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 All That Glitters Isn’t Gold

There is something magical about metallic colors on painted scenery. Metallic gold shifts from a deep bronze in the shadows to a brilliant gold under light. Catching a glimpse of Dutch metal or foil strips from different angles makes a backdrop come to life. It can add life to the painted stage picture. However, the application of metallic accents must be sparse and effectively lit for it to work. Seldom have I encountered a metallic paint or a glitter glaze on Scottish Rite scenery; on my travels I have primarily encountered the use of foils. Early twentieth century Masonic scenery incorporated foil strips that suggested fiery blazes of the underworld or brilliant rays emanating from heaven above.

It was not until the 1920s that metallic paint began to replace the foil strips and Dutch metals, a popular effect throughout the nineteenth century for fairy scenes and sparkling underwater caverns. Many degree settings for Scottish Rite productions used foil strips to outline demonic figures and rocky outcrops. It was a scenic illusion suggesting the fiery pits of the underworld. As the drop moved, the foil strips reflected stage lights, creating a sparkle that suggested firelight. It was an extremely labor intensive process; especially when considering the amount of time already spent attaching netting if it was a cut drop. Hell scenes were incredibly expensive to create in a scenic studio.

 

Paper-backed foils are very visible from the audience, much more so than metallic paint or glitter. The crinkles on each foil strip allow reflective highlights to appear natural. Both Scottish Rite scenery collections in Joplin, Missouri, and Moline, Illinois, have areas accentuated with metallic paint and glitter, not foils. Both collections date from the 1920s. During this decade, many studio techniques became less labor-intensive and streamlined. The new techniques were not always an improvement, but cost effective as the new processes saved the studio time and money. Unfortunately, decades would reveal that many of the new studio techniques would prove problematic. One example is the replacement of individually gluing knotted intersections on netted cut drop with large swaths of glue along the perimeter. It was a faster process, but over time, these large areas of glue became brittle and puckered the painted surface. Those with dots of glue on knotted intersections remained flexible and undetectable from the audience.

In addition to the introduction of timesaving techniques, there were other factors to consider. The increased use of electric lights occasionally caused painted compositions to appear flat, necessitation the additional of metallic paint to palatial interiors, garden scenes, and treasure chambers to give it a little life and movement.   The increased intensity of electric light diminished the depth of painted scenery. Furthermore, a new generation of scenic artists lacked some the fine art experience acquired by their predecessors, thus incorporating new painting techniques that departed from a more traditional stage aesthetic. The increased use of draperies and dimensional scenery further shifted scenic art techniques and use of alternative materials.

I was delighted to encounter the metallic paint and glaze with glitter on some of the Scottish Rite scenery in Joplin, Missouri, on the final day of our trip. The fiery scene from the underworld was a lovely composition where demonic eyes were accentuated with a glitter glaze. Metallic paint was also applied to the gold bases of palatial columns for ornamental detail and highlight. This was an attempt to accentuate the metallic quality of the columns base, yet remained barely visible from the first row. I wonder if this was more for the Masonic client as they inspected it up close instead of for the actual Scottish Rite audience during a degree production. The painted metallic accents in Joplin and Moline are far less spectacular than those foil strips applied to Scottish Rite scenes for Cheyenne, WY; St. Paul, MN; Grand Forks, ND, Wichita, KS; Winona, MN; Fort Scott, KS; Tucson, AZ; an many other Southern Jurisdiction Scottish Rite Valleys. The quick dabs of metallic paint may have taken far less time for scenic artists to apply than foils, but they failed to deliver the same visual punch.

To be continued…

One of the best surprises after returning from the Santa Fe Scottish Rite Temple book release was receiving my copy of “Die Vierte Wand” from Germany! I am proud to announce that my article “Raising Hell on a Masonic Stage” is included in the #008 issue . Stefan Gräbener does a fantastic job with this publication every year! It is a wonderful compilation of articles about theatre from around the world. Here is the link to access their website and past issues: http://www.initiative-theatermuseum.de/i…/publikationen.html

 …when she was bad, she was horrid…

I needed a break from all of the trials and tribulations that life throws at you on a holiday. This 4^th of July I was juggling food preparation, an overgrown garden, and a malfunctioning hot water heater, while putting out all of the other fires that occurred during our trip to Santa Fe. For a short while that afternoon I escaped, hiding in my office and pulling up some pictures of painted details. I needed something to make me laugh.

