The Purpose of Life- Mural Painted for NY 1964 World's Fair

The LDS mural entitled The Purpose of Life, painted for the booth of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) at the 1964 World’s Fair, has been located in the Hyde Park Chapel in London, England ever since. This image was hugely successful and popular receiving world wide recognition as it was used in Church curriculum, PR and evangelical pamphlets, on film strips and for other media world wide.

The Hyde Park Chapel is now slated to undergo massive renovation in anticipation of the 2012 Olympics in London. This renovation will involve demolition as they install Visitor Center style displays and the mural was slated to be destroyed. One of the problems of reusing the mural is its size: approximately 10′ x 30′. For the last 6 month there have been a going back and forth of discussion about keeping the mural but in the end, the church headquarters decided to decline.

That’s when several well energized people in the LDS Historical Department jumped into gear with the suggestion of donating the removed mural to one of the church schools. This met with a cautious favorable nod if all the details like budgets can fall into place. But the mural, once it is be removed and conserved, will be slated for donation to Brigham Young University Idaho, if all is successful. It is not known yet what they will do with the mural.

So, tomorrow, Wed. August 24th I’m catching a non stop to London. I arrive at noon on Thurs. and get over to the Hyde Park Chapel where I test the mural to determine the in’s and out’s of the removal and budget. I then have a meeting with the construction guys at about 3 pm… then, depending on our discussions of the details of the project we’ll see if I’m going to be there 1 day or for the next two weeks while I immediately remove the mural.

Sign up for updates to this blog in the upper right side bar. That way you’ll find out about the latest postings. I promise to keep it interesting. The sign up for updates does not sign you into a mailing list for product marketing.

Also, spread the good word to others who may be interested in art history, church history, LDS art etc. Stay in touch! Videos and more will follow!

Well, it was a whirlwind of activity last week: I was asked on Tues. by the History Department of the LDS Church to be at the Hyde Park Chapel in London England for a 3 pm meeting on Thurs. to discuss the removal of the mural. That meant, of course, taking the red eye flight on Wed. (btw, I enjoyed taking New Zealand Air for the first time, non stop from LA to London).

I made it, just in time, to my meeting on Thurs. by cutting through Hyde Park (a really nice park) and the first thing I saw when coming out of the park was the Victoria Albert Concert Hall and the Price Albert Memorial… I knew I wasn’t in Kansas anymore.

The Patient under examination, as I discussed in Part 1, is the famous mural that was a focal point in the Mormon Pavilion at the 1964 World’s Fair in NYC.

In 1962, Elder Harold B. Lee of the Council of the Twelve was appointed Executive Director of the Mormon Pavilion and he gave the charge that a film depicting  “the three great questions of life: where we came from, our purpose and reason for being here upon the earth, and what happens to us after death” be produced. Many of us remember the film that was made for the fair, Man’s Search For Happiness. The mural depicts the
phases of life illustrated in the film.
Visitors who came through the pavilion at the World’s Fair commented. One wrote, “For about a half hour after we left the theatre, we hardly spoke to each other. …“My wife broke the silence by asking: ‘Can you believe it?’ “I knew what she meant by ‘it.’ ‘It’ referred to your Gospel and the message we got from the movie. My response—‘Yes, I can believe it and it is a wonderful thing to believe …’

During and after the Fair, the mural was used in films, filmstrips, teaching illustrations and PR images internationally and, perhaps was one of the best recognized images of the church in the 1960′s and 1970′s. Once the fair was over, it was mounted on a wall in the Hyde Park Chapel. It has been there ever since.

Testing the possibility of removal, once I got there, brought a sigh of relief to me: I could see that I could make happen the separation of the canvas from the wall in a safe and cost effective way… and that brought a sign of relief from the people who sent me to London! As I said in the first blog post, prior to seeing the mural first hand, I had no way of knowing if this project was going to cost $10,000 or $250,000 by simply hearing descriptions over the phone. I mean, by goodness, I wasn’t even given the right dimensions of the mural. It turns out it was 1/2 the size I thought it was going to be.

So, given the positive results from my testing, it was decided to remove the mural immediately, while I was there. It was a 2 day process. Once again, as I said before, the mural was removed because of the impending extensive renovation involving demolition. The LDS History Department is gratified that events have worked out to save such an important and fondly remembered mural from destruction.

Here is the video I shot of the removal of the mural from the wall.

Be sure to sign up for updates on this blog. We do not put your email address into a database for marketing. When you register, you will be an “insider” and will automatically be notified when another fun filled, action packed, juicy article about saving, protecting, restoring/ art conservation of LDS/Mormon art and artifacts is posted.

