Travels of a Scenic Artist and Scholar – On the Road Again.

Copyright © 2026 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett

I am finally returning to my regular posts. In the past year, my research, writing, and personal painting projects fell by the wayside. All the while, work continued at a frantic pace. For much of October I was on the road, driving almost 3600 miles to deliver a moving panorama, teach painting classes, and given a public presentation at Thalian Hall in Wilmington, NC. I drove from Minneapolis to the southeastern United States and back again.

Travel has always been my sanctuary. Cross country road trips as a child were fun and full of adventure. As a newborn, I first managed to roll over in my parent’s old Chevrolet truck while stopped at the Grand Canyon. My mother told the story of how my dad had finally convinced her to leave me in the car for just a few minutes, long enough to enjoy the view. In that very short period of time, I rolled all the way over and onto the car floor. Family vacations took place from Key West, Florida, to the Pacific Northwest. Some of my favorite memories are building sandcastles with my dad and waking up early to look for shells with my mom.

Being on the road conjures up many happy memories of camping in the national parks, eating peanut butter on crackers in the car, and making Spam sandwiches in roadside rest areas. My parents made every trip memorable, as well as educational. My current journey from Minneapolis to Wilmington, has helped me reflect on how lucky I was to travel so much with my parents. It also rekindled my flame to both write and paint.

Here is a recap of a some major events since last December. While documenting the Scottish Rite scenery collections in Long Beach and Oakland, California last, I began the preservation of the scenery collection at the SOKOL hall in St. Paul, Minnesota, by December 2025. Phase 1 consisted of the repair, paint consolidation, and in-painting of damaged areas on roll drops and woods wings painted by Victor Hubal, Sr.

At the beginning of 2026, I repaired a moving panorama, designed an opera, and traveled to Iowa. The panorama project began a decade ago at a League of Historic American Theatres conference, coming to fruition this month. Panorama Palooza included the premier of Alluvial River, a musical production to feature the panorama. I transported the repaired panorama and newly painted cut surround to the Thalian Hall in Wilmington, North Carolina, beginning my trip on Oct. 11.

This 8′ x 104′ painting was designed by Lance Brockman, who painted it with his former student Janet Ryger. Created for the University of Minnesota Centennial Showboat in 1988, it depicted a trip down the Mississippi River, starting at the headwaters in Itasca, Minnesota.

I also began a new collaboration with Fair Field Productions for an upcoming documentary “Uncommon Ground: Stories from Fairfield’s Creative Past.” My posts about Sosman & Landis caught the attention of producer Dick DeAngelis, prompting the inclusion of Sosman & Landis into the work. Joe Sosman delivered scenery to Fairfield’s Opera House in 1875, the same year that he met Perry Landis who also had deep ties to the town. In mid-February I was interviewed by a film crew at the Theatre Museum in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. While on site, we also documented several Sosman & Landis flats tucked away in a storage area and started several other projects.

On my return from Iowa, I stopped by Cedar Rapids to visit the Masonic Library and document scenery at the Scottish Rite Theater.

Production meetings for L’Orfeo (Haymarket Opera Company, Chicago) also commenced early in the year; my scenic design completed in April, between the passing of my mother and father. The show opened last month.

Just prior to my father’s passing, I completed a few dozen acrylic paintings. Here are a few of my favorites.

My work included landscape for my parents and family, as well two concept pieces that depicted the drop curtain for King’s Theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland, based on historic descriptions researched by Mike Hume. He added the images to his existing photos for a presentation.

I continued several personal painting projects, doing multiple versions of the same scene. One of my projects included a series of color studies that culminated into a 30” x 40” acrylic painting featuring the January 28 SOS demonstration at Lake Bde Maka Ska in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during the ICE occupation.

That was the last painting project that I was able to share with my father before he passed away on March 15. Although planned for submission in the Minnesota State Fair, it was the inspiration for an upcoming Crescendo Community Chorus event in April.

I painted a companion piece for art exhibit that was to be held in conjunction with the upcoming Crescendo Community Chorus event that spring.

