Illustrated Daily; 6102; Save the Kimo Murals

everybody likes the theater there's a long history of it it's part of the downtown area it's part of the city and we want to preserve it the illustrated daily managing editor Hal Rhodes good evening they are called the von Haasler murals and since 1927 they have adorned the walls of Albuquerque's chemo theater painted by the noted German -born Albuquerque artist the Lake Carl von Haasler the famed murals depict the legendary seven cities of Siebelin and they are sorely in need of conservation but there is a problem last fall Albuquerque voters turned down a chemo restoration bond proposal which would have among other things funded the von Haasler mural preservation so even as the murals continue to deteriorate it is

back to the drawing boards as a group known as the friends of the chemo spearhead a drive to save the von Haasler murals tonight that story with Gordon Church coordinator of Albuquerque's one percent for art program and a member of the board of directors of the Albuquerque Conservation Association Albuquerque artist Betty Sebo a former student of the Lake Carl von Haasler and Barbara Kelly president of the organization known as friends of the chemo first however our producer tonight Sandy Garatano has prepared this special piece on the von Haasler mural the paintings in the murals in the chemo theater were painted by Carl von Haasler in 1927 when the Bekeke family commissioned a contractor to build the theater was built in eight months and Carl von Haasler painted these murals which are depicting the seven cities of Subola

we are fortunate that we city purchased the chemo theater back in 1978 -79 and that we were able to restore it and use it as a functioning center for the performing arts everybody likes the theater there's a long history of it it's part of the downtown area it's part of the city and we want to preserve it von Haasler would ask me to drive him to villages to sketch and he seemed enjoy the the old villages with the walls the uneven adobies and I think when he

painted those scenes it was possibly some of his own memories coming through from the place that he had lived in his childhood in Germany what being an artist meant to him I can't say but I personally feel that he was Albuquerque's old master and I think other students thought the same of him because we felt that he had the most vast knowledge of this New Mexico landscape more than anyone that we knew this is typical of Carl von Haasler's sketches this particular scene is of Cordova New Mexico done in a charcoal pencil with all of the shadings on the proper sides of the buildings but

later at his studio washed in with color so that he could sort of get the feel of the painting that he wanted to do the most is figuring problem with the murals is certainly the accumulation of dirt and airborne debris and as this was long been used as a smoking area the accumulation of smoke residue on the surface of the painting this has a cumulative effect of subduing the artist palette muting all of the colors and also enhancing the uneven appearance of the texture as dust accumulates in the surface of the plaster here you can see some cleaning tests that were carried out this winter and they show the extent to which the painting is disfigured by this surface accumulation

these tests were made to determine the strength of the paint and also to make sure that a cleaning solution could be devised which would successfully lift the dirt without any damage to the paint our objective is not to repaint these murals to any extent but to preserve conserve and only restore lost areas where necessary this painting one of two smaller panels on the balcony I think best demonstrates both the urgent need for conservation and the promise that this project holds for the future of these murals here we can see what's going to happen year in and year out if the blisters are not treated inevitably paint loss is going to increase until the paintings are greatly

diminished this also gives us a chance to see what will happen if we continue to depend on amateur repairs by plaster and painters fairly small losses have been rudely filled with plaster which has then been smeared over the surface of the painting to cover fairly well preserved image area but luckily we have here the promise of the future with proper conservation we can see the lovely effects that Van Haasler created by his careful overlapping of many layers of thin paint to to gain these very subtle colors which are totally obscured by the present accumulation of dirt and grime and here we have an example of a necessary safety device but in our feeling somewhat crudely installed at the expense of Van Haasler's murals well why do we think it's significant to restore these murals and I think basically it's because they are representative of our city and our culture and that they are part of this an integral

part of this theater and there's a lot of love and devotion to the theater as it is and it's special and De Van Haasler contributed to making this a special place so the drive to save the Van Haasler murals down at Albuquerque's chemo theater in Gordon Church I suspect a lot of people have assumed that well the chemo theater was restored what about five six years ago actually 82 82 so it's four years ago that the Van Haasler murals were a part of that restoration how do they they get left out of the restoration process of the chemo well I think if Albuquerque voters recall the original bond that was done for the theater was only to purchase it it then remained to the city to do something to preserve it there was another bond election put up and the voters defeated that bond issue therefore the only thing the city could do was go for an economic development administration grant which they got at a nine hundred and fifty thousand dollars that's a federal grant yes and to this they added two hundred