Feel free to pass the link for this blog to others.

See other videos on YouTube under “bestartdoc”

Art conservation questions? Call 805 564 3438

Art appraisal questions? Call 805 895 5121

Whew! We are doing a lot of very cool projects for the LDS CHurch History Dept and the Museum right now. I could blog daily! Sorry I don’t have the time to share everything I’d like to about these really great projects, artists and stories. But here’s a quick update on the conservation work I’ve reported on in the past:

This painting of Pioneers is one of two murals on this subject my Minerva Teichert. They hang in the Museum of Church History and Art at the entrance to the main gallery.

Minerva Teichert's murals of pioneers

I call them murals because they were designed to be murals, I think. But, you know the definition of a mural, don’t you? “A painting on a wall.” Well, technically, these aren’t murals anymore since they are not on a wall but are framed moveable paintings now.

Anyway, this painting was glued down to a really poorly constructed backing of plywood and there were bubbles and distortions starting to show. So, the Museum sent it to us to remove it from the plywood, readhere it onto a quality honeycomb panel, clean (can you see the cleaning test along the top border, right side?) and revarnish it.

Preparing new honeycomb panel for mounting the painting of pioneers by Minerva Teichert.

In the above photo the adhesive is being laid on the white interleaf which is already adhered to the panel. You can see the painting wrapped around the large tube in the background.

The cleaning made a nice difference in color from a smoggy day to a nice baby blue sky. Here’s a photo of cleaning:

Minerva Teichert Cleaning

You will notice the shiny left 1/3 side with the varnish still on it. The middle 1/3 has undergone a 1st cleaning but you can see in the sky that there is still a grimy look to it. The right 1/3 looks the cleanest. This process of going through a double cleaning was required to safely clean the painting. The first layer came off with one solvent and the second layer came off with another solvent. If we had tried to clean everything off in one effort, we would have removed original paint and damaged the artwork (which we NEVER do!).

I tried to post a quick video clip of the cleaning technique but I can’t get it to play so, sorry about that…

The painting is now mounted onto its new honeycomb panel, cleaned and newly varnished. Next Monday it will be packed up and next Wednesday, Oct. 26 it will be delivered to the Church’s Museum along with the conserved Odgen Temple mural (still as yet to be remounted into the new temple, obviously) and a newly acquired, newly discovered painting by the Church that I’ll blog about too. Also being delivered is a very nice old sacrament table (c. 1900) that was donated by someone in LA. We fumigated it and will be sending it up to SLC also.

Minerva Teichert's pioneers

OK! You are an insider with the latest scoop on historic LDS art and the History Department! Stay connected and sign up for updates so you get notified when I post.

All my best

Scott

I’m in Utah meeting with private collectors and The LDS Church History Department. We’ve delivered the Minerva Teichert that I posted about at http://www.fineartconservationlab.com/projects/in-lab/painting-by-minerva-teichert-glued-to-plywood-removed-why/ I’ll post about it in a couple of days.
Monday will be  full day! I’m meeting with engineers and architects who are evaluating the “systems” (air flow, plumbing and electrical) in the Mormon SLC Temple. Some future work this next year will impact the historic murals rooms and they are talking to me about what it will take to preserve and restore. I’m really glad they are thinking about this!

Here’s an update on what is happening with the mural that I went to London to save from demolition. Here’s what was written previously:

Part 1   http://mormonartconservation.org/murals/the-purpose-of-life-mural-from-the-1964-worlds-fair-saved-from-demolition/

Part 2  http://mormonartconservation.org/murals/mural-removal-hyde-park-chapel-london/

YouTube Video  of removal  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_MRCf7uKEE

Famous mural from the 1964 World's Fair in NY

I just spoke with Jerry Griffin at BYU Idaho who is choreographing the arrangements among the university administration and the campus departments for the mural’s use and display. There will be a meeting next Monday where the proposal on how to proceed will be presented. I referred Jerry to my video on reattaching detached murals that I made for Texas State University on YouTube ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JofT2RqFi94) to help them see the options.

In a meeting with the Church History Department last week it was hoped that the mural wound be available in the future for displays in SLC by the Church. So, our art conservation treatments will be focused keeping the murals portable, somewhat.

I’m gratified that all with whom I’ve spoken realize the importance and benefits of the mural and want the art conservation work to be the highest quality possible. I’ll be reporting on progress and maybe we’ll make another quick video if there is something interesting to show you. So, sign in for updates in the upper right part of the side bar so that you’ll when I post on this blog. There’s a lot of interesting news coming!