On multiple occasions, I have stressed the importance of good artistic training, whether it is at a formal atelier or in a studio arts class. Good scenic artists need instruction in all areas – layout, drawing, painting, color mixing, netting, etc. However, the most important skill for a scenic artist is drawing all subjects well. A scenic artist cannot create a successful painting unless the drawing is correct. No matter how well you mix colors or master certain brush strokes, if your composition is poorly drawn, the final composition will never look good.

Drawing and rendering must go hand and hand with learning how to become a successful scenic artist. It is always apparent when a scenic artist did not receive adequate training in figure drawing or architectural studies. You need to really know how something is put together, whether it is a body or a building, to successfully draw it.

Our daughter returned home from college this week for the holiday and shared a picture of a lion sculpture that she recently encountered I Kansas City. The Greek sculptor had never seen a lion before, so he gave his version the hips of a cow, the vertebrae of a goat, the ribs of a horse, and human eyes, while posing the animal as a playful dog.

My daughter giggled uncontrollably as she shared the image. The artist obviously did not understand how a lion was “put together.” The same can be said for scenic artist who does not understand human anatomy.

Figure drawing remains a challenge for many scenic artists. I have encountered many examples where the scenic artist had no concept of proportion, or even how many toes to paint. Here are a few examples that stress the importance of figure studies and always brighten my day; they make me feel a little better about my own skills.

Whenever I look at these pictures, I think of the nursery rhyme that starts: “There once was a girl who had a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead…”For the scenic artist I continue the rest of the rhyme: “When she was good, she was very, very, good. And when she was bad, she was horrid.” Some historical scenic art for the stage was truly horrid. Just because it’s old, doesn’t mean its always good.

To be continued…

Reflections about Scottish Rite Scenery, Spatter and Lighting

For some artists, the use of spatter is always the final step in painting every backdrop. Shaking a brush to scatter little dots of warm and cool colors throughout the painting completes the composition. This was not a common technique before the 1920s.

Spatter is used for a variety reasons. It can break up solid areas in a setting and provide texture. It can help shape and define objects such as tree trunks, interior walls, draperies, meadows and the exterior of buildings. It may suggest atmospheric conditions, such as rays of light emanating from clouds overhead or a hazy landscape.

Sometimes, it is intended to help the composition, anticipating the possibility of a poor lighting design. As many of us know, certain light colors can “kill” portions of a painted scene, sapping the life out of the color. Spatter is a way to resuscitate a scene when poorly lit with an inappropriate color choice. Some individuals in charge of lighting a historic scene may not be familiar with the demands of two-dimensional settings and let one color dominate their palette – green for forests, red for hades. Proper lighting that mixes a few colors can make backdrops appear as magical and transformative. Uninformed choices in regard to color and intensity will make a backdrop static and lifeless. I have walked into many Scottish Rite buildings where the lighting fails to show the potential of what is possible on stage; the backdrops are lit with whatever color is predominant in the scene. Lighting is an important aspect of Scottish Rite degree productions as the scenes were designed with specific scenic illusions in mind and specific lighting. Often the border lights are red, blue and white. When more colors have been added in contemporary systems, they are seldom balanced to enhance the painted settings.

The Masonic stage crew often does not realize that there are transparent and translucent sections in painted compositions, intended for surprise revelations or the magical appearance of a hidden object or message. In some instances beautiful woodland scenes have the ability to depict brilliant sunsets, and this scenic effect has been forgotten over the decades. Stained glass windows in cathedrals will glow, enhancing the setting for a degree. Many Scottish Rite stage crews no longer realize the potential for each painted setting as a lot of the backdrops are no longer used during a reunion. Declining membership, shrinking stage crews, and the loss of backstage “memory” are all factors that now conceal these popular visual effects.

As Scottish Rite theaters continue to upgrade their lighting systems, some theatre consultants and system installers fail to understand that potential of historical backdrops and their lighting needs for degree productions; borders lights are replaced with a few individual lighting instruments. Clients are promised that the actors will be more visible with modern lighting, yet the painted illusion becomes collateral damage. Some of the new lighting systems for Scottish Rite stages have destroyed the historical aesthetic of the venue when the primary focus is redirected to the sole illumination of the actor – not the stage picture. Instead of placing an character within a scene as part of a unified whole, the performer is now placed in the midst of unevenly lit stage pictures that appear flat and unrealistic. The magic is disappearing.

