Copyright © 2021 by Wendy Rae Waszut-Barrett
Relocating any historic scenery collection from one state to another is always a challenge. Regardless of any information gathered during a preliminary site visit, there are always a few surprises.
The Richmond Scottish Rite scenery collection is composed of 73 drops, dating from 1902 to 1920. Much of the collection was produced by Toomey & Volland Scenic Studio of St. Louis, Missouri, during the first decade of the twentieth century. The original pieces measured approximately 20’h x 34’w. In the 1920s additional scenes were purchased from Toomey & Volland when a new stage was constructed. Interestingly, the size of the original scenery was reduced to 18’h x 26’w; all of the scenery was cut down on the top and at the sides at this time.
In the 1960s, the Richmond Scottish Rite built a new building and stage, but only hung 2/3 of their scenery collection. This meant that 1/3 of the collection went into storage, out of sight, out of mind.
The current stage was much wider than the old one, and I believe that the original intent was to purchase new scenery for the 1968 stage. In the end, the additional stage space on either side of each drop was greatly appreciated during removal and temporary storage prior to shipping!
Many original sandwich battens were replaced with jute webbing and tie line or pipe pockets about twenty-five years ago. Some repair work was done to various scenes too, including the replacement of 1” cotton netting with a ½” plastic version. Sadly, an abundance of hot melt glue was used to attach the plastic netting, irreparably damaging some areas of the painted scenes.
In other cases, spray adhesive was used for attaching fabric patches, white foam, bobbinet and plastic netting. This was a singularly horrible idea, as the spray adhesive partially melted the white foam.
All of these “add-ons” had to be carefully removed before rolling, encapsulating and shipping. Leaving on the foam, plastic netting, or anything else would damage the painted surface. This job was much more than lowering drops from lines, rolling, encapsulating, packing and shipping. However, preserving these beautiful examples of scenic art will be well worth it.
I first visited the Richmond Scottish Rite from October 24 to 26, 2020. Michael Powers accompanied me to complete a preliminary inspection of the stage artifacts and rigging system. Here is a link to the post describing my first visit: https://drypigment.net2020/10/26/travels-of-a-scenic-artist-and-scholar-the-richmond-scottish-rite-october-24-26-2020/
After careful documentation of each drop, the rigging system and stage area, a plan was put in place for the relocation of the Richmond Scottish Rite scenery collection to Tucson, Arizona. It is a 2,228-mile drive from Richmond to Tucson – four days of driving. The major obstacles for this project were both holiday timing and a nationwide health crisis.
For context, the Richmond Scottish Rite was being sold and all of the drops needed to be removed from the building by the evening of Jan. 14, 2021. All other artifacts in the building were being removed mid-December in preparation for the sale. There was not enough time to complete the project before the holidays, so we were left with starting immediately after the New Year. This meant that I would have less than two weeks to complete the project. Due to the holidays, our departure from Minneapolis, Minnesota, was scheduled for Jan. 3, with work commencing on Jan. 5. My crew would consist of two riggers and two scenery handlers. There would be a fifth individual on call for the final loading of the truck. All locals.
As I watched the COVID-19 infection rate spiral out of control across the United States in December, my plans changed. If the building did not have a definitive sale date, I would have postponed the project until late spring or early summer. With the building changing hands Jan. 15, however, I saw no other option to save the scenery and decided to complete the job with only two other people. We would be our own self-contained quarantine bubble. Continued delays in nationwide shipping services and a supply shortage supported this decision. In the end, I would bring all supplies and food with me to make sure everything arrived on site and on time. By the way, the building is still for sale. You cannot imagine my reaction when I noticed the lack of a “sold” sign on the “For Sale” sign upon arrival.
So here is how I approached this particular project.
The two other people that I brought on site were my husband (Andrew Barrett) and Michael Powers. Between the three of us we have 180 years of life experience, as well as a healthy respect for safety protocols. Michael would handle the lines from the fly rail, with Andrew and I handling all of the scenery below.
All of our tools, supplies and food were transported from Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Richmond, Virginia, in a 15’ U-Haul truck. Food and supplies were packed after renting our first U-Haul on Jan. 2, 2021.
Andrew drove the truck and I drove my car. Michael bounced between the two vehicles for company. The intent was to leave the 15’ truck in Richmond, while having my car for transport to and from work. We would then rent a 26’ truck to transport the drops from Richmond to Tucson. The rolled drops measured 20’ long and the top battens measured 25’-5” long. Andrew would then drive the 26’ truck while Michael and I headed home to Minneapolis with half of my tools and some of the food. In Tucson, Andrew could drop off the shipment, return the 26’ rental truck and rent an SUV to transport himself and the other half of my tools home. Everything worked like clockwork in the end. In many ways, one of the most difficult tasks was planning meals to last for all of us from Jan. 3-20, so we did not visit restaurants or shop at grocery stores in another region.
The three of us left early in the morning on Jan 3, spending our first night in Indianapolis, Indiana. Due to weather conditions and other mishaps, our first 9 ½-hrs. driving day became an 11-hour day. Our only stops were gas stations and rest areas. By the evening of Jan. 4, we were unloading in Richmond, after another long day of driving. As planned, we started work on the morning of January 5. We worked five days in a row, took one day off, and worked four more days. We all departed Richmond on the morning of January 15. Our workdays ranged from 9 to 10 ½ hours, with our “day off” being reserved as a possible workday. Thank goodness we did not need to use it. We did not take breaks, and only stopped for a 30-minute lunch. We all felt the pressure form the compressed timeline, and I can’t sit still in general.