Art conservation questions? Call Scott 805 564 3438

Art appraisal questions? Call Richard at 805 895 5121

What can you do at home to preserve your stuff? Go to http://www.saveyourstuffblog.com

I’m on my way to Utah today for a very interesting visit with clients in Las Vegas and Salt Lake City. Part of this trip is all about delivering some big paintings to the LDS Museum of Church History.

Brigham Young in Nauvoo, IL about 1843. From the collection of DUP

We have the engine at FACL running on all cylinders this week: Mural work at the Salt Lake temple for the LDS Church, large paintings to be cleaned on site at the Daughters of Utah Pioneers (DUP) Museum in SLC, a Post War Expressionist Abstract painting by Jay De Feo examination and reports at Utah State University for the Whitney Museum of American Art in NY, inspecting a “pile” of newly discovered historic paintings, meeting with private clients in SLC and Las Vegas PLUS picking up and delivering gorgeous paintings in Los Angeles (Beverly Hills) and Carmel… and all our other stops! Give us a call.

Whew! We love it!

Sign up for updates to this blog now! Its at the top of the side bar. There is a lot going on. I promise to keep it entertaining and interesting!

See Daughters of Utah Pioneer website: http://www.dupinternational.org/

More info on our work with clients in Utah: http://www.fineartconservationlab.com/salt-lake-city-painting-restoration-art-restoration-art-conservation-painting-conservation-repair-art-slc-utah/

More info on our work with clients in Las Vegas: http://www.fineartconservationlab.com/art-painting-conservationrestoration-las-vegas/

For the Whitney Museum of American Art: http://whitney.org/

Art restoration/conservation questions? Call Scott Haskins at 805 570 4140

Art appraisal questions? Call Richard Holgate at 805 895 5121

I was asked for a quick update on the progress of the mural by Robert Oliver Skemp we removed from the Hyde Park Chapel in London, England: We are cleaning the reverse side of the glue etc that stayed on the back of the canvas of the mural when we pulled it off the wall.

Removing vinyl paste adhesive from the back of mural.

Here it is laid out, face down, as we go through the difficult task of getting the adhesive off the back without damaging the mural. This is something that must always be done when removing a mural from a wall.

This Thursday, the admin from BYU Idaho will come to Fine Art Conservation Laboratories (FACL, Inc.) in Santa Barbara to see the mural for the first time (its been donated to BYUI) and to discuss the treatments and the options for mounting it on a wall at the university. Should be a nice viist. We are all looking forward to it.

Here’s the video about the removal process in London:

Here’s the initial announcement of going to England to remove the mural: http://www.fineartconservationlab.com/murals/mural-removal-hyde-park-mural-project-in-london-england/

While I was planning the work for the art conservation treatments of the murals in the Idaho Falls Mormon temple, I was asked by the LDS History Dept. to get info on a mural in a removed hillside town outside of Preston, Idaho. So, while we were returning to Salt Lake City after we were done in IF, we “stopped by” this cute old out of the way chapel to see if a safe removal was possible. You’ve heard about the “wide open spaces”? Well, this countryside is “it.”

The town is called Mink Creek (pronounced Crik) and the plan is to enlarge the chapel to seat more members during the meetings. The wall to be knocked down is the one with the mural on it. BUT, the plan is to mount the removed mural to another wall in the building. Here’s what the chapel looks like from the pulpit:

Mink Creek - Preston, Idaho LDS Chapel, with mural painted by H. Helgeson in 1929

1929 Mural of Temple Square

The story that was told me was that the artist, H. Helgeson, had emigrated from Norway 5 years earlier. He painted several murals and other pictures in the chapel. He also painted murals in other buildings in the area and was in Idaho Falls doing a mural where he was mistaken by a policeman for a person he was pursuing and shot the artist dead.

My evaluation is that the mural can be removed safely (with proper pre-caustions), cleaned and be reinstalled in the building with a good long term prognosis for longevity and good condition.

It was a beautiful trip but what else would you expect in June? Its in January when you have to deal with 6 feet of snow during a normal winter!

You would have never heard about or seen this nice mural in Mink Creek if you were not in touch with this blog. I am pleased to let you in on this inside information. Please pass this URL along to others and be sure to sign up for auto updates in the side bar.