The Hastings Scottish Rite was one just example of how a new lighting system was designed and installed for a historic venue without taking into an account that the purpose of the stage and that majority of performances would use painted drops. Sadly, all of the painted scenery now shows a series of “hot spots” across the top, accentuating wrinkles and other flaws on the painted surface. The previous border lights that provided a general wash over the painted surface were replaced with instruments that were not intended to illuminate large-scale paintings.

In terms of modern lighting systems in Scottish Rite theaters -the Scottish Rite scenes from the 1920s that incorporated spatter into the painting process do better than those without. However, there is only so much the scenic artist can do to protect a composition from poor lighting conditions.

To be continued…

 The Joplin Scottish Rite, July 3

We returned to Minnesota on July 2 at midnight after the long drive from Joplin, Missouri. Over the course of eighteen days, we visited ten historic theaters and I was able to document historic scenery at seven. The trip was intended not only for research, but also for the marketing of our new company Historic Stage Services, LLC (www.historicstageservices.com)

In addition to the book release event at the Santa Fe Scottish Rite theater, I photographed and catalogued entire Scottish Rite scenery collections in Omaha, Nebraska; Hastings, Nebraska; Cheyenne, Wyoming; Salina, Kansas; and Joplin, Missouri. I also photographed historic scenery at the Atlas Theatre in Cheyenne and the Tabor Theatre in Leadville, Colorado. The Tabor was especially exciting as I dug through wings, borders and roll drops that had been stored since the turn of the twentieth century.

As we drove home, I began the laborious task of labeling thousands of photographs. It is at this point that I am able to identify defining characteristics of specific collections, especially when examining images of painted details. Then I go through each historic venue and construct the current inventory and how it has been altered, added to, or shifted over the past decades. As I went through my pictures, I was able compare compositional layout, painting techniques, color palettes, and drop construction for a variety of scenic studios. My trip provided me with the opportunity to closely examine the work of competing studios over the course of decades in a very short period of time. This allows the visual aesthetic and construction information to remain fresh in my mind.

I am in the depths of examining the Fabric Studio of Chicago and its link to Toomey & Volland of St. Louis, Sosman & Landis of Chicago, Kansas City Scenic Co., and the Great Western Stage Equipment Co. of Kansas City. My last stop at the Joplin Scottish Rite confirmed a few of my suspicions in regard to a shift in scenic studio practices and art during the 1920s. A younger generation took over the innovation in stage design and technology. Men, and in some cases women, ascended to the top of their profession and eclipsed the previous generation of scenic artists. This does not mean that they were better or worse, just different. A shift was occurring in the field of scenic art. Seasoned artists left their positions with the “old guard” of scenic studios and began to create their own new studios, causing old alliances to crumble. This also market the collapse of a unifying aesthetic for the stage. Gentlemanly agreements between studios during the first two decades of twentieth century ceased and new fabrics were introduced as an alternative for the common cotton sheeting of backdrops.

At the Joplin Scottish Rite, it is apparent that some of the drops were created by an older scenic artist still working in the traditional style of scene painting, but the color palette shifts to the predominance of brighter colors. The use of horizontal seams for drop construction, jute webbing at the top and pipe pockets at the bottom began to appear across the country. This method of fabrication followed the construction of fabric draperies for the same venues.

In terms of netting, the individual drops of glue on knotted intersections were replaced with swathes of glue brushed along entire edges, forming a crusty perimeter that greatly reduced the necessary labor to create a cut drop. Similarly the painstaking placement of foils that allowed a scene to sparkle, or suggest a fiery reflection, begin to be replaced with a layer of metallic flakes and glitter-like product. This again saved the amount of later needed to create a similar effect.

The Scottish Rite scenery in Joplin also depicts the use of spatter for a painted composition. Bright blue, mineral orange and other colors are spattered across the final painting. In some cases, the use of spatter subdues an earlier application of colors that are too bright to begin with, so another layer of paint must help recede into the background. In some of the Joplin scenery, spatter almost obliterates the detail, yet enforces depth in the painting.