thousand dollars of tax increment money which was from the downtown area property taxes so the amount of money that went into the original renovation of the theater completed in 1982 was one million one hundred and fifty thousand dollars the only money that the city of Albuquerque ever put in was to purchase the old freed building which was next door to the theater and was required to be a supplement to the amount of space provided for lobby space that was the only participation that the city had directly in the project and restoration would not have been permissible under the terms of that grant is that what I'm to understand oh no it was simply a matter of money there wasn't plain just it was just a very limited amount of funds the purpose was to make the theater functional the things that were dealt with was based basically the raking of the audience area so the better seat and lines of view would be provided minimal stage work and the restoration of the lobby and meeting fire code regulations that were required for a public building well based upon what we just heard in the piece that Sandy Garatana put together for tonight's program the

deterioration of the bond hostile mirrors would seem to be substantial how major in undertaking are we talking about here I mean there was what scale of project we have on our hands here if they were to be restored and preserved and how much to go cost right now the preliminary we estimates that we have from Stephen Prince who you saw on the that brief is approximately twenty five thousand dollars and that's been corroborated by another conservator out of San Francisco which also said between twenty five and thirty thousand dollars so that's at this time that's what we're aiming for and we feel that that will basically do what needs to be done which includes the cleaning conservation and stabilization of the plaster under it and so forth why after sixty years do they need restoration I think one thing that is part of it was just the general deterioration of the theater of which this has never been addressed as was the balcony never addressed some of these things in the early renovation efforts

it's just one of those priorities now that it's demonstrating itself to us and that's probably as Stephen Prince pointed out is because it increased accumulation of smoke and the lobby increased usage by the public and so forth so that now the deterioration of those murals is accelerating well I was not going to open old wounds but you did already as concerns the support in the community of Albuquerque for chemo restoration projects just last November the voters of the city turned down an opportunity to to provide bond resources which would impart at least go to restoring and preserving those von Haasler murals now you have to turn to private efforts to raise the money is that going to be a problem in other words I mean don't you have some reading that perhaps the community isn't interested in the von Haasler murals I think there were a number of problems with the last bond project last bond that was put before the Albuquerque voters but that's the second one that's been turned down the Albuquerque Museum for example has the same record of having two bonds turned down it seems to take a while for the public to

accept that the provision of art and art services and programs is part of a public sector function and we we understand it I think there was some other confusion about the original renovation restoration of what was done in the theater I think there is some understanding in the community that that was completely taken care of and we'd be glad to take anyone on a tour and point out to them that that was not done things like the balcony have never been touched since the city bought the theater the heating cooling was never touched nor where the von Haasler murals touched so back to first question there are some separate misunderstandings about just what has been accomplished so far by way of chemo restoration but you say well your former student of Karl von Haasler tell us about the artist who wasn't what he fit into the New Mexico art tradition oh Karl Albuquerque wise was probably our answer to the Touse artists he was a fiercely independent man however he was not a joiner he but when I was in school back in the 40s the 30s and the 50s Karl von

Haasler had had his art was Oliver Albuquerque and Albuquerque is a very art oriented town it was then extremely art oriented and I think that everyone wanted a von Haasler and they were every family that could afford it had one over their fireplace they his art was coveted oh very much so and and he was he was our example of a fine artist and he was a fine artist he was he worked what was work haven't he he worked every morning he went out as novella showed he went out did sketches worked from his sketches entirely he was a highly ethical man and as I get older and become more involved in the art community and the politics of art I am more impressed with how ethical a man he was what do you mean for that what was happened to you since von Haasler has caught you to look back