To learn more about what you can do to take care, protect and save your collectibles, memorabilia, family history, artwork AND help raise money for the Daughters of Utah Pioneers, go to http://pioneerartrestoration.com/dup-special/

Art conservation questions? Call Scott Haskins 805 564 3438

Art appraisal questions? Call Richard Holgate at 805 895 5121

Follow us on Facebook at Fine Art Conservation and Scott M. Haskins

Scott Haskins, art conservation, mural restoration, LDS vintage art, mural to be saved, saving historic art

When you walk into the space where this mural is located it catches you a bit by surprise! You are surrounded by the story and emotions of the mural because it is painted on the wall of a small round room with a dome. The painting is 9’ tall from bottom up to the curvature of the dome… so add another 5 ft? It bends around 80’ of the circumference of the room. Painted in 1951 by non member of the LDS Church Edward T. Grigware, the style of the painting is a modern style utilized in the 40′s, 50′s and 60′s that has a lot to do with illustration art. You may recognize the style as similar to ads from that period and illustration from magazines. I like the style a lot and immediately saw a stylistic similarity with the famous “Purpose of Life” mural that was painted in 1963 for the New York World’s Fair and was an illustration used in Man’s Search for Happiness. I rescued that mural from the Hyde Park Chapel last year where massive renovation took place to prepare for the 2012 Olympics. The Purpose of Life mural is in our art conservation lab right now, being prepared for installation on the BYU Idaho Campus eventually. To see a quick video of that mural removal process go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_MRCf7uKEE

The Trust that oversees the maintenance and care of the famous and beloved Cody Mural in Cody, Wyoming is looking ahead at upgrading the systems (air conditioning, heating etc) in the Visitor’s Center. As a planning precaution, I was called to give them an art conservation professional evaluation of the condition of the mural, just in case the mural might prove to be too weak or have problems that would be impacted by the upgrades.

Well, good news to those who know and love this mural: 1) the mural is in great condition and 2) the Trust doesn’t want to put the mural in danger in any way.

While I was doing the evaluation, I took some photos and this is the short video review of my visit that I made:

I have been impressed at how many people far and wide know about this mural, love the subject of pioneer history and the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and relate to how the mural tells the story of the sacrifices that the pioneers made in settling the West.

You’ll really enjoy the website that the visitor’s center has set up at http://www.codymural.com

Also, you will be interested, perhaps, in the continuing development of the Church History Department’s website within the larger LDS Church website. Go see it at http://history.lds.org

If you would like to see other mural conservation – restoration projects we have been involved with see some of our very interesting videos on the youTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/bestartdoc?feature=mhee

Art conservation questions? Call Scott M. Haskins 805 564 3438 or faclartdoc@gmail.com
Art appraisal questions? Call Richard Holgate at 805 895 5121 or jrholgate@yahoo.com

Sign up in the side column with your e-mail address so you can be updated whenever I post a new article or video!

Here’s the intro video for the website on Pioneer Art Restoration (http://www.pioneerartrestoration.com)

Sorry we haven’t posted anything interesting lately. Some of my help graduated from school and moved on (interns). But an interesting conversation I had the other day was with a planning department that wants to protect and save murals in the Rio de Janero and Washington DC temples next year. So we are making plans for assessments and testing. Its nice to know that the murals are part of the plans!

We’ll be in touch!

BTW, if you are interested in what you can do at home to protect and save family history items from damage in storage, mishandling or disasters you should take advantage of the 50% off price for my much acclaimed book, How To Save Your Stuff From A Disaster e-book edition (CLICK HERE). This last year it was a HUGE hit with the several companies of Daughters of Utah Pioneers I spoke to.

Also, leave your email in the side bar so you will know when I’ve updated the blog with interesting stories and adventures.

Martyrdom of Joseph Smith at Carthage Jail

Art conservation questions? Call Scott M. Haskins 805 564 3438

Art appraisal questions? Call Richard Holgate at 805 895 5121

Follow us on Facebook at Scott M. Haskins, Save Your Stuff, Tips for Art Collectors

For many, the Manti temple holds a very special place in the heart. Traveling 800 extra miles, my parents were married there in 1951 and my mother always purred over the lovely pioneer, Victorian style that sets a particular stage for the wonderful ceremonies celebrated there. Like the Salt Lake temple, the Manti temple was built with the blood sweat and tears of sacrifice of poor people with great faith and the stories are truly inspiring… not the least of these being Brigham Young’s quote that Moroni dedicated the land for this temple during his lifetime (https://www.lds.org/ensign/1978/03/the-manti-temple?lang=eng).