I regard these modern painting techniques that eventually shifted the evolution of scenic art with some bias; I prefer the older style. I associate traditional scenic art techniques with that of the Dusseldorf and Hudson River schools. There is a soft, but dramatic atmosphere that visually envelopes the painted composition. Although there are subtle differences in paint techniques, such as glazing or the opaque application of colors as I have previously examined, there is a uniformity of brush stroke and final aesthetic. The modern school of scenic art takes a subtle departure from this aesthetic. Not always visible from the audience, it becomes apparent as one approaches the scene. Both the traditional and modern fall apart into areas of separate color, as the painting should, there is a distinct difference to the educated eye.

Here is the best parallel that I can think of, and it pertains to the work of fine art. If you take a landscape painting produced by a Hudson River School artist and compare it with the paintings of Thomas Kincaid (Painter of Light), you can see the shift. There is romanticism in each composition, an attempt to relay atmospheric conditions, a sense of beauty and an attention to detail. However, Kincaid’s paintings are distinctly contemporary. For me, they are slightly “off” and don’t capture what the nineteenth century artist conveyed to their audience.

This is what I see happening in the scenic studios during the 1920s, an approach that has its foundation in some traditional scenic art techniques, but the final product is slightly “off.” The modern scenic art compositions evolve in two distinct directions. One way is a final product that is too clean, crisp, and carefully blended; this is the direction of Hollywood and the creation of scenery for film settings. Beautiful techniques and lovely compositions, but a distinct departure from traditional stage painting. After all, it is creating scenic illusion for a new art form – one that needs greater detail for the camera and close-ups. The second direction is much less controlled. The technique isn’t quite there, so the composition is altered with layers of spatter over high contrast areas in order to unify the entire composition. This is not meant to say that either of these approaches is a lesser art form, but they are a distinct departure from a previous stage aesthetic.

Over the next week, I will start to compare various painting techniques and their characteristics before returning to the life and times of Thomas G. Moses in 1903. This helps me as I approach examining the “first golden age” of Scottish Rite scenery production. This is the surge that takes place just prior to WWI. The 1920s then usher in the “second golden age” of Scottish Rite scenery production before everything begins a slow descent.

To be continued…

The Joplin Scottish Rite, July 2

I arrived at the Joplin Scottish Rite by 8:15am. We examined all of the backdrops over the next four hours, with Andrew and the Secretary Richard Lowery handling the lines. Richard worked tirelessly with my husband to raise and lower the lines while I catalogued each drop, photographed painted details, and set entire scenes. To show our appreciation, we took Richard out to lunch at a fabulous local restaurant – the Red Onion.

At the Joplin Scottish Rite, I was like a kid in a candy store, as I uncovered a new scenic studio stencil – The Fabric Studio.

It will take many more hours to untangle the compilation of various installations, only some attributed to the Fabric Studio, after closely examining the backdrops in context. The majority of scenery contain a studio stamp for Fabric Studio of Chicago, located at 117 N. State, 4^th floor, Chicago, Illinois. However, the drops were not all produced at the same time or for the same venue. One distinguishing characteristic of many backdrops is the horizontal seams on octagonal-shaped sandwich bottom battens. They are a distinct departure from late-nineteenth century oval battens.

The earliest mention of the Fabric Studio that I have located to date is in 1921; the company was advertising for girls to help in the sewing room (Chicago Tribune, 27 August 1921, page 14). From all appearances, this was second generation scenic studio, like many that emerged during the twenties when scenic artists left the employ of the larger, companies to strike it out on their own. They began competing with the older studios and offering a new aesthetic. The Fabric Studio was a competitor to the Kansas City Scenic Co., of Kansas City. In 1922, the Wellington Daily News reported that two scenery salesman were competing for the contract of a new front curtain and the scenery for the new Memorial Auditorium project: E. L. Gossage of Kansas City Scenic Co. and W. S. Mayer of the Fabric Studios of Chicago (Wellington, Kansas, 25 August 1922, page 1). Gossage would later be the salesman for the Great Western Stage Equipment Company of Kansas City.

