{"id":3515,"date":"2014-08-25T21:42:07","date_gmt":"2014-08-26T03:42:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lastbestnews.com\/site\/?p=3515"},"modified":"2014-08-26T12:55:39","modified_gmt":"2014-08-26T18:55:39","slug":"volunteers-working-to-protect-preserve-senior-high-murals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/2014\/08\/volunteers-working-to-protect-preserve-senior-high-murals\/","title":{"rendered":"Volunteers working to protect, preserve Senior High murals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t<div id=\"slides-3515\" class=\"navis-slideshow\">\n\t\t\t<p class=\"slide-nav\">\n\n\t\t\t<a href=\"#\" class=\"prev\"><\/a>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"#\" class=\"next\"><\/a>\n\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"slides_container\"><div id=\"3515-slide1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Murals-Kristeen3-1-of-1.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Murals-Kristeen3-1-of-1.jpg\" \/><\/a><h6>Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>Kristeen Keup stands before a hot rod mural painted in 1958 by Bruce Ryniker. He went on to design cars for Chrysler and GM and later designed \"Hot Wheels\" for Mattel Toys.<\/p><\/div><div id=\"3515-slide2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Murals-dinos-1-of-1.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Murals-dinos-1-of-1.jpg\" \/><\/a><h6>Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>Mana Lesman, class of 1960, painted a trio of geologists, surrounded by dinosaurs, examing a collection of fossils.<\/p><\/div><div id=\"3515-slide3\" data-src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Murals-cheerleaders-1-of-1.jpg*771*514\" data-href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Murals-cheerleaders-1-of-1.jpg\" \/><h6>Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>Margaret Mettler Clayton and Kay Kempton painted a mural showing cheerleaders.<\/p><\/div><div id=\"3515-slide4\" data-src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Murals-billings2-1-of-1.jpg*771*438\" data-href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Murals-billings2-1-of-1.jpg\" \/><h6>Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>A mural near Senior's main office depicts the early history of Billings, centered on a portrait of Frederick Billings.<\/p><\/div><div id=\"3515-slide5\" data-src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Murals-boxers-1-of-1-771x514.jpg*771*514\" data-href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Murals-boxers-1-of-1.jpg\" \/><h6>Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>This boxing mural is found near the gym.<\/p><\/div><div id=\"3515-slide6\" data-src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Murals-door-1-of-1.jpg*771*514\" data-href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Murals-door-1-of-1.jpg\" \/><h6>Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>Some murals were painted around obstacles, like this door near the Senior High gym.<\/p><\/div><div id=\"3515-slide7\" data-src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Murals-lunar-1-of-1.jpg*771*514\" data-href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Murals-lunar-1-of-1.jpg\" \/><h6>Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>Stan Walthall, class of 1969, painted a spacecraft over the moon, with the Earth in the background.<\/p><\/div><div id=\"3515-slide8\" data-src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Murals-Mansfield-1-of-1.jpg*771*514\" data-href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Murals-Mansfield-1-of-1.jpg\" \/><h6>Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>This rather odd pastoral painting shows a striking blond woman planting crops \u2014 while wearing a very nice blue dress.<\/p><\/div><div id=\"3515-slide9\" data-src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Murals-sheaves-1-of-1.jpg*771*514\" data-href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Murals-sheaves-1-of-1.jpg\" \/><h6>Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>Another pastoral scene is dominated by a woman clutching a handful of golden wheat.<\/p><\/div><div id=\"3515-slide10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Murals-Surreal-fish-1-of-1.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Murals-Surreal-fish-1-of-1.jpg\" \/><\/a><h6>Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News <a href=\"#\" class=\"slide-permalink\">permalink<\/a><\/h6><p>Sea creatures glide through a surreal landscape.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><script>jQuery( document ).ready( function() { loadSlideshow( 3515, 'https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/2014\/08\/volunteers-working-to-protect-preserve-senior-high-murals\/', 10 ) } );<\/script>\n<p>To mark the 75th anniversary of Billings Senior High School, a volunteer committee has launched a \u201cSave Our Murals\u201d campaign to restore and protect the iconic artwork adorning walls and stairwells around the school.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust think of them not being on the walls anymore,\u201d Kristeen Keup said. \u201cThat\u2019s just not possible.\u201d<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Keup, a Senior High graduate, retired Senior High teacher and a member of the Save Our Murals committee, said many of the murals were almost lost just a few years ago. As part of an air-conditioning project that involved lowering ceilings in the school\u2019s hallways, it was proposed to simply paint over the murals.<\/p>\n<p>Enough people raised an outcry \u2014 among them Keup, who was still teaching English at Senior then \u2014 that the proposal was scrapped. Only a portion of the hallway ceilings were dropped, with recessed areas left to accommodate the murals.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_3529\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 336px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"addboard wp-image-3529 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/lastbestnews.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/Murals-damage-1-of-1.jpg\" alt=\"Cracks\" width=\"336\" height=\"279\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Some of the plaster is cracking at the top of Ryniker&#8217;s mural.