and say well it's it's just that there are so many more artists around he taught he taught Turner Ben Turner who was another one that that everyone in New Mexico coveted he taught Walter Bambroke he taught Sam Smith he taught every artist that was anyone during that period when when I was was young and and trying to study art he but but you will never see two of his paintings even similar that you know he did a snow scene he did this but but now you see artists that that are doing that do something successfully and they tend to repeat they tend to to take the lazy way he did not he was experimentalist he was to a certain extent he was he was he vastly in love with New Mexico you can tell that in all of his paintings I'm told he was just a terror as a teacher you could be just cruel and me nasty say things like those clouds look like a bundle of dirty sheets what are you doing and me he ever tell you that oh yes he told me a lot of things that I'd read but but

you don't want to talk about here now but he was but he he he demanded perfection and but we never painted together he never said you know use this brown or this yellow but he he taught us about feeling in paintings about emotional response to the viewer how important that is and that's what you get with the Von Haas are always is that emotional response you love it let's talk about the chemo murals are they really culturally and historically all that significant where do they fit into the the Von Haasler work overall oh first of all they're a beautiful example of his work and he did he did a lot of paintings around in public buildings that all of them are gone is this these are the last these are these as far as I know I don't think there are any left they tried to remove the ones that's Franciscan and I don't know how successful they were not to I don't think they but but historically

not only are the murals important from the Von Haasler's history they are important from Albuquerque historically also because they represent an era that is gone long gone where privately people people did this they had murals put in the theater you know where do you see that now they buy yes and his and and it was a time in in Albuquerque small town remarkable you know the CCC did a lot of this prior to that but private privately it's a it's a very remarkable thing and they are beautiful they're beautiful examples of Von Haasler's work why though you know to pick up on some ask Gordon about snow we're only talking 60 years later and my entitled to be a little surprise that 60 years after he painted the murals they are in they have deteriorated so much is that the condition of the world as the condition of the material on which the work is painted or what I don't really

I don't really think they have deteriorated as much as they have been in a in a position to be abused for example to be in the lobby with people smoking and you know every time there was a there's a break they're all out there puffing on cigarettes and and not as much now as we since we found out what they do but never the less that cigarette smoke is and and the smoke of the years will deteriorate depending very rapidly smokes hard on painting very very and even the gas heat you know is terribly hard on things they they aren't falling off their wall deteriorating or disappearing like say you think of the last supper of course but there's a lot of chipping and they have been they're in a vulnerable they're vulnerable all right let's find out what Barbara Kelly proposes to do to save them preservationists seem determined to save the chemo murals and you'd equally determine apparently to help them is

there any doubt in your mind that we are going to be able to accomplish that objective not at all not at all we're just so thrilled that I think to go back after the defeat of the bond issue in November our first friends of the chemo meeting which was held in December we started talking about what was the most important part of the chemo restoration that we as a small group could accomplish and also in a discussion with Marge Nesset from the chemo who was at the meeting decided the most critical was of course the the restoration of murals and through corporate help and association help we found that we could raise the initial money very easily the three thousand two hundred dollars to produce a poster that those people who love the chemo and I might add that there were twenty eight thousand people who did vote for the restoration and so in selling fifteen hundred posters we will raise thirty

thousand dollars now out of that twenty eight thousand can you do that I think we can sure I don't really have a thousand who voted against the bond well they don't have to buy a poster all right but we they should they should but but I think it's also it was possibly our responsibility and working toward the bond issue to educate as Gordon said these people that the job wasn't finished and many people who did not vote said they were sorry that they did not but they didn't understand you know the the situation so we're not you know it's an opportunity for us to do something privately and we've had wonderful support from from the contributors and I think it'll be a very successful project a certain symmetry to all that I mean they were they were commissioned by a private family to adore in the wall of a private theater perhaps is appropriate the private efforts continue to

be expanded in order to preserve them right make them accessible you mentioned that right after that bond feet friends the chemo met to determine what if anything they could do of all the things which need be done at the chemo theater and Gordon has enumerated some which still remain to be accomplished how do you decide that it was the murals first well the two other parts of the bond issue the restoration of the balcony I'm not sure what of the eight hundred thousand dollars that would entail but but for a group of seventy people that's a pretty large task you know I can imagine how much each theater seat costs and the leasing right now the chemo rents technical equipment stage equipment and that was another part of the bond issue that that it was to buy the equipment for the for the chemo so that they wouldn't go through the expense but it's natural for a group a small group that loves the theater to tackle the most