This was the first piece that I painted after the passing of my father. I felt hollow upon its completion. Although it was everything that I hoped it would be, but the joy was gone. The last remnants of my creativity as poured into my father’s memorial display and celebration of life video.

The art bug that had fueled inspiration since childhood slipped away from me. My desire to paint evaporated, yet there were still painting projects to do. Personal projects ceased; nothing seemed worth painting anymore. This should have been the time that I just stopped working to help my mother cope with daily activities, but our relationship had become strained. Her health was rapidly deteriorating; the bout with sepsis, just prior to my dad’s passing, had not been resolved when they discharged her early from the hospital to see my dad’s body.

My mother passed away on May 4, only 50 days and seven minutes after my father.

There was little that I could do, and I knew that my next task would be the dismantling of my childhood home; the house they built in 1960. The house each died in while holding my hand.

The day after my mom passed away, I painted panels for the May 14 Crescendo Community Concert that were hung on either side of the choir. I felt so helpless and needed some task to do. Thank goodness my next project deadline was May 12 – as it forced me to think about something else other than the loss.

In conjunction with music concert was my first solo art show. On exhibition were a few dozen acrylic paintings, now part of the Waszut Family Trust. These were artworks that I had gifted to my parents over the years, the majority being created between 2022 and 2026. Each depicted a favorite vacation spot, my attempt to bring a little beauty into their lives after they became homebound. Many were included in my “Painting in 2022” blog post. Just before my dad’s passing, many of these 10” x 20” acrylic paintings had shifted to the room where my father lay in his hospital bed. He directed the placement of each one. In front of hime were my backyard in winter, Galveston Beach in Texas, their lake cabin view, and my recent SOS painting.

Despite being overwhelmed with their estate, I began planning for the summer; revisiting commitments that I made in the past year and those that had been put on hold. I was scheduled to attend an international theatre conference at the beginning of June. Since my dad’s passing, I had been hesitant to leave, waffling between going and canceling the trip for well over two months. It took some extensive convincing by good friends and family for me to commit to the trip. On May 28, I flew to Stockholm, Sweden, to attend “Conference by Candlelight.” I had the privilege of not only visiting three historic theatres (Drottningholm, Confidencen, and Gripsholm), but also Per Edstrom’s residence for pre-conference activities. The trip gave me a moment’s respite before returning to work and the dismantling of my childhood home. There will be several posts about this in the future, but here are a few pictures for now.

In the end, my summer and early fall became a blur while working on scenery for Haymarket Opera Company’s L’Orfeo (Chicago) and Thalian Hall’s Panorama Palooza (Wilmington, NC). For the moving panorama project, I manufactured a blank panorama to use while building the stage machinery (rollers). The project also included painting a cut drop to conceal the machinery, preparing three onsite art classes, and a public presentation.

Early August, we held a memorial service for my mother, holding a celebration of life at the  Pillager Community Center, near their cabin. We buried some ashes and set a memorial stone.

Our thought was that many of their remaining friends could no longer travel, so we would bring the service to them. Again, my creativity was challenged while I compiled her memorial video and assembled display boards. This was so much harder to do than my Father’s Celebration of Life video and memorial display boards in March. With both of them gone I was filled with regret, constantly questioning both past and present decisions.

We also began tackle some deferred maintenance at the cabin, rebuilding two of the four sidewalls. The previous summer we had reroofed everything. By “we” I mean these were family projects and not hired out. Despite the scope of the project, there was always time to enjoy the view, sail a bit, and eat freshly caught fish.

My mid August, I was constantly painting. In hindsight, keeping busy was key to my sanity. I was not only working on scenery for the upcoming Haymarket Opera Company Production, but also documenting the distemper painting process for the Fair Field Production Co. project.

September became ridiculously busy as I attended the Western Steam Threshers Reunion in Rollag, MN, Labor Day weekend, opened L’Orfeo in Chicago mid-September, and began painting the panorama surround for Thalian Hall at the beginning of October.

On October 11, I began driving toward Wilmington, NC, with the panorama and cut drop.

To be continued…