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Some of the murals need restoration, most of them need cleaning and some of them need better lighting, particularly those whose upper reaches are partially obscured by those new dropped ceilings.<\/p>\n<p>Lyn McKinney, the librarian at Senior High, said the committee was conceived when she and other school staff people were discussing the 75th anniversary of the school and \u201cwere talking about \u2018what are some of the things we\u2019re really proud of at Senior?\u2019\u201d It didn\u2019t take them long to settle on the murals, and Senior High Principal Dennis Holmes asked McKinney to form the committee.<\/p>\n<p>Besides Keup, committee members are Bob Nolte, a Senior High graduate, Linda Meyer, a graduate and former Senior High counselor, and Sally McIntosh, a local artist and arts supporter.<\/p>\n<p>Working with the committee is Hannah Lose, who will be a senior at Senior High this year, working on her Platinum Program project. Students in the rigorous core program take all honors and advanced-placement classes offered and also complete a major project.<\/p>\n<p>Her project is helping the committee raise funds to protect the murals and to publish a book commemorating the artists and their works. The plan is to publish the book by next May, and to use proceeds from book sales to restore and preserve the murals.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_3526\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"addboard wp-image-3526 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/lastbestnews.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/Murals-Dirk1-1-of-1.jpg\" alt=\"Dirk\" width=\"771\" height=\"732\" srcset=\"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Murals-Dirk1-1-of-1.jpg 771w, https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/Murals-Dirk1-1-of-1-336x319.jpg 336w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">One of the most controversial murals at Senior High was painted in 1967 by Dirk Lee.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>One step in the process is already done. Houston Harmon, the photography teacher at Senior, has photographed every mural already. Keup said about 110 of them remain, with an unknown number lost over the years, victims of construction and renovation or of being painted over.<\/p>\n<p>Most of the murals are in halls and stairwells, but some are in classrooms. The oldest one dates back to 1948, when Senior High was nine years old. Artists used to have to submit a design and an application, then find financial support to complete the work, if chosen.<\/p>\n<p>The murals range from traditional historical scenes and portraits of famous people to surreal and abstract works. One of the most controversial murals was painted by Dirk Lee in 1967. It is reminiscent of some album covers of the era, colorful, a bit psychedelic and crowded with a variety of faces, subjects and scenes.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_3527\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignright\" style=\"max-width: 336px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"addboard wp-image-3527 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/lastbestnews.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/Murals-Dirk2-1-of-1.jpg\" alt=\"Couple\" width=\"336\" height=\"319\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Ed Kemmick\/Last Best News<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Part of what made Lee&#8217;s mural controversial was its depiction of a naked interracial couple.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>One small corner of the mural shows a white woman with a black man, both of them naked, and elsewhere there is a white-robed Ku Klux Klansman in front of a burning cross. One of the more famous murals, a depiction of an Indian Wars battle, was painted in 1953 by Bud Luckey, who went on to work for Pixar Animation Studios.<\/p>\n<p>For the book on the murals, the committee is trying to find out as much as possible about each mural and its artist. Anyone with any information is asked to call the school and leave a message for McKinney at 281-5442.<\/p>\n<p>McKinney said the murals have never even been cleaned, as far as she knows, but they are well worth restoring and preserving.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have been in a lot of schools,\u201d she said. \u201cI have never seen anything like this in any other school.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Besides being interesting works of art, she said, many of them serve as snapshots of the era in which they were created.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not only Senior High\u2019s history,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s also Billings history and Montana history.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Coincidentally, Keup\u2019s Senior High class of 1964 will be <a href=\"http:\/\/www.billingsschools.org\/Page\/1007\">gathering this weekend<\/a> for its 50th anniversary. The class, which has events planned for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, will be collecting donations to support the mural project.<\/p>\n<p>Over the weekend, it will also be hosting an art auction to raise money. Artist Karen Popelka Boylan, class of \u201964, is donating art, as is Ben Steele, whose daughter Rosemarie is also a \u201964 graduate of Senior.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI posted that on Facebook,\u201d Keup said. \u201cBring your checkbook. Screaming deal on a Ben Steele.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>To mark the 75th anniversary of Billings Senior High School, a volunteer committee has launched a \u201cSave Our Murals\u201d campaign to restore and protect the iconic artwork adorning walls and stairwells around the school. \u201cJust think of them not being on the walls anymore,\u201d Kristeen Keup said. \u201cThat\u2019s just not possible.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3516,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,17],"tags":[153,741,1241,1244,1243,1239,1242,1240,1238,582],"class_list":["post-3515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-billings","category-culture","tag-ben-steele","tag-billings-senior-high","tag-bob-nolte","tag-bruce-ryniker","tag-bud-luckey","tag-kristeen-keup","tag-linda-meyer","tag-lyn-mckinney","tag-murals","tag-sally-mcintosh","prominence-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}