Travels of a Scenic Artist and Scholar: Lies and Misrepresentation Behind the Curtain, March 22, 2024.

Copyright © 2024 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett

As promised, here is my powerpoint for “Lies and Misrepresentation Behind the Curtain.” This session was sponsored by the Scene Design and Technology Commission for the United States Institute for Theatre Technology’s annual conference in Seattle, Washington.

USITT PRESENTATION (March 22, 2024):

Welcome to “Lies and Misrepresentation Behind the Curtain.” I am Wendy Waszut-Barrett and this is my colleague Ruben Arana.

Before we begin…

This session is divided into two sections. For the first 20 minutes, I will provide historic context and discuss women scenic artists. There will be a 10-minute break to answer questions. Then I will turn it over to Ruben Arana for the second half.

My quest for women scenic artists began in the 1989. In the midst, of learning about theatre history and scene painting techniques, I inquired about the nineteenth-century women scenic artists and  was told, “They were all boys, get over it.”

Although our profession is more about what we can do, rather than who we are; this statement made me feel like I was not part of scenic art history. So, I threw myself into learning everything I could about historic scenic art, the people and process.  

Who knew that I would discover the name of a woman scenic artist while indexing the diary and scrap book of Thomas Gibbs Moses, a scenic artist whose career spanned from 1873-1934.  The project was assigned to me by Lance Brockman, now Professor Emertitis at the University of Minnesota.

My main task was to print up all the pages (feeding quarter after quarter into a microfilm machine), summarize the content of each page, and then create both subject and author indexes.

One of the articles in Moses’ scrap book mentioned “Little Theresa Sparks,” a scenic artist who was employed at a Chicago studio.

You can imagine my delight when I brought this to Lance’s attention. This began the a debate about when women actually entered the field of scenic art.  

I tracked down the life and career of Theresa Sparks, posting her story to my blog  drypigment.net  in 2020. I knew by the 1920s, there was a growing workforce of women scenic artists gaining attention in various publications.

In fact, a 1927 article in The Scenic Artist mentioned the work of twelve women scenic artists, including Lillian Gaertner, Gretl Urbahn, and Vyvyan Donner.

The article included a very subjective analysis, stating:

“For many years women felt themselves barred from taking a part in the painting of scenery, because it involved extreme physical stamina, which, excepting in rare cases, women do not possess.  However, being more or less tenacious, it is a foregone conclusion that women will work out their own salvation, and this will perhaps lie in the line of designing or art directing, rather than the actual painting of scenes.”

And thus continued the myth that women scenic artists were few and far between, having not really contributed before the 1920s.

Here are a few names women scenic artists who worked between the 1860s and 1940s. These were women who painted stage settings and were listed as such in census reports, city directories, and newspaper accounts.

I believe historians try their best to represent the world as it was.  However, at some point, the contributions of generations of American theatre artists were left out of theatre history. Aesthetic shifts, new design movements, and innovative technology continue to be credited to a select few.

There is a popular image of twenty-four scenic artists who were early officers and charter members for the Protective Alliance of Scene Painters in America.

This group has been constantly referred to as “the foremost scenic artists and designers” in America at the time. That is simply not the case. There is no doubt that each was a skilled and a relatively successful scenic artist, but this group does not comprise the best that America had to offer at the time. They only represent a small number of scenic artists working in a few specific regions. The picture is very telling, especially when you start realize those nationally-renowned scenic artists missing from the picture.

For me, these men represent those who had the most to lose without establishing a protective alliance and keeping OTHER scenic artists out.

I say this having carefully tracked the lives and careers of these gentlemen, including the Thomas G. Moses.

It was not until 1918 that women were allowed to join the Union. Mabel A. Buell’s late entry makes it appear that women were just beginning to enter the scenic art field.

It’s important to understand that when Mabel joined the Union, she was not only a scenic artist, but also a scenic studio owner. Both she and her mother worked as scenic artists, as did her father and brother. In many cases, it was a family affair.

By the way, this is Mable directing her employees. At times her staff numbered twenty people.

When Mabel joined the Union, she was described as the “only girl in the profession.” Buell continued to be listed as such in the early 1920s.

By this time GENERATIONS of women had worked as scenic artists. Some were wives, some were daughters, some were sisters, and some entered the profession all on their own.

The use of “ONLY” to describe a female scenic artist in newspapers, sends an underlying message – they are not a threat. After all, there is only one. 