The Fabric Studio of Chicago is credited with the painted scenery for the 1922 Orpheum Theatre in Wichita, Kansas. The Wichita Eagle (3 September 1922, page 48) reported the Fabric Studio’s work as including the original asbestos curtain depicting a gold gauze curtain with an exterior garden scene, a Spanish market scene; a silk velour for the valance; a grand drapery; a silver gauze tableaux curtain; a picture sheet; “two exterior oleos and drops;” a complete conservatory set; and a complete Gothic set.

The chief artist to the Fabric Studios of Chicago was P. T. Blackburn who worked mostly on the fine plushes, satins, and velours, such as the gold gauze front curtain and the silver gauze tableaux curtain for the Orpheum.

By 1949, Blackburn would become the head artist for Paramount Studios and a weekend resident of the San Jacinto mountain resort area (The Desert Sun, Palm Springs, California, 17 May 1949, page 4). In addition to scenic art, he and his department also developed new stage equipment and curtain tracks for scenery painted by Paramount artists.

This explains the exceptional hand-painted silk curtains in the practical opening of some Joplin Scottish Rite scenes. Blackburn was the head of the artistic staff for several stock companies over the years, including the Grand Players from Davenport, Iowa.Another artist on staff at the Fabric Studios was Max Schroeder, who specialized in landscapes. The Fabric Studio’s head installation expert was J. A. Bannon, credited as “an old timer in the show business and has installed scenery in theaters in nearly every city in the United States” (Wichita Daily Eagle, 3 September 1922, page 48).

There is more to report about this unique collection and its current condition, but that will be saved for tomorrow.

To be continued…

Saying Goodbye to Fort Scott on July 1

We left Wamego, Kansas, and headed to meet a friend in Fort Scott. Almost three years ago, I made the fateful trip with the CEO of Masonic Charities, the General Director of the Minnesota Masonic Heritage Center and a local Scottish Rite Mason. At that time, I was the Curatorial Director for all incoming acquisitions for the Minnesota Masonic Heritage Center and I was there to evaluate the Fort Scott Scottish Rite Collection, assessing its condition and determining whether it would survive the removal from its current home and transportation to Minnesota. The whole tale of my involvement with the Fort Scott scenery collection, prompted my writing of the story “Tales of a Scenic Artist and Scholar: Acquiring the Fort Scott Scenery Collection for the Minnesota Masonic Heritage Center.” My story evolved to solely focus on the scenic artist who painted the Fort Scott scenery collection – Thomas Gibbs Moses.

My involvement with the Fort Scott scenery ceased after its storage in the custom-made racks that I designed during the fall of 2015. My position was terminated upon the opening of the Minnesota Masonic Center and the museum team, Outhouse Productions (who helped design exhibits at the Minnesota Masonic Heritage Center) attempted to restore the collection with the help of their standard exhibit artist, Kimber Lawler. Sadly, the group had never restored any historic theatre scenery before and used hot melt glue to attach netting to the fragile fabric. They also cut many of the leg drops in half after flame-proofing everything; a death sentence to historic scenery. Furthermore they replaced all of the original wooden battens with pipe pockets, losing much of the personal notes written by Thomas Moses during the original installation.

When I first witnessed the “restored” drops hanging at the Minnesota Masonic Heritage Center, I was devastated to see the wrinkles, shiny surfaces from size that was too strong, and further deterioration after a botched restoration attempt by those who did not understand the proper handling of historic scenery. So, today was my day for a sense of closure and sharing the current status of the drops. It still distresses me that the Fort Scott Masons entrusted me to help preserve their history and I wasn’t ultimately able to help them. To both Fort Scott Masons and many Masons in my home state, the CEO of Masonic Charities identified me as the one who would restore the entire collection. Many Minnesota Masons at Grand Lodge this year still believed that I was part of the scenery restoration, as it was so firmly stated on numerous occasions.

However, today was the day that I could tell the tale of my dismissal, pass off a copy of my new book, and stop by the Fort Scott Scottish Rite building one more time. After a lovely lunch, a visit to the old fort, and hike along a prairie trail, I am ready to explore anther Scottish Rite collection – Joplin. We made it to Joplin by late afternoon and enjoyed some local barbeque. One more day enjoying the beauty of some Scottish Rite scenery that may still have a future.

To be continued…

The Salina Scottish Rite Stage, on June 30

I am aware of two instances where Masonic buildings with historic stages were not sold, but almost given away. In the case of Fort Scott, the building was “sold” for $1. I learned yesterday that the Salina Masonic Temple was “sold” for $10. In both cases, there was an attempt to preserve the structure and adapt it to a current use for organizations that were not part of the Fraternity.

