An exciting event is taking place as I write this; the LDS Church History Museum, located on North Temple and West Temple in Salt Lake City, in undergoing a redesign of all its interior exhibits. The new exhibits include new murals by well know artist Douglas Fryer who has done murals in numerous temples and has a solo featured exhibition in Santa Fe, New Mexico next month in Sept.

Today, we began the installation of the big murals; one 11′ x 25′ and the other 10′ x 15′. The installation is being assisted by History Dept. personnel. Here is a photo of part of our 12 person crew

New interesting blog posts are always planned so sign up in the side bar so you can be notified. Leave a comment? Click on the THUMBS UP at the top of the page if you like this subject and blog. Thanks Here’s the video of the installation:

Scott M. Haskins 805 564 3438 faclartdoc@gmail.com

Brigham Young is credited with the unparalleled settling of the West during the great expansion period of US History (according to US History books… not according to Native American’s history, of course).

This Portrait of Brigham Young, done in a live sitting, is in our art conservation laboratory right now being readied for an exhibition at Princeton University

Interestingly, the settling process of “new lands”, towns/cities and commerce routes was done often by inexperienced immigrants looking for new opportunities. The initial settling of the area meant the initial arrival of a few folks… then a trickle of people joined them until a town formed.

This was the case, in the beginning, of Price, Utah in South Central Utah among the red earth table top landscape filled with dinosaur bones. Not long later, however, with the discovery and refinement of coal as a natural resource, the area around Price boomed.

It all began in 1877 when Caleb Rhoades (Rhodes) and Abraham Powell came into the valley to trap and homestead. It was wild country and the story goes that Powell was killed by a bear. But within a couple of years family members of the trappers and other settlers were moving in.

Settling kicked into gear with the beginning of the construction of the Denver and Rio Grand railroad through the valley and Price was set up as a RR station. It was during this industrial development that Bishop George Frandsen established the LDS Church organization in 1882.

All the people in the group are actual portraits of the Mormon settlers.

Under the direction of Bishop Frandsen, the townsite was surveyed, The Price Water Company was formed to bring water to the townsite and city building construction began including a church building, a school and a Price City civic building. (1)

In the 1930’s Depression Era WPA City Hall of Price City, there is a remarkable mural that documents the history of this area and includes, prominently, the early LDS congregation. (see short video at end of this article)

The mural is remarkable because, out in the middle of Billy the Kid country one is surprised to see a quality mural… and a big one at that! The panorama historical WPA mural is 4′ high and 200′ feet long and depicts the life of the area’s original pioneers and cowboys… truly a time capsule of the Old West. Renown artist, Lynn Fausett, a native of Price, Utah was just the right person in 1938 to pull together this historically accurate mural of his country.

The Works Progress Administration (the name was changed to the Work Projects Administration a year after it got started) funded a municipal building in Price that was the perfect place for Fausett’s talents and vision for the mural. Based on photos, entries in archives and his own personal experiences, he planned the composition of this historical rendering of his town for the mural.

This really was the far west of cowboys, bandits and pioneers. Our fantasies of the Old West are mostly made up of romantic encounters and full of folklore, novels, movies etc. But back then, Fausett had lived this life among the buildings in this mural and knew these people. This mural is an authentic historical record of actual people (whose names are written below their portraits), buildings, customs and the process of taming the Wild West. The mural is a documentation of the pioneer settlers, the beginnings of society in the newly constructed town and the development of the area and its industries.

From the historical mural in Price Utah

35 years ago my painting conservation career in the USA (I studied and started working in Italy) started in Utah and I’ve known Lynn Fausetts painting style, having worked on the restoration of his paintings previously and looked at many others. And to tell you the truth, I wasn’t previously impressed with his painting style compared to the other Utah Impressionists that came before him.

When I first saw this mural, I was surprised… this mural may have been the masterpiece of his early career. The faces were very well done and reflect feeling and expressions that were quite realistic.