This temple is the only temple with pioneer art murals by C.C.A. Christiansen in the Creation Room. Dan Weggeland originally did murals in the Garden but the East wall, which was built into the hillside, leaked water, the mural was damaged and not knowing how to restore the mural the Church had the room repainted with other murals by Robert Shephard (who did an exquisite job!). The artistic masterpiece is the World Room by Minerva Teichert, who was painting the same time Shephard was painting in the next room. The story goes that Shephard was so inspired by Teichert’s energy and style, he went to the 1st Presidency with a proposal for changing his murals but they held him to their contract. Read more about Teichert’s painting of the World Room here: https://ojs.lib.byu.edu/spc/index.php/BYUStudies/article/viewFile/6578/6227 Here’s a preparatory sketch of her work for one of the walls that is on exhibit at the Church History Museum

I think it was in about 1982 that the Manti Temple had an annex added and other renovation work done. The addition was to be place on the East side of the temple in an area to be dug out of the hillside, on the other side of the wall from the Creation Room with original pioneer murals by CCA. Great insights on the part of the Historical Dept. as to what damage the vibrations of the bulldozers might cause prompted a request for me to inspect the murals before excavation began. How fortunate we were to have taken a look! Approximately 40% or more of the plaster layers along that East wall were detached from the rock wall and should there have been excessive vibrations, the whole could have ended up on the floor.

Our work in the Creation Room at that time consisted of consolidating the plaster layers (reattaching them to the rock), cleaning,d king minimal inpainting and varnish. In the Garden Room, there were unsightly yellow drips in the varnish that had badly discolored. So that room was cleaned of the old varnish and revarnished. The World Room just had surface grime and so we removed that and revarnished. With contraction immanent, we then covered the murals with plastic.

Now, its 30 years later and I’m being asked again to visit the Manti Temple and have a look at the murals and formulate some proposals and budgets. Some work is anticipated maybe next year but I don’t know what it will be yet. I’ll hoping it means a reunion with some old friends on the walls of one of the LDS Church’s most beautiful buildings.

Learn what you can do at home to take care and preserve your family history and collectibles. Scott’s e-book is 50% off: http://saveyourstuffblog.com/products-supplies/

See Scott M. Haskins’ new book on Amazon for assessing needs for art, memorabilia and collectibles in the workplace: Click Here!

Questions? Call Scott M. Haskins at 805 570 4140

Questions about art appraisals? Call Richard Holgate at 805 895 5121

Sign up for updates on this blog in the upper right part of the side bar. Your information is ONLY used between us and not sold or used by others.

Follow us on Facebook at Scott M. Haskins, Fine Art Conservation

You may also be interested in http://www.pioneerartrestoration.org

I’ve been asked to inspect the St. George Temple murals this next Monday for condition and mural restoration issues. So, at this point there isn’t much to say other than their condition and the potential art conservation treatments are being taken into consideration for a future intervention. I’ll report back in after the examination.

As some of you know, the St. George Temple was the first temple completed by the early pioneers after their arrival from Nauvoo.

If you like hearing about the inside information on LDS art of a historical nature, its preservation, my adventures with the History Dept and looking back into the historical artistic testimonials of faith, sign up for updates in the sidebar and share these posts with other likeminded folk.

Scott M. Haskins 805 564 3438

Here you are, the first to know… we have finally finished the painting conservation treatments on the famous The Purpose of Life mural. This iconic painting was widely used, worldwide, as a teaching aid, illustration and artwork. You may have seen the video of how we removed it from the walls of the Hyde Park Chapel in London England before they modified the building in preparation for the Olympics.

What we did to preserve and restore the mural

Once in our lab, we stabilized the condition of the paint layers which were stressed during the removal and the shipping from England. The stabilization process helps to guarantee that paint will not flake in the future and that cracks will not develop.  Any distortions that had formed while being rolled up were relaxed with heat and solvents so the painting lay perfectly flat. The painting was cleaned then any paint losses, damage etc were “inpainted.”

A lesson for you on “inpainting”

Inpainting is a professional art conservation  term that denotes very careful and accurate retouching with small brushes with reversible varnish or water based based colors. We never use oil paint. In fact “retouching” is a rather crude term which insinuates disguising damage but not necessarily accurately. “Repainting” or “overpaint” is still further afield from the careful color-matching inpainting techniques professionals employ. If you hear a professional art conservator use the term “retouching” in front of you, he/she is probably dumbing-down the vocabulary for you thinking you won’t know or understand the correct terms.