Here are examples of three women scenic artists identified as the “Only” in America over the course of two decades; On the left is Grace Wishaar (pronounced Wee-shar), listed as the only woman theatrical scene painter by 1901. On the right is Irene Kendrick, listed as the FIRST woman scene painter in 1909. In the center is Mable Buell – pictured in the 1921.

I am going to focus on Seattle Scenic artist – Grace Norton Wishaar- she is pictures on the left.

Born in 1876, she worked at both the Cordray Theatre and the Seattle Theatre in the early 1890s.  An accomplished pianist, singer, and chess player, she was the eldest of 6 children born to Emile Bernard and Marie Ida Smith. When Grace was ten years old, she sailed with her family from New York to California.

Her career as an artist began at the San José Art School, with her first drawing instructor being Lee Lash. Lash was eight years older than Grace, and moved to New York where he established a scenic studio. Ironically, when Grace moved to New York looking for work, Lash turned her down, explaining:  “scene painting was no work for a woman; her sex would make her unwelcome among the workmen’ and that women were too ‘finicky’ for work that demands broad effects.”

In 1894, The Washington Standard reported, “Seattle has a young lady scene painter in Miss Grace Wishaar. A new drop curtain at Cordray’s, which is universally admired, is from her brush.”

Grace had painted scenery for almost two years by this point.

In fact, the same year that Grace entered the scenic art profession, Sosman & Landis sent Thomas G. Moses to Seattle for several months to deliver a massive stock scenery collection. The studio frequently hired local artists to help with on-site work.

In 1901 Grace described her early career in an interview with a Buffalo Express reporter. She said:

“It was like this, I left school out in Seattle and went into society. But my sister cared for music, and I cared for art, and we tired of other things and decided to study. She began training her voice for grand opera. I fitted up a studio – a beautiful room it was, 80 feet long, in the Seattle business block – I kept at portrait work. My mother writes – she lately copyrighted a play on the Philippine war – so she understood how we felt. Then one day the Seattle Theater needed a drop. My father, E. B. Wishaar, is dramatic editor of the Post-Intelligence -sir. He heard about it and mentioned it to me. I thought I could do the drop. Mr. Russell – the manager – laughed at me, but he let me try it. I painted the scene and they said it was just what they wanted. After that, I had all I could do for the Seattle and Cordray theaters and for two years I worked as a professional…”

In the midst of all of this, Grace married her first husband in 1897, celebrated the birth of a son in 1898, and continued her artistic training at the William M. Chase School of Art – moving east in 1900.

When Grace headed to New York in search of scenic work at the beginning of 1901 -it was scenic studio owner D. Frank Dodge who provided an opportunity. Soon, she was painting for him at the Fifth Avenue Theatre, Manhattan Theatre, and Herald Square Theatre.

During the next few years, Grace became Dodge’s right-hand person – meeting with newspapers and explaining both the design and painting process. She continued with Dodge until 1904 when he sent to a project in Seattle. She remained there, painting at theaters in Portland, Seattle, Tacoma, San Francisco, and Oakland. While working for Dodge she married her second husband.

When Grace returned to the West Coast, she worked with Seattle scenic artist, Sheridan L. Jenkins. Photographs of the two working together in 1905 are priceless.

Sheridan was originally from Fairbury, Nebraska. He moved to Seattle by the late 1880s and began working as a scenic artist. In 1892 when, about the time Grace entered the profession, he moved to Chicago, working with Thomas G. Moses’ former business partner, Walter Burridge.

Here is another photograph of Grace and Sheridan on the paint bridge. From a quality standpoint, these are some of the best scenic art process photographs that I have ever encountered.

Here is another of the two in Grace’s studio. We are able to see – in detail – so many of her designs and models.

All of their stage scenery was painted with distemper paint, the mixture of pigment paste with diluted hide glue. By the way, I have solely used distemper paint for the last seven shows I that designed and painted for Haymarket Opera Company (Chicago) and the Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company (Minneapolis). It reflects light so much better than any premixed product in a can. In 1903, Grace explained “Distemper is a really beautiful medium. You can produce such fine effects with it! But it’s very tricky unless you know JUST how to handle it.”

In 1904, Harry W. Bishop hired Grace as his scenic artist for Ye Liberty Playhouse in Oakland, California. The theater’s studio measured 100 by 35 feet, and included a machine shop and three paint frames. One frame was movable, and the other two were stationary with adjustable bridges. It was a remarkable stage, with a 75-foot revolve – purportedly the first in the west. Grace was working at a state-of-the-art theater.