This mural was considered so well done and so historical that it was a main reason why the entire WPA funded building was added to the US Register of Historic Properties, a considerable honor… but then something happened.

Fausett was employed to “touch up” the murals in the 1960s and, as is almost always the case, artists don’t respect the qualities of the earlier work and has to change or update it. This happened on this mural when Fausett repainted most of the faces and much of the composition. The result was a change in style and, in my opinion, a reduction in the quality of the mural.

The result of Fausett’s repainting in oil, today, is a blotchy discoloration of the retouchings as they have aged at a different rate than the original mural. This is especially noticeable in the sky. Touch up of the seams of the canvas glued to the wall are discolored as are many other details.

Entrance lobby to City Hall for Price, Utah with the panorama murals by Lynn Fausett 1938-1941

It is presumed also that he varnished the murals, and likely didn’t clean them first. So, a gray layer is trapped. Then add to that the following 40+ years of grime deposited on the surface and that brings us to todays appearance: considerably muted, flattened depth of field and contrast in the composition and an overall grayish appearance.

Fine Art Conservation Laboratories is honored to have been called and entrusted with the health and art restoration of this historical mural, so important to the City of Price and to the area. We removed the last 40+ years of grime which brightened the painting considerably, without risk to the paint layers. However, we were hesitant to remove the old varnish as, according to preliminary tests, it would be hard to remove without damage to the original paint and would result in disturbing the retouchings that Fausett put on the mural in the 60s thereby opening the proverbial “can of worms” during the cleaning and causing a real mess, even seriously damaging the mural.

Water damage infiltrations have occurred in the last years that have stained the front of the painting in several areas. So, these areas were cleaned. Then whatever was left of the stains and all of the blotchiness of Fausett’s retouchings were glazed and toned to blend in better and not be noticeable. We never do retouching in oils for the very reason now noticeable from Fausett’s 1960s work. All of our materials are conservation grade, chemically stable, reversible materials that will be easily removable without damage to the original painting far into the future.

Our varnishes are also conservation grade and have gone through extensive testing to determine their reversibility and removability, color fastness and compatibility with the work of art. They will not yellow and will always be easy to remove.

In the end, we have stabilized the deterioration of the painting, returned it to its best appearance and protected it for many generations into the future… which should help make some more history. I love my job. It feels like my work is socially conscious!

Click on photo to see short video

(1) Utah Division of State History, Markers and Monuments Database – Carbon Tabernacle/Price River Valley

If you would like to know more about our background

in mural restoration, see the other art conservation videos on our YouTube channel at

Scott M. Haskins

805 564 3438 office

faclartdoc@gmail.com

To find out more about Price, Utah go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price,_Utah and http://www.priceutah.net

Link to Art Conservation Lab: http://www.fineartconservationlab.com

If you would like to know more about what you can do to protect and preserve your original family history items, click on this link for a free copy of Scott M. Haskins book Save Your Stuff – Collection Care Tips, 210 pages with 35 embedded how-to videos.

Keywords:

mural restoration consultation, WPA Mural, mural conservation, Scott M. Haskins, art conservation, art restoration, painting conservation, painting restoration, National Register of Historic Sites, Price Utah, Lynn Fausett, Fine Art Conservation Laboratories, Bishop George Frandsen

In April of 2011, I was asked to do forensic analysis of wall decorations in the burned out Provo Tabernacle building by the LDS Church History Dept. to find out details and make proposals. While proposals to recoup or salvage original sections of decoration were not followed, our work was much appreciated and helped with the historic recreation of the details in the new LDS Provo City Center Temple building. A quick review of the exam I did in the burnt remains of the beloved historic building is on another blog: http://www.fineartconservationlab.com/travel/art-conservation-forensic-analysis-of-wall-decorations-in-burned-out-historic-building/

But you will LOVE THIS!!! A wonderful video on the historical elements and symbolism in the new building was just posted this afternoon: http://redeemer-of-israel.blogspot.com/2016/01/interior-architectural-details-of-PCCT.html

PLEASE, leave a great comment at the bottom of the blog page… and pass the link around to others. I love this video presentation!