An interesting choice to be made

An interesting detail about this mural was the decision of how to remount it to a wall. The choices were to 1) re-adhere it directly back on a wall or 2) adhere it to an aluminum honeycomb (and aircraft industry product) panel that could then be mounted to a wall, or 3) to utilize a fairly new technology of mounting it to a semi stiff thick webbing that could be bolted to a wall. Benefits of this last option would allow the artwork to be unbolted and removed if perhaps the building were to be damaged in a fire or an earthquake or if the painting were desired for a major exhibition someplace else. As you might guess, the last option was the one chosen because of its successful implementation on the murals in the North Visitors Center on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah.

North Visitors Center murals by Harry Anderson and Grant Clawson

About the varnishing

The final varnish layers have UV filters contained in them, will not yellow with time and no matter how long it will be until the next time varnish removal may be required, the varnish will come off easily and without damage to the original paint. The choice of varnish also considers which type will best saturate the original colors and make it look its best. Some synthetic varnishes make paintings look like a poster.

Where is the new home of the mural?

The painting has been delivered to Brigham Young University Idaho where it will eventually be displayed in a prominent location although the exact place has not been decided yet. Therefore, it was rolled up on a large diameter tube for storage where it will wait patiently. We look forward to the installation of this wonderful painting and we look forward to the celebration at the inauguration by the many people who love this image and its message who celebrate its saving from demolition.

Stay tuned for a video of the processes (still to be made). Sign up for blog updates in the side margin.

Gerald Griffin from BYU Idaho doing final inspection of art conservation work with Oriana Montmurro, FACL conservator

But here’s a surprise twist…

While we were working on the art conservation treatments of the mural, I got a phone call one day from a member of the Church in Sacramento California. I was dumbfounded when he told me that while he and his wife were on a mission at the Visitors Center of the Hawaiian Temple, demolition, renovation and updating of the Visitor’s Center took place. And before the work got started he with some help ripped off the wall another mural that is the same as this one, only with Asian people depicted, in an attempt to save it. Its been rolled up in his garage for decades  but as he remembers it, he assumes it was the same size (7’ x 19.5’) and painted by the same artist (Robert Oliver Skemps) about the same time (1964) as the mural in this article! The owner of the artwork isn’t going to use it or wants it but is willing to give it back to the Church. I believe the process of reacquiring the mural is in the process with the History Department but it is not a smooth or speedy process. Of, course, there are many more questions that come to mind that, presently, don’t have answers. But I have volunteered to go up to Sacramento and take possession of the painting which I assume is in terrible condition given the presumably rough removal techniques, being tightly rolled up and stored in a garage. Stay tuned (sign in – in the right margin) and we’ll let you know as the story breaks!

Got a comment? Leave it below…

For an eye witness, on site account of the removal from the Hyde Park Chapel go to: http://fugalmission.blogspot.com/2011/08/mural-in-hyde-park-chapel-and-packing.html

Art conservation questions? Call Scott M. Haskins 805 564 3438 faclartdoc@gmail.com

Art appraisal questions? Call Richard Holgate 805 895 5121 jrholgate@yahoo.com

I finally arrived home let evening with about $3 million worth of art in the back of the Suburban. Today we’ll unleash the power and smarts of the team at the lab, get everything “logged in” evaluated, tested, photographed and organized.

It was an astounding 3 week trip starting in SLC at the Roots Tech Conference, exhibiting as an author and connecting with major companies that want to partner with my new book coming out, “Collection Care Tips – Save Your Stuff” a multi-media $27.00 e-book with videos and other how-to info. There’s going to be a Family History industry wide “product launch” where we will give my book away for free plus other training to preserve and save items that are important to family histories. Its a great book for collectors too.

One of two murals in the historic tabernacle

Then we went to Montpelier, ID to save two murals (oil on canvas glued to the wall) by Minerva Teichert before demolition was begun in the LDS Tabernacle (a conference center) that housed them. One of the murals depicts Pioneers and the other is a very nice rendition of the First Vision of Joseph Smith. The appraisal of the artwork stupefied the administration: they are worth more than the building! An interesting factoid about them is that this was Minerva Teichert’s stomping grounds and her ward building is the town next door, Cokesville. We careful rolled the murals off the walls before massive updating and bringing the building up to code is begun. Among the work will be asbestos and lead materials removal, new electrical and other systems, maybe earthquake retrofitting? We are talking the murals back to our lab for art conservation treatments and then we will reinstall the murals when the building is ready in about 15 months. We will be the last ones to finish our work in the building after everyone else has completed their work. I shot some video that you’ll find interesting. Sign up for blog updates in the side bar so you are notified when I post it.