It is easy to feel sympathy for the generations of Masons who poured their hearts, souls and finances into a building and organization that would suddenly evaporate before their eyes. In Fort Scott, all of the contents were sold at an auction for a total of $75,000, liquidating their assets that included a mummy, 200 swords, porcelain dishes, and hundreds of vintage props and costumes. The Fort Scott Scottish Rite has not ceased to exist, but now meets in a small facility in Pittsburgh, Kansas.

What I have started to understand about many of the Scottish Rite buildings is that during times of plenty, the Scottish Rite did not reinvest in their homes, completing the necessary maintenance and repairs. Over time, deferred maintenance took its toll on both the physical structure and the membership. In addition to poor choices in regard to the basic upkeep of the buildings, membership declined and the constant stream of income began to diminish.

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, a new group also rose to power – leading the vision for the future of their edifices – Temple building associations and foundations. In addition to declining membership and structural issues with their facilities, the financial wellbeing was also at risk. The funds necessary to address the deferred maintenance were embezzled. This happened in Salina last year when the treasurer of the Salina Building Foundation was accused of theft and embezzlement from the organization.

I first read about the crime in newspapers while researching Scottish rite theaters that were listed for sale. On May 2, 2017, one Mason commented on Chris Hodapp’s Freemasonry for Dummies blogspot (http://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2017/05/salina-kansas-masonic-temple-treasurer.html): “Unfortunately, this is much more common that many masons believe. We tend to hide such crimes from public and fraternal view, yet rarely require proper safeguards. I have personally been involved in two similar cases (both of which involved larger amounts of thief).”

Over the past two years, I repeatedly encountered cases of large theft across the country that involved all extensions of Freemasonry – and these were the cases that were discovered and reported in local newspapers; this is likely a small percentage of what is actually happening. The above quote was a standard response by many men, whether in regard to a Grand Lodge, Scottish Rite, DeMolay, Shrine, Masonic Charities or other fraternal group.

As memberships lose the last remaining vestiges of financial security and physical homes, there is anger. The membership is frustrated and many begin to walk away, further depleting the membership ad discouraging those who stay.

The Santa Fe Scottish Rite was in a similar position when one individual rose to power, completely ignored the membership, and placed the building on the market. It took a dedicated group of men who worked tirelessly to get their building back. The common argument that is used by Masonic leadership is that their massive Masonic facility is “too expensive.” Often the need for a skilled marketing director is not employed – a must to bring in the necessary income to pay for all of the deferred maintenance. The future of the building is placed in the hands of a select few who often put their own interests ahead of the membership and the Fraternity. Valuable books and rare artifacts begin to disappear from Masonic libraries and collections before a building is sold. I refer to this as the vultures descending Police reports are not filed as it may portray the organization in a negative light. Members who try to come forward are bullied and threatened.

The Fraternity is at a crossroads and I have to wonder who will be the men who step up and save their heritage, as those dedicated men in Santa Fe.

To be continued…

Making My Way to Salina, Kansas, on June 29

As I planned our return trip from Santa Fe, I wanted to visit the Scottish Rite theater in Salina, Kansas, to meet the new steward of the Masonic Center –Mary Landes, the founder of Salina Innovation Foundation. The organization intends to keep the Masonic Center ownership local, for use by the community to foster arts, education, culinary, and business in Salina.\

In 2010, I had the pleasure of evaluating the Salina scenery for the Salina Scottish Rite on one of my many trips to McAlester, Oklahoma, where I was restoring the Scottish Rite scenery there.

I wanted to see the scenery collection that was originally created for the McAlester Scottish Rite’s stage before their current 1929 home. The McAlester scenery was resold to Salina for their 1927 building. In 1922 the Salina Masons began planning a new Masonic complex that would be completed five years later.

McAlester sold the 1908 scenery to Salina when their third stage was constructed in 1929. Thomas G. Moses also listed both the 1908 and 1929 McAlester scenery in his resume as two of the installations under his supervision. In 1928, Moses created new designs and started painting the scenery for the 1929 McAlester Scottish Rite stage. An earlier scenery collection for McAlester was sold to the Santa Fe Scottish Rite in 1908 when the second Scottish Rite stage in McAlester was completed.

