginning of an incredible journey – one that would circle back to the Fort Scott scenery collection and the artistic career of Thomas Moses. It would eventually tie up many loose ends that I had started tracking down in 1989.
I desperately needed to visit Santa Fe again after the continued drama at the Minnesota Masonic Heritage Center; for me, the entire endeavor was an antithesis of Masonic philosophy. My husband and I once again found peace in the brilliant landscape and smells of sage in the southwest. In the evenings, we enjoyed performances at the Santa Fe Opera and continued our friendship with many in the area.
I first fell in love with Santa Fe during 2002 when I started the scenery restoration at the Scottish Rite. For two summers we lived in the Scottish Rite dormitories with our daughter, then a young child. I felt utterly at home in this region and began to plan our eventual retirement there.
There was also a business reason to return to Santa Fe that summer of 2016 as I was one of three contributors for an upcoming publication on the Santa Fe Scottish Rite. My essay specifically concerned the 1912 painted scenery collection created by Sosman & Landis Studio of Chicago. The scenery production at that time was under the supervision of Thomas Gibbs Moses who would soon be cast in the role of studio president. Later, he would paint the Fort Scott scenery on location by 1924, the year before he became a Mason himself in Pasadena, California. Moses had found peace in California, I found peace in New Mexico – especially near Taos.
During our visit, I finalized some of the full-color plates and figures that would accompany my chapter on the scenery, specifically working with our professional photographer Jo Whaley. Jo and I instantly recognized each other as kindred spirits and became fast friends, she having a background as a scenic artist in California. Now she was an internationally recognized photographer.
One of the images that we desperately wanted to capture for the book was a scenic effect from the fifteenth degree’s treasure chamber. Luckily, my husband stepped in as out first Scottish Rite model so that we would have something to reference when pitching our idea to the publisher.
Jo and I had wanted to do something similar when I planned my trip to Fort Scott for the scenery removal, but there had simply not been enough time for a full photo shoot. I wanted to closely document the removal and transportation of the Fort Scott collection, as well as its restoration and installation at the Minnesota Masonic Heritage Center; possibly resulting in a later catalogue to preserve the story for future generations. It ended up that I was the sole individual to document the Fort Scott project, inadequate lighting and all.
I recalled seeing the delight on the faces of my rigging crew as they assembled a variety of scenic illusions common to many Masonic degree productions, while at the Fort Scot Scottish Rite. This was a common occurrence when individuals witnessed this particular type of pictorial illusion for the stage. Even seasoned stagehands could not contain their excitement when viewing nineteenth-century stage effects. The magic was infectious; I wanted to capture these moments and preserve them in a book for the Minnesota Masonic Heritage Center. Although it would no longer highlight the Fort Scott scenery, I now had another chance with the 1912 scenery in Santa Fe. Although this collection didn’t have the artistic provenance of a single artist, it was unique for a variety of other reasons – primarily being created during the first spike in scenery production by Sosman & Landis for the Southern Jurisdiction.
For the Santa Fe Scottish Rite book, Jo and I decided that we wanted to document all degree productions as initially intended in 1912; not as a contemporary representations of any current ceremonials used by Masons. We wanted to capture brief moments depicting what a Mason would have witnessed during an early-twentieth century Scottish Rite Reunion, complete with costumed participants, set pieces and hand props; planning a weeklong photo session during October 2016. This was something that I could now do as I was unemployed. The disappointment and devastation that I had encountered as Curatorial Director started to transform into relief. I was continuing on the journey that I had first started when I processed the Scottish Rite designs in the Great Western Stage Equipment Company found the Performing Arts Archives in 1989.
“I’ll find my way, I’ll find it far away.
I’ll find it in the unexpected and unknown.
I’ll find my life in my own way, today.
Here I go, and there’s no turning back
My great adventure has begun.”
To be continued…