exciting part I mean I don't know technical equipment but I do know the murals so I think that was a very easy decision what's people's reaction as you told them what you're trying to do there's been good it's been excellent I mean we when we started going to corporations to ask them for money many of us thought it's going to take a long time to get it approved we had immediate response I mean like in an afternoon from from the mountain bell public service company amreps southwest southwest mortgage the Association the Albuquerque Conservation Association and the IA have all I mean they said yes we will help and so that stage one is done the poster should be delivered in the morning and we will preview at Thursday at the Allen's party so at the Allen's party for you Clothea yes the Clothea yes you have me a party on all right I'll be there Gordon Church your coordinator of the 1 % for art program in Albuquerque advocate the

restoration preservation of the Von Haasler murals I think a lot of people wonder why can't the why can't fund from the 1 % for art program be used to that end or can they I think a lot of voters forget that 1 % of art applies to the general obligation bonds and it means 1 % of public construction by bond purpose in other words if it's for the fire department it has to be in a fire station the chemo stands by itself even on the bond issue and so when voters vote for it or against it there's no one else to turn to there is no department that we are just one building of and so therefore could get the money for the whole department therefore we have no access to funds for that I mean transportation for example requires that the project be publicly visible from a street these murals in the interior or not so all of the various in their present condition quite frankly they're very they're barely visible from the lobby indeed I'd be really anxious to see what they look like clean I mean they must be spectacular if you're lifetime where they

were clean so that you can get a sense of that not my knowledge I don't believe they ever were and it's the tell the color is in that oh yes and and Carl's colors were very subtle you know that's his strong point is that is is his beautiful soft muted colors and so they started out soft now they've just turned brown what kind of sense of urgency are we dealing with here I mean it's a matter of time time running out on the murals it is running out and I think it's it's time to we put the question before the voters this was the time to deal with it they felt that that was an inappropriate use of public funds so I think the the community that is concerned is going to have to go out there and do something and the friends of the chemo and talk other albuquerque organizations and said yes well the albuquerque Conservation Association acronyms always fool a lot of people in this business back to Carl von Haasler Betty Sabo we are told he was a member of something called the ash can school of art which flourished in greatest village in New York City in the 1920s

I'm fascinated what is ash can hard it was it was a group of artists that went into realism and they they would paint the alleys and the byways of New York and Carl became a member of this group the only group that I ever knew him to be a member of and before he moved to New Mexico during that time also he did serve in for the United States in World War One which was very news role since he was had come in from Germany you know but and his family then disowning but he the ash can school John Sloan there were a number of artists and I think that's probably how he got to New Mexico John Sloan who settled in Santa Fe was a member of the ash can school and but they all went into realism you know went into the grim your side of New York the murals at the chemo may be grimy but that's a result of accumulating that's right that's why don't strike me as we have anything to do with what you've described no I it was just it was it was just a

school is is something that that they focus on for a while you know there's there's the impression of school there's there's different schools this one it was a group of young artists in New York and they focused on the senior side of New York as a subject for their paintings the paintings themselves weren't grimy but the subjects were not the beautiful things such as Tom as Thomas Moran and some of those did the gorgeous exquisite scenery and what have you they went into realism the realistic side and even probably exaggerated a little bit of New York City one house or think of himself as a member of any school after that ash can period I know he did not he he was his style was definitely European but when he got to New Mexico and if that's very unusual you'll find that when an artist comes to New Mexico they have trouble with the with the colors here for example a New York artist the colors are much stronger back there and and you know the greens are green or everything here

everything is very subtle Carl captured that beautifully probably better than any artist ever has and I think I think that that's that's that's what has made him so be loving well folks I hope you pull this off for the benefit of all New Mexicans because I think we're entitled to enjoy the von Haas and yours good luck and your fundraising thank you thank you all for coming by for that's it for tonight tomorrow a profile of New Mexico's legendary United States Senator the Lake Clinton P Anderson with historian Richard Allen Baker and Democratic United States Senator Jeff Binghamon meanwhile thank you for joining us I'm Hal Rose good night