Removing the murals by Minerva Teichert for safety during building renovations.

On our way back to SLC, we stopped in Ogden Utah to prep a wall in the new LDS Odgen Temple for the installation of the returning mural that I removed from the building several years. Construction will be ready for the reinstallation in May. I love the new style of the temple. “They” are calling it a “Destination Temple.”

Then I spent a day and a half meeting with private clients in the SLC area. A highlight of the visits was with Anthony’s Antiques who gave us a $150,000 painting by Albert Beirstadt of the Wasatch Front painted in about 1868 to work on.

Before leaving Utah, I also met with the director of the Springville Museum of Art, Ms. Rita Wright and we discussed several of the Museum’s needs. We picked up several  paintings, very important to the museum’s historical collection, by John Hafen that need some work before they are included in an up coming exhibition. More about these paintings later, also. Stay tuned.

So, now after loading two 9 foot murals rolled around a tube and several other paintings my Suburban is starting to fill up… but I’m not done yet…

Next stop was Las Vegas for Valentine’s Day. Keep in mind that for my sweet wife Diana, V-Day is a more important celebration that practically any other holiday. Well, I’m exaggerating a little bit but you get the idea. So, she met me in LV and we stayed at Caesar’s Palace and went to see Shania Twain in Concert. It was a great performance and she has definitely “Still got it” (the name of her show). It was good entertainment, really fun and romantic.

So, this next ‘event’ is a little contorted to explain… I’ll have to leave out some details. But last March (11 months ago) was my 60th birthday. My sweet wife thought it would be fun to do something different and adventurous although I wasn’t up for swimming the English Channel like Jack LaLane. So she signed me up for driving a Ferrari on a race track (after she made sure my life insurance was paid up). But the race track in the LA area “fizzled out on us” and though we got our money back, I was left with this very cool idea in my head… and NO 60th B-DAY gift!!!!! Well, low and behold, we are leaving Las Vegas to go to St. George and on the way out of town (going North) is a race track inviting and advertising for MY 60th B-DAY GIG!! So we pulled in “to get some info” but in reality, as soon as we pulled off the freeway I was ready to climb into a fast car. It wasn’t long till I had a helmet on and was sitting in a Ferrari Scuderia 510hp with 7 laps of “all I could be” ahead of me. I could go on and on… it was really fun (top speed 115 mph and 1min 3 sec fasted lap) but I’ll cut it off here.

I’m still smiling about my 60th birthday present…

Next stop was St. George, Utah to do emergency maintenance work on the murals within the St. George Temple which took about a week. They were painted by Joseph A.F. Everett in 1939 and are nice, Impressionistic paintings. I won’t into the history of the murals but they needed to have flaking stabilized and some inpainting of paint loss. More is planned in a few years. Here’s a photo off the internet of one of the walls.

Interestingly, I had several desperate phone calls on this trip involving disasters and insurance companies… all in Las Vegas! One of them was about an art gallery that was “blown up” by a gas company gas leak explosion! The other two were about massive water leaks that basically ruined the entire house from both water damage and mold. One of the water damage phone calls was able to get cooperation with their insurance company right away and had me go by the house and pick up, on my way home, a pile of paintings to be cleaned and brought back to “pre-existing conditions.”

So, there you have it, the short version of the last three week’s trip meeting with numerous private collectors, museums, church facilities and “saving the world of Mormon Art.”

Be sure to sign up for blog updates in the side bar. Tell others about this great blog – the only place were you can get this inside info.

Art conservation questions? Call Scott Haskins 805 564 3438

Art appraisal questions? Call Richard Holgate 805 895 5121

The old Ogden Temple was the same style as the Provo Temple but had several big problems as related to me by the temple engineer: 1. It was built on an underground river which was resulting in a perpetual mold problem they could not overcome, 2. It was built on a fault line (and Emil Fetzer, Church Architect, had done little in the design to mitigate the potential problems of 1 & 2), 3. The temple was doing only 35 marriages a year (the SLC Temple does about 50-70 a week) cause no one wanted their photos in front of this temple. Unlike the Provo temple which is “fed” by the MTC and the BYU Students, this temple’s popularity languished severely.

So, several years ago it was announced that a new temple would be built on the same spot as the old temple, with the obvious upgrades: it was to be a “destination temple” that would provide a Kodak moment at every turn and would take some of the pressure off the SLC Temple wedding traffic. (BTW, the new Provo Tabernacle Temple, now under construction, is designed to also help). People ask me, “What style is it?” and I offer that it seems to have a Book of Mormon architecture vibe to me.

