Mural is off the wall

Santa Barbara News-Press - February 2, 1978

The Peake-Warshaw mural is safely off the patio wall at the Public Library central branch and now will be prepared for storage until reconstruction of the building is complete. To remove the mural, cloth was glued to the front of the large painting, and after the glue was dry the cloth was slowly peeled off the wall, using small air hammers, with the painting adhered to the cloth. A permanent fiberglass backing is to be put on the mural next. In about two weeks, the cloth will be removed from the front, and the surface will be reconsolidated, including any retouching required. The mural will then be ready for storage, awaiting reconstruction of the building, which is expected to take 18 to 24 months. Nathan Zakheim, the Los Angeles art conservator who is supervising the work under a contract with the city, gives all the credit for the demanding work to local volunteers. He cited Diane Roby, of the Museum of Art staff, as having organized the volunteers, initiating the idea of getting help from inmate workers at the county jail honor farm, and working day and night on the project herself. Fifteen inmate volunteers were on the job this week, supervised by county park staff. The demolishing work on the building already has begun, and the wall that contained the mural will be knocked down. Some parts of the building will be eliminated, and the rest will be rehabilitated and expanded. A federal grant to the city to provide public works jobs is funding the project.

Cosmetic Surgery Leaves Mural Blemishes

Review - February 9, 1978

By Dan Gheno

The back portion of the Santa Barbara Public Library was gutted; only the scarred shell of its walls remained. Bit by bit, the old library as torn away to make way for the library remodeling project, and even at this late hour, the library seemed to be bustling with activity. I could see a light glowing from within the darkened ruins and an air compressor roared violently in the driveway. Hoses led from the compressor through a dark, debris-laden corridor to the source of light, the library patio. At first, I was hesitant and confused by the noise, but after three false starts I left the hall way and lunged into the light. I had expected to step into hectic stew of swarming workers. Instead, I found only three people perched on a wobbly scaffolding, pressing small, hand-held jackhammers against one patio wall. They were engaged not in the business of demolition, but in frantic effort to conserve the massive mural depiction of Don Quixote saga by Channing Peake and late Howard Warshaw. The mural wall was slated fro demolition along with other sections of the library and Nathan Zakheim and his small band of helpers were hoping to remove the historic mural and place it into storage. Zakheim has been already working for the past two weeks. In what was hailed as a new and daring technique, he had essentially glued an enormous khaki canvas onto the stucco mural wall. According to Zakheim "The mural has become more bonded to the canvas than to the wall on which it is painted." The next step was to jar the painted stucco loose with the aid of the small jackhammers. In theory, the bits of stucco would pull free from the wall but remain stuck to the canvas, preserving in their combined bits and pieces the mural itself. The final step called for removing the removing the silver thin strip of mural from the canvas backing with solvent and remounting it on fiberglass backing. Zakheim and his helpers were busy with the crucial step of jackhammering the mural free from the wall as I approached. Although I couldn't even hear my own footsteps over the racket, one of the workers instinctively toward me. It was familiar, reassuring face - Diane Roby. She was instrumental in convincing the Santa Barbara City Council to approve $25,000 for this rescue operation and she had done much important technical investigation. "I hear you need volunteers... "My voice was drowned out by the noise, but she knew what I meant and she introduced me to Zakheim, a warm, bouncy man. They removed their ear mufflers, and we yelled into each other's ears until I totally understood the process and what I was supposed to do. I would help them jackhammer the mural loose. Simple enough in thought, but I couldn't convince my hands. Fearful that I might damage the mural, I put little pressure on the strange, pistol-like jackhammer. It skimmed and careened across the wall until Zakheim grabbed my hands and forcefully pushed the quickly jabbing hammer into the cloth. He demonstrated a slowly widening circular motion, as the canvas began separating from the wall with the mural clinging to it. Smiling, he lifted his hands and stepped away to work on another section. I now left confident enough to bear into the wall, painstakingly pummeling circles, inch by inch. In only ten or fifteen minutes, though, my face was already swimming in sweat. It ran into and out of my eyes like tears. Also, my palms began to ache, the loose muscles shuddering violently against the rigid bones, much as the stucco was crushed against the hollow brick wall. But I felt happy and cocky that such a farfetched preservation scheme was actually working. It was then that I noticed a torn, crinkles area on one section of the canvas. An overzealous volunteer had "not only pulverized the stucco," said Roby, "but also took nearly a square foot of the mural with it." It stood as a warning and reminder of the responsibilities that the volunteers faced as they worked their way across the canvas.

Santa Barbara, Calif., News-Press - April 11, 1980
Thanks from an artist
By Eric G. Parfit

Congratulations too, to Mr. Nathan Zakheim and his team of committed assistants for the successful transfer of the Peake-Warshaw mural and the careful restoration of the Herter murals. Another miracle.