The first day went fairly slow, as we unloaded, prepped the space, and assembled the PVC pipes. We were only able to roll three drops that day, but established an efficient system.
One-third of the scenes had never been hung at the current theater, placed into storage in 1968 when the Scottish Rite Masons built their new home and stage. Until our October visit, these scenes were simply tucked away under piles of dust above a properties room, stage left. During my October visit, we lowered and documented these drops. Each rolled drop had both top and bottom battens. Only the original front curtain for the previous stage was missing a top batten.
The scenery that hung above the stage was an entirely different story. Fifteen drops still had their original top battens directly tied into the operating lines. Some of these drops still retained their bottom battens, but the majority had newer pipe pockets sewn onto the fragile fabric. Some drops had a combination of jute webbing and bottom battens. Other drops had both jute webbing and pipe pockets, replacing the original wood battens. As I suspected upon preliminary inspection, all of the seams were failing so the jute and pipe pockets had to be removed prior to transport. I didn’t want to chance their being reused. Due to time constraints, the drops with battens were cut off and the 26’-0” long battens shipped intact. By the way, this is also how the 1902 Little Rock, Arkansas, scenery was also shipped to Pasadena, California, in the 1920s. The original drop fabric was never removed from between the battens.
Historic fabric takes on a unique shape when hanging for decades, unlike rolled drops; it is quirky. Over time, the center and sides of a drop stretch, sometimes to an irreparable point. This means that you can’t line a tube up to the edges of the fabric and start rolling; you have to locate a central seam, position the tube and roll backwards to the edge, then secure the fabric to the tube. This is one of those odd projects where too many hands actually make more work. You want fewer points of contact when rolling. Rolling an historic drop is often time-consuming process, often consisting of rolling, re-rolling, re-positioning and re-rolling. This is often my least favorite part of the process.
I tried a new technique for rolling the drops this time out of sheer necessity; necessity being the mother of invention. Much of it had to do with the tube. Instead of a 20’ long tube, I pieced together two 3” x 10’ PVC pipes with a coupler. The ends also had temporary couplers to help elevate each side from drooping and maintain consistency while rolling. And there was just one person rolling – me.
I crawled along the center, slowly rolling with an open palm, using the coupler as my guide. The three couplers raised the tube ¼” off the ground, allowing the fabric to adjust during rolling. Andrew occasionally lifted the end of a tube, or shifted it, to adjust tension and overall direction. Unlike a solid 20’ tube that keeps constant pressure on the fabric, there is space for the fabric to adjust itself while rolling with the couplers. Overall, this was the easiest and best rolling job that I have ever completed in the minimal amount of time. Absolutely no creases or wrinkles.
The issue with rolling historic drops is that they are not flat pieces of fabric. Furthermore, the drops are no longer square; both tops and bottoms flare out. Although the task may seem simple, it is not. Drops do not roll up like large pieces of linoleum, easily feeding onto a tube at the same rate. You must always remember that there is more fabric in the center. The central fabric was stretched after billowing in the air for years; think of a parachute. This excess fabric and odd shape mean that the drop will not easily roll and have a tendency to “walk” in one direction or another. The tube needs to be at least a foot longer on each end of the fabric for walking. Once the fabric starts to “walk,” however, it can easily go off one side or the other. You need to prevent fabric from walking as much as possible. However, you can’t force the fabric onto the tube and make it roll on straight, as there will be areas with excessive material. Even employing constant tension during the rolling will cause wrinkles to form, as excess fabric gathers around the roll. Creases cause the paint to crack and flake during transit, so they need to be avoided.
Back to my timeline. The drops rolled on the floor were completed by the end of the third day, and we began lowering drops on the fourth day. Tyvek suits, respirators and hard hats were a necessity as the dust continued to filter down from the lines. We minimized the spread of contaminants in both the space and on ourselves. Unfortunately, I donated the majority of my N95 masks supply to medical workers last spring, and depleted my final supply of masks on site at the Tabor Opera House in September. I returned to standard respirators with N95 cartridges. People who complain about fabric masks have obviously never worn a respirator for an entire work day while doing manual labor.
We did get to rest on the sixth day, and drove to Virginia Beach to watch the waves. Seeing the ocean, and having a picnic lunch in our car on a col day did a world of good for our tired bodies and minds.
We were able to finish rolling all drops by Tuesday, Jan. 12. Wednesday was spent picking up the 26’ truck and building the shipping frame for the drops and battens. While Michael and Andrew prepared the truck, I completed the labeling system for the drops.
The end of each roll contained two labels. The first (white) label included a number and description, as well as indicating whether it was the top or bottom of the vertically rolled scene. The number on the first label correlated to a detailed packing list. The second (color) labels listed the scenic piece, included an image pictures of the piece, and noted all of the Masonic degrees the setting could accompany. The color coding distinguished between exterior and palatial scenes, in addition to those reserved for specific empty lines at the Tucson Scottish Rite.
Laughter sustained all of us for the majority of the project and we worked extremely well as a team. Michael and I returned to Minneapolis on Saturday, with him driving home Sunday morning (Jan. 17). Andrew dropped off the shipment yesterday (Jan. 18) in Tucson and starts for home today.
Tomorrow (Jan. 20) I return to all of the projects that I put on hold, especially the Tabor Opera House (Leadville, Colorado) scenery evaluation. I will continue to post painted details from both Richmond and Leadville in the upcoming weeks.
It’s good to be home.