In the lobby of the old temple was a 9′ x 15′ mural (an oil on canvas glued to the wall) by Robert Shephard of the Mount of Transfiguration done in 1976. I was hired to remove it and save it for later installation into the new temple. Here’s a video I made on the process of removing murals, in general, from a wall: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iOiL2urctM

This week, the time has come for the reinstallation of the old mural into the new temple. Completion of the temple is slated for July 19th when the keys will be turned over to the Church. I love the new style, the abundant use of stained glass. You can see in the photo the installation of some of this glass work above the entrance. The mural will be in a hallway behind the recommend desk.

Questions? Call Scott M. Haskins 805 564 3438

I’m in Utah meeting with private collectors and The LDS Church History Department. We’ve delivered the Minerva Teichert that I posted about at http://www.fineartconservationlab.com/projects/in-lab/painting-by-minerva-teichert-glued-to-plywood-removed-why/ I’ll post about it in a couple of days.
Monday will be  full day! I’m meeting with engineers and architects who are evaluating the “systems” (air flow, plumbing and electrical) in the Mormon SLC Temple. Some future work this next year will impact the historic murals rooms and they are talking to me about what it will take to preserve and restore. I’m really glad they are thinking about this!

Here’s an update on what is happening with the mural that I went to London to save from demolition. Here’s what was written previously:

Part 1   http://mormonartconservation.org/murals/the-purpose-of-life-mural-from-the-1964-worlds-fair-saved-from-demolition/

Part 2  http://mormonartconservation.org/murals/mural-removal-hyde-park-chapel-london/

YouTube Video  of removal  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_MRCf7uKEE

Famous mural from the 1964 World's Fair in NY

I just spoke with Jerry Griffin at BYU Idaho who is choreographing the arrangements among the university administration and the campus departments for the mural’s use and display. There will be a meeting next Monday where the proposal on how to proceed will be presented. I referred Jerry to my video on reattaching detached murals that I made for Texas State University on YouTube ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JofT2RqFi94) to help them see the options.

In a meeting with the Church History Department last week it was hoped that the mural wound be available in the future for displays in SLC by the Church. So, our art conservation treatments will be focused keeping the murals portable, somewhat.

I’m gratified that all with whom I’ve spoken realize the importance and benefits of the mural and want the art conservation work to be the highest quality possible. I’ll be reporting on progress and maybe we’ll make another quick video if there is something interesting to show you. So, sign in for updates in the upper right part of the side bar so that you’ll when I post on this blog. There’s a lot of interesting news coming!

Art conservation questions? Call Scott 805 564 3438

Art appraisal questions? Call Richard at 805 895 5121

What can you do at home to preserve your stuff? Go to http://www.saveyourstuffblog.com

I’m on my way to Utah today for a very interesting visit with clients in Las Vegas and Salt Lake City. Part of this trip is all about delivering some big paintings to the LDS Museum of Church History.

This video shows the removal of 2 beautiful murals by renown early Mormon woman artist Minerva Teichert from an LDS tabernacle (historic conference center built in 1918) in Montepelier, Idaho. The murals were removed because the demolition for the upgrading of the systems in the building and the toxic materials abatement was going to be extensive. Highly prized, the renovation work could not be started until the murals were safely removed from off the walls and out of the building. This building was in Minerva’s backyard, so to speak, as she lived in the nearby, Cokeville.

On the back of one of the murals was an inscription in Minerva’s handwriting that the murals came from the Connors Hotel in Laramie, Wyoming and were moved to this building by Minerva. I’m supposing the murals may have been painted in the 1930′s and moved to Montpelier in the 1950s/

The mural underwent art conservation treatments at FACL art conservation laboratory and then were reinstalled back into their original location after the building renovation was completed.

Please “like” this video (it helps the search engines to find and list it more prominently) and sign up in the side bar so you can be notified when we post other interesting insider information about our work in the art conservation and restoration of vintage Mormon art.

Momon Tabernacle (convention center) in Montpelier Idaho

Video Tour of Fine Art Conservation Laboratories: http://www.fineartconservationlab.com

For more information contact Scott M. Haskins, Art Conservator, 805 564 3438 faclartdoc@gmail.com

FACL, Minerva Teichert, vintage LDS Art, early Mormon Art, Scott M. Haskins, Art conservation, art restoration, mural conservation, mural restoration, remove a mural, removing a mural, save a mural, Fine Art Conservation Laboratories, reinstall an historic mural, field of conservation, install a mural, saving Public Art