Her scenic art at Ye Liberty immediately made the news and was described as “one of the strong points of the theater.” Grace’s gender was looked upon as an asset. On Jan. 12, 1905, The Berkley Gazette reported, “The Liberty is particularly fortunate in this [meaning her being female], for that is the secret of the delicate touches, artistic settings and finished details always present at their performances.” 

In 1907,  another article about Grace announced, “Ye Liberty’s Scene Painted, the only woman in the world of the profession – does amount of work which men scene painters find impossible to do.” Remember that two decades later, the 1927 article in The Scenic Artist reported, “For many years women felt themselves barred from taking a part in the painting of scenery because it involved extreme physical stamina.”

Progress made by one generation of women, can instantaneously evaporate with the next.

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Wishaar’s scenery for Barbara Freitchie at Ye Liberty Playhouse was regarded “as proof of Miss Grace Wishaar’s uniformly good scene painting.” Here is an image of her Frederick Street setting for the show.

While working for Bishop, three major disasters struck:  earthquake, divorce, and fire. In 1906, an earthquake damaged Ye Liberty Playhouse. This was the same year that she married her third husband. The next year, Grace filed for divorce, citing desertion.

In 1909, Grace and her family narrowly escaped a house fire. Evidence suggested that a faulty grate was to blame, but the fire destroyed everything, including her prized collection of paintings.  This was a turning point for Grace. She collapsed at work. Her doctor advised a “rest cure.” This was the medical order for “go on a world tour.”

Enter Marian Smith Oliver, former ward of multimillionaire F. M. Smith, also known as the Borax King. In 1910, Grace and Marian journeyed around the world, ending up in Paris where Grace  set up a studio and Marian be­­gan ­­­­­performing. Scandal ensued, with Marian returning home to her husband. Their marriage did not last. In 1912 Seattle newspapers reported that Grace was in the midst of a three-years art course in Paris and “At present she is on a summer sketching tour through Spain and Italy.” She participated in several art exhibitions, and in 1914 exhibited three portraits at the Salon des Beaux Arts.

Grace had played chess since a child and used it to relax during paint breaks at the theater. In Paris, Grace began competing in chess tournaments. In 1931, she won the French Woman’s Championship, the same year that her fifth husband completed suicide in Ceylon (Sri Lanka).

Grace’s sixth and final marriage was to world-chess champion, Alexander Alekhine (1892-1946). She was playing one of the boards in his simultaneous blindfold chess game. They were in  Tokyo. They married the next year.  Sixteen years her junior, Alekhine was a notorious alcoholic, The two traveled, played chess, and won awards, yet she continued to paint and maintain a studio in Paris.

When Grace passed away in 1956, she was buried next to her husband. Their gravestone even includes a chess board at its base. There is much, much, more to this story that is posted to www.drypigment.net.

The chess world has recently become fascinated with Grace Wishaar. Last year, Alan McGowan, historian at Chess Scotland, contacted me about my posts concerning her early life and painting career. In January 2024, McGowan published his article, “Amazing Grace,” for the English periodical Chess.

Grace left a treasure trove of photographs, newspaper articles and other historic records, yet, she still faded from theatre history by the 1920s. There are still hundreds who remain nameless; their contributions to the development of theatre history have yet to be counted.

Over the past few years, I have identified dozens of women scenic artists while writing the 120 biographies of Soman & Landis studios, including Grace Wishaar. This research is for my upcoming book Sosman & Landis: Shaping the Landscape of American Theatre. The Sosman & Landis staff was quite diverse, including women, African-Americans, and immigrants.

Which brings me to Lara Levero. She represents the thousands who did not make headlines, appearing as a brief spark at a particular moment. In 1920, Levero was counted in the US Federal Census, living in Los Angeles and working as a scenery painter. She listed her birthplace as Mexico and Spanish for her “mother tongue.” Levero emigrated in 1918 and was currently living with fellow scenery painter Felix Garcia.

I have managed to track the scenic art career of Felix Garcia, who settled in El Paso, Texas, and was listed in city directories by 1922. At this time, I have yet to determine if the two married, or went their separate ways. It is so very difficult to trace the lives and careers of women, especially after they marry.

Today, online databases provide massive amounts of information. We are now able to identify thousands of individuals whose contributions to theatre history were either forgotten or ignored. 

Although women scenic artists are not currently included in the history books, they were present and contributed to our industry.

WE can no longer solely teach theatre history from the same books that have been used for generations of students. Teachers cannot teach what they do not learn.

WE are completely in control when choosing the lens through which we depict our industry’s past, present, and future of our industry.