The 1908 McAlester stage replaced an earlier Masonic stage in a building called “The Tabernacle.” I photographed images of the Tabernacle stage scenery while restoring ye collection in McAlester. The Scottish Rite had several original photographs of the 1904 stage and scenery in a display case. At the time, I documented these precious photographs, as their placement in glass display cases subject to direct sunlight were taking their toll. Amazingly, I found the link between Santa Fe and McAlester while doing research for the Santa Fe Scottish Rite book. Here is a little historical context to explain the relationship between the Scottish Rite scenery collections in Santa Fe, New Mexico; McAlester, Oklahoma; and Salina, Kansas.

The Sovereign Grand Inspector General for Oklahoma until 1908 was Harper S. Cunningham. He had started out as Deputy for the Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction in Indian Territory. In 1908, he transferred to Santa Fe, New Mexico. While advising on the planning and construction for the new 1912 Santa Fe Scottish Rite building, he encouraged the Santa Fe Scottish Rite to purchase the used scenery from McAlester. His reasoning was so that the members could practice the theatrical staging of degree productions during the construction phase of their 1912 theater. This is the same theater featured in “The Santa Fe Scottish Rite Temple: Freemasonry, Architecture and Theatre” (Museum of New Mexico Press, 2018).

In Moses’ scrapbook, he pasted a newspaper clipping about the used McAlester Scottish Rite scenery collection that was purchased by the Salina Scottish Rite in 1927. The article reported, ”The one hundred and seventeen drops of scenery that has been in use on the old stage for twenty-five years, has been sold to the Scottish Rite Bodies of Salina, Kansas, and it has been shipped to them. There was nearly a carload of it. Brother John T. Leibrand, 33°, Wise Master of South McAlester Chapter of Rose Croix, negotiated the sale to the Salina brethren who came to McAlester to inspect it. The scenery was painted by Brother Tom Moses under the direction of that great Scottish Rite Mason and student Bestor G. Brown, and was said to be the finest in the Southern Jurisdiction at the time. Brother Tom Moses is painting the scenery for our new stage settings. He is also building stage properties, and all will be the last thing in that line. The brother that does not see this great stage and these wonderful properties at our Fall Reunion will miss something. The Salina brethren are negotiating with Brother John G. Redpath, who had charge of the old stage for years, to superintend the hanging of the drops in their temple.” This used scenery collection was clearly marked with standard Sosman & Landis labeling in charcoal on both the stage right and stage left sides. The charcoal notations denote the degree; the size of 18 feet high by 36 feet wide; and the original venue as “So. McAlester.”

Before Salina purchased the 1908 collection from McAlester, they contracted Sosman & Landis to produced their original 1901 scenery. This installation was also listed on Moses’ resumé, but not recorded in his typed manuscript. I am hesitant to believe that Moses painted the 1901 Salina scenery, as he was quite busy with other projects and had left Sosman & Landis by 1901 to partner with Will Hamiton, forming Moses & Hamilton (1901-1904). The Moses & Hamilton studio offices and paint frames were all located in New York City. My research suggests that the original 1901 Salina Scottish Rite scenery was primarily painted by David Austin Strong, the Sosman & Landis artist who Moses referred to as the “Daddy of Masonic Design.” Strong was one of the original artists hired by Sosman when the studio opened and worked closely with Moses in the early years. Strong was also a Scottish Rite Mason in Chicago’s Oriental Consistory. In the context of theatre history, Strong was one of the original scenic artists for “The Black Crook” at Niblo’s Garden in 1866. Strong’s painting is still visible in scenery currently used at Scottish Rite theaters in Austin, Texas; Yankton, South Dakota; Pasadena, California; and Cheyenne, Wyoming.

But the current Scottish Rite scenery in Salina, Kansas, has another story connected to the venue; one that I discovered during the 2010 evaluation. On November 13^th 1923, the Secretary of the Salina Scottish Rite received a letter from the executive offices of the Sosman & Landis Company, with a stamp noting that their new offices were now located at 6751 Sheridan Road. The letterhead also contained the address of their previous office location at 417 South Clinton Street in Chicago. In 1923, a new scenic studio was leasing the old Sosman & Landis space at 417-419 Clinton Street; the company was Chicago Studios.

In retaliation for Chicago Studios pretending to be Sosman & Landis, Perry Landis contacted many of the Scottish Rite venues 1923. The Sosman & Landis letter said,

“Dear Sir:

It has recently come to our attention that a certain studio is advising our old customers that they have bought the Sosman & Landis Company and are now operating some, combining it with their original company. We wish to assure you that this is not fact and that our original organization is intact, but our studio has been moved to new and better quarters. Mr. Thomas G. Moses, our Art Director would like the opportunity of meeting with your scenery committee to submit our designs and specifications covering your requirements. You will perhaps recall that we were favored with your original scenery order, working through the M. C. Lilley Co., and therefore, it is not necessary for us to give you any reference as to our ability and quality of our workmanship.” They were referring to the scenery created for Salina’s first Scottish Rite stage and before the purchase of the used 1908 scenery from McAlester, Oklahoma.

To be continued…

Our last day in Santa Fe, June 28

We successfully sent my folks off on their return flight to Minneapolis and then decided to drive the Turquoise Trail one last time.

This is the road that I traveled daily during the Scottish Rite scenery evaluation during 2002. It passes through some lovey old mining towns that included Golden, Madrid and Cerrillos. The area is a popular place for film and television production with past shows including The Nine Lives of Effego Baca (1959); Bearcats (1971); Thomasine & Bushrod (1974); Convoy (1978); Outrageous Fortune (1987); Young Guns (1988); Sparks, The Price of Passion (1990); John Carpenter’s Vampires (1998); Hi Lo Country (1998); Three Wise Guys (2005); The Hitcher (2007); Beer for my Horses (2008); Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden (2012); 2 Guns (2012); We’re the Millers (2012) and Edge (2014).

The Cerrillos Mining Museum and Petting Zoo has always one of our favorite spots. During 2002-2005, this was one of our daughter’s favorite stops to feed alpacas, goats and chickens. Today, our son was able to experience it for the first time and loved it just as much as Isabelle.

The owner of the mine, Todd Brown, transforms three types of local turquoise into jewelry – white, blue and the popular Cerrillos green. We have always left with some lovely stone that has been transformed into a earrings, a necklace, or money clip. Brown is also a Scottish Rite Mason who happened to be in the store today and not working in the mine; it was nice to catch up as we first met each other during the scenery restoration. His museum also has some very interesting Masonic artifacts that belonged to James Patrick McNulty (1847-1933), mine supervisor of the American Turquoise Company, once located five miles north of Cerrillos.

McNulty supervised up to fifteen men, six days a week on Turquoise Hill. In the early boom years, McNulty and the American Turquoise Company supplied most of the gem quality turquoise on the American market. Another place that that we enjoy to see is the Opera House, once used as a Masonic Lodge.

After the Turquoise trail, we ventured east to Glorieta and Pecos.

It was at Glorieta Pass where a Civil War battle occurred 1862. Known as the “Gettysburg of the West,” Union forces stopped the Confederate strategy to seize the Southwest’s major supply base at Fort Union, with Colorado and California next in line if they were successful. The Texas vanguard captured Santa Fe on March 10, but after two days of battle at Glorieta Pass, US Troops and Colorado Volunteers burned poorly guarded Confederate supply wagons, causing the Rebels to retreat from New Mexico within two weeks. We knew about this scenic site as Andrew heard the story on his way to the reopening of Union Lodge near Wagon Mound. He was invited by Dan Irick last week. Irick is the President of the Santa Fe Scottish Rite Temple Building Foundation who handled many of the administrative duties for the book. He is also a Past Grand Master for the State of New Mexico and Dinky the Shrine clown. I believe that Dan’s retelling of the story may have been a bit more animated than my own account.

Sadly, the Pecos National Forest was also closed due to extreme fire warnings, limiting our ability to travel up into the mountains where the air was much cooler. Instead, we returned to Santa Fe, had a lovely dinner at a local New Mexican restaurant called Maria’s, and went to see a movie – “Jurassic World, Fallen Kingdom.” Dinner was better than the movie. Returning to the Scottish Rite, I signed forty more books for the Valley and started packing.

Long, long, long day. We depart early and head to the Scottish Rite in Salina, Kansas – now the property of the Salina Innovation Foundation.

To be continued…