Scott

Here’s a short article from BYU Idaho abou the installation fo teh puprose of Life mural on campus: Click here#mce_temp_url#

The video about its saving from demolition can be seen in this video:

Protection of some art historical paintings under her care has been the concern of the curator of the Education in Zion Gallery at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, Heather Seferovich.  “Protection against what?!” You might ask… “at BYU?!” “Whose going to damage art at the Lord’s University?!?!”

Well, as she well knows, even artwork that you would consider safe could be at real risk and, especially in the public venue, needs to be thought about. Well, as a curator, she’s done more than think about it.

Yes, these could be accidents, even vandalism, to the murals in the Joseph F. Smith Building and their varnishing is a way to make the valuable artwork safe for maintenance too. But it hasn’t been until recently since Mormon leaders have incorporated seismic safety standards in building construction and in public displays that it now comes up as a worry in the minds of others. Seismic safety, especially along the Wasatch Front in Utah, both for the artwork and the public is a concern. These concerns are important to address whether the art is new or historical.

Ms. Seferovich consulted with Harold B. Lee Library Head of Conservation, Chris McAfee about the best way to proceed. For these purposes, the gallery hired veteran painting conservation expert, Scott M. Haskins (from Fine Art Conservation Laboratories in Santa Barbara, CA) who also provides art conservation services for the History Dept of the LDS Church in Salt Lake City, UT and several other entities in Utah.

The paintings in question are located in the Education of Zion Gallery in the JFSB on BYU’s campus. One mural entitled The Temple, A Holy School depicts the Kirtland Temple with a stormy sky; the other, The School, A Temple of Learning, features the early Brigham Young Academy building, which is now the Provo City Library. These beautiful 18’ murals represent the power of integrating sacred and secular learning and were painted specifically for this location and purpose.

10 years of grime were carefully removed from the murals before they were hand varnished (for the first time). The varnish quality chosen was conservation grade and based on Standards of Practice of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, the national professional art conservation organization – the AIC. Two paintings on display were also cleaned and varnished and went through a significant transformation.

See the short video of the work performed. Note, there is good information contained in this video for those that own paintings or are art collectors:

Mr. Haskins was assisted in the work by students from the Harold B. Lee Library conservation lab. They were able to clean parts of the murals and they also cleaned and waxed the frames. BYU Physical Facilities built the scaffolding in front of each of the two murals and helped remove the frames.

Seferovich, the curator of the Gallery conscientiously reviewed the measures taken to make all the artwork, including sculptures, safe if there were to be seismic activity. Of course, “safe” means not only for the artwork but also to make sure that the public is safe in the event that objects on display move. To their credit, Facilities also took the proactive actions to double check the seismic safety of the attachment of the murals to the walls and for the frame attachments around the two murals. They will not be coming off the wall with the next “big one” which is a comforting thought.

Be sure to visit the Education in Zion Gallery soon to see the finished conservation work on these stunning works of art, which symbolize the aims and mission of BYU. The gallery is grateful for Scott M. Haskins’ expertise in helping to conserve these murals.

Contact information:

Heather M. Seferovich, Curator, Education in Zion Gallery, 3183 JFSB, Brigham Young University, Provo UT 84602, (801) 422-3451 educationinzion.byu.edu

Scott M. Haskins, Virginia Panizzon, Oriana Montemurro Art Conservators, Fine Art Conservation Laboratories (FACL, Inc), P.O. Box 23557, Santa Barbara, CA 93121, 805 564 3438, faclartdoc@gmail.com

Links of interest:

Video Channel http://www.YouTube.com/bestartdoc

Videos on mural conservation projects at FACL: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE1FF71CC598A8E79

Facebook page Scott M. Haskins http://www.Facebook.com/bestartdoc

Mural Capability Statement: http://www.fineartconservationlab.com/mural/

Interesting media clips for FACL: http://www.fineartconservationlab.com